MIT invites Syracuse students to participate in its $100,000 Climate & Energy Prize, kicking off the competition with an info-session on Tuesday, December 7 at 7 p.m. The MIT Climate & Energy Prize (formerly the Clean Energy Prize) is the longest-running and largest climate & energy-focused startup competition for university students in the country.
Over 220 companies have successfully launched out of CEP@MIT, with over $2.9 million awarded in cash prizes and alumni startups have since raised over $1.1 billion in follow-on funding. The competition is open to university teams from across the world.
The MIT Climate & Energy Prize competition is inclusive to all climatetech related startups tackling the net zero challenge. These include:
- Buildings & energy efficiency: Building materials, HVAC, building automation systems, demand response, smart meters, lighting, software, etc.
- Carbon removal: Land use, reducing ocean acidity, afforestation, carbon capture with sequestration utilization & storage, regenerative agriculture, etc.
- Circular economy: Waste reduction, waste-to-energy, bioplastics, recycling, etc.
- Electric power: Long-duration energy storage, demand response, renewable generation, next-generation nuclear, DER integration, transmission & distribution infrastructure, etc.
- Environmental stewardship: Ensuring that the transition to net-zero is equitable (climate justice, community resilience, adaptation & remediation, land protection, public policy, sustainability education, etc.)
- Food & agricultural tech: Sustainable farming, reducing water use, biofuels, urban farming, land restoration, nutrient and pesticide management, etc.
- Industrial decarbonization: Decarbonizing heavy industries like cement, iron, steel, ammonia, petrochemical refining, etc. through various solutions such as energy efficiency gains, switching to different fuels and feedstocks, CCS, electrification of heat, etc.
- Mobility & transportation: Technologies that (i) promote electrification (EV charging, new EV models, battery improvements, Hydrogen fuel cells, etc.) and/or (ii) improve efficiency (ridesharing, autonomous vehicles, fleet management, enhancing public transit, high-speed rail, etc.) of passenger or freight transport.
- Other: Any climatetech and/or energy verticals that are not covered in the above categories.
The CEP@MIT is structured to identify promising companies and mentor student entrepreneurs. University teams from across the world enter their business ideas and compete in 3 rounds. After initial applications, CEP@MIT judges select the most promising business plans to advance as Semi-Finalists. They then receive mentoring and access to other resources through CEP@MIT sponsors and partners. During this time, the selected teams develop and refine their business plans before presenting them to a panel of expert judges at the CEP@MIT Semi-Finals and Finals.
Learn about the Eligibility and Requirements and Apply Here.
Key Dates
- Wednesday 12/1 – Applications open
- Tuesday 12/7 – Info session webinar. Come meet the CEP team and learn more about this year’s competition!
- Tuesday 1/18 – Applications close at 11:59 ET
Register for the info session here: CEP Kickoff Meeting Event
Apply for the competition here
Interested in the competition but not ready to submit your application yet? Please sign-up on and interest form if you’d like to get deadline reminders as well as updates on CEP mentorship and networking opportunities.