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e14 Fund

Affiliated with MIT applying scientific techniques to help founders

Cambridge, MA, USA

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Description

e14 Fund is the specialized early-stage venture capital firm dedicated to the MIT Media Lab ecosystem. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it invests exclusively in startups founded by Media Lab students, faculty, and alumni, focusing on "hard tech" that translates complex research into scalable businesses. 
  • Pre-Seed & Seed: This is the firm’s core focus. They are often the very first institutional check for MIT spin-outs.
  • Research Transition: They specialize in the "lab-to-market" transition, backing founders who are commercializing breakthrough research in hardware, biology, and AI. 
  • Affiliation Requirement: To be eligible, at least one member of the founding team must be an MIT Media Lab alumnus, student, or faculty member.
  • Method: Founders typically engage through the e14 Fund website or via direct community involvement at the Media Lab.
  • Fellowship Program: The fund also manages a fellowship that provides resources and mentorship for Media Lab members who are still in the "ideation" phase of their startup. 

Eligibility

  • Sectors: Deep Tech, Synthetic Biology, Robotics, AI, Digital Health, and Future of Computing.
  • Geography: Primarily United States (Cambridge/Boston area), but open to Media Lab alumni worldwide.
  • Founder Status: Must meet the strict MIT Media Lab affiliation criteria. 

Process

  1. Community Sourcing: The team actively monitors research within the Media Lab to identify commercializable breakthroughs.
  2. Collaborative Vetting: Due diligence is performed by partners who have deep technical backgrounds and prior experience scaling MIT-born companies.
  3. Investment Decision: Focus is placed on the defensibility of the intellectual property (IP) and the founder's vision for long-term impact.
  4. Active Value-Add: Post-investment, the fund provides specialized support for hardware manufacturing, regulatory navigation, and IP strategy.

What an Applicant can Obtain

  1. Direct Capital: Access to funding from a firm with over $100M+ in assets under management across multiple funds.
  2. Media Lab Network: Direct connections to the Media Lab's member companies (corporate sponsors) for potential pilot programs.
  3. Hard Tech Mentorship: Specialized guidance on the unique challenges of building and scaling "physical" or "deep" technology.
  4. Recruiting & Talent: Access to the elite pool of MIT engineers and designers for early-stage hiring.