The MIT delta v accelerator is the capstone entrepreneurial experience for students at MIT.

So you wanna be in delta v?

2024 Cohort

MIT delta v is MIT’s student venture accelerator, providing a capstone educational opportunity for MIT student entrepreneurs that prepares them to hit escape velocity and launch into the real world.

How it works

From June to early September, teams have dedicated space in the co-working environment of the Trust Center on the MIT campus, or MIT delta v NYC in Manhattan. They will work on their ventures full-time for the whole summer.

Teams will define and refine their target market, conduct primary market research and build knowledge about their customers and users. They will run experiments to validate or invalidate their key hypotheses with potential customers. They will be building and nurturing their founding team. They will make progress on the mechanics of starting their venture.

Peer Learning & Community Building

Peer learning is a core tenet of this program. Teams will be updating the cohort every week with the progress they have made and to pose any questions or requests for help. Teams will often pair up to help each other with issues and give each other feedback.

Teams will also get an opportunity to form a strong community of peer entrepreneurs who will provide each other with support both during the summer as well as in the months and years after the program concludes.

Mentorship & Coaching

Throughout the summer we will support the teams’ progress via 1×1 coaching sessions and meetings with external mentors who are carefully matched to the needs of their ventures.

Simulated “Board Meetings”

Once a month, teams will present their progress and get unbiased feedback in simulated “board meetings” to “board members” who are leaders from industry.

Guest Talks, Seminar Series & Network Building

We will also help teams expand their knowledge of entrepreneurship techniques and frameworks via an optional seminar series, as well as guest talks by thought leaders on topics of interest.

Participants will also get the benefit of introductions to relevant industry experts, investors, and other entrepreneurs throughout the program.

Optional Fundraising Extension

NEW to delta v this year, we are offering an optional program for teams who are interested in fundraising. Make the transition from delta v to a sustainable business by spending September and October preparing part-time, remotely for the fundraising process. This will run through late October and wrap up with pitches to investor audiences in New York and California.

Benefits include weekly fundraising-focused programming and mock investor meetings on topics such as funding sources and valuation, the amount you should seek to raise, milestones, data rooms, and finding investors and how to go through this process with them.

Money

The MIT delta v organizing team, in conjunction with the advisory board assigned to your team, will determine the amount of milestone money, if any, to be awarded each month. You have the ability to receive additional funding up to $20,000 in milestone money during the duration of MIT delta v.

Only current MIT students, as defined in the “Eligibility” section, are eligible to receive the $2,500/month fellowships. Only students listed in the submitted application will be eligible as well.

The fellowships will only be awarded during June, July, and August. The MIT delta v organizing team, in conjunction with the advisory board, will determine which team members will receive the fellowships. In general, a team member needs to be founder-level and work full-time at the MIT delta v site to receive money for a particular month.

Remember that all payments are considered income and are therefore taxable. Non-U.S. citizens are typically subject to a 14% tax withholding from any money they receive. We do not provide tax guidance.

Demo Day

MIT delta v culminates in Demo Day, typically held at the beginning of the school year in early September at MIT (usually the first Friday after Labor Day) at Kresge Auditorium. Demo Day is a celebration of the work every team has made over the summer in front of a packed audience of friends, students, press, investors, and more, as well as thousands of global web streamers.

For those teams that continue with the optional fundraising extension, they will be able to take part in additional, by-invitation-only Investor Days held in New York City and Northern California (which will take place in October, exact dates TBD).

Confidentiality

While we will keep all information within MIT delta v judging and organizing teams, we cannot guarantee complete confidentiality of information.

Intellectual Property

MIT delta v focuses on entrepreneurship skills, so we do not anticipate any intellectual property will be created as a direct result of MIT delta v.

Furthermore, MIT does not consider use of office space, libraries, machine shop facilities, and consumer-grade computers as constituting a significant use of MIT resources.

If your company is built around intellectual property developed using significant MIT resources, you should consult MIT’s policies for more information. The MIT Technology Licensing Office controls MIT intellectual property and can help you with questions.

The relevant MIT policies are:

Important Dates for 2024

  • Applications open: Monday February 26
  • Applications close: Monday March 25 at 12:00 noon Eastern
  • Interview period: beginning of April
    • (if needed; not all teams are interviewed and being asked for an interview has no impact on a team’s acceptance status or likelihood)
  • Teams notified: no later than Monday April 15
  • First Day: Monday June 3
  • Demo Day: Friday, September 6, 2024
  • Optional Fundraising Month: During September & October, teams may apply to continue in delta v for our fundraising track, ending in additional, by-invitation-only Investor Days held in New York City and Northern California in October