The Arts Startup Incubator supports creative entrepreneurship at the Institute, building on MIT’s legacy of students turning innovative ideas into successful businesses. Formerly known as the Creative Arts Competition, the program equips a cohort of teams with mentors, classes, and workshops to hone their products, business models, and pitches and compete for a $15,000 prize to launch.

This year’s competition runs from January through April 2025 and features events before and during the program period for students to get feedback on their business concepts and build team capacity. 

Selected teams are part of a cohort program designed to accelerate arts-focused ventures. All teams receive seed funding and 1:1 mentorship from industry experts, including distinguished faculty, alumni, and creative entrepreneurs as well as access to exclusive workshops that help hone their business models, develop prototypes, and prepare to pitch.

Finalist teams pitch their ventures to a live panel of judges and compete for the $15K grand prize. All finalist teams receive $2,500 towards their venture. 

Save the date for this year’s pitch event the evening of April 24, 2025.

The $15K Arts Startup Incubator is supported in part by the Council for the Arts at MIT.