MIT Solve Announces New Class of 42 Social Entrepreneurs Solving Global Challenges with over $2.3 Million in Funding

2021 Solver Teams and Indigenous Communities Fellows are 69 Percent Women-Led Social Impact Startups 

September 17, 2021 (Cambridge, MA)—MIT Solve, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, announced 42 new Solver teams and Indigenous Communities Fellows from 17 countries and seven Native Tribes at Virtual Solve Challenge Finals, Solve’s annual social impact pitch event. The new 2021 Solver and Indigenous Communities Fellow Class was selected by Solve’s expert judges from a pool of over 1,800 applicants from 128 countries and 14 Native Tribes. 54 percent of the teams are based in Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American countries. 

Meet the Solver and Fellow teams for Solve’s 2021 Global Challenges: 

1. Digital Inclusion

2. Equitable Classrooms

3. Health Security & Pandemics

4. Resilient Ecosystems

5. Antiracist Technology in the US

6. Indigenous Communities

“We are excited to announce our new 2021 Solver and Indigenous Communities Fellow class!” said Solve’s Executive Director, Alex Amouyel. “It is with great pride that we continue to identify and support women-led solutions, diverse applications of technology, and above all the ingenuity and audacity to tackle world challenges head-on. Over the next nine months, our team will catalyze partnerships that help these entrepreneurs scale their work and impact.” 

Prize Funding: Over $2.3 million in prize funding was announced for the new Solver teams and Indigenous Communities Fellows: 

• The GM Prizes, supported by General Motors - $150,000

• Recipients: MEASURE, JusticeText, Tyto Online, Ubongo Edutainment, Mapeo, HEAL Fisheries 

• The Innovation for Women Prize, supported by the Vodafone Americas Foundation  - $75,000

• Recipients: ProGame - Coding WITHOUT Computers!, hiveonline, Waking Women Healing Institute

• The HP Prize for Advancing Digital Equity - $100,000

• Recipients: Brastorne, Hello World, Thrive Industries Incorporated (Thrive!), JusticeText 

• The ServiceNow Prize - $100,000

• Recipients: Mapeo, Buy-In Community Planning 

• The Elevate Prize for Antiracist Technology - $300,000

• Recipient: Weird Enough Productions

• The ASA Prize for Equitable Education, supported by American Student Assistance - $250,000

• Recipients: Tyto Online, Every Kid Gets a Robot 

• The AI for Humanity Prize, supported by the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation - $100,000

• Recipients: Mapeo, ProGame - Coding WITHOUT Computers!, hiveonline, Irth- Birth Without Bias 

• The GSR Prize - $150,000

• Recipients: ProGame - Coding WITHOUT Computers!, hiveonline, SafetyNet Technologies, Tyto Online

• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Prize - $150,000

• Recipients: Weird Enough Productions, Irth- Birth Without Bias, Every Kid Gets a Robot 

• The Global Fund Prize - $125,000

• Recipient: STRIATA built by Macro-Eyes 

• The Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion - $100,000

• Recipient: Hello World

• The Minderoo Prize to End Global Overfishing - $50,000

• Recipients: SafetyNet Technologies, NovFeed 

• In addition, over $290,000 in pooled funding was awarded to teams thanks to donations from Good Energies Foundation, Climate & Land Use Alliance, the Women’s WorldWide Web (W4), the Kroger Foundation, and more.

• All Solver teams and Indigenous Communities Fellows also receive a $10,000 grant from Solve. 

Thanks to our partners, another $200,000 is available to Solver teams and Indigenous Communities Fellows which will be disbursed and announced throughout the Solver program or at Solve’s flagship event, Solve at MIT, May 5-7, 2022.

For-profit and hybrid-model Solver teams and Indigenous Communities Fellows will also be eligible to apply for investment to Solve Innovation Future, a first-of-its-kind innovative philanthropic venture fund that invests in Solver teams and Fellows.

About MIT Solve:

Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a mission to solve world challenges. Solve is a marketplace for social impact innovation. Through open innovation Challenges, Solve finds incredible tech-based social entrepreneurs all around the world. Solve then brings together MIT’s innovation ecosystem and a community of Members to fund and support these entrepreneurs to help them drive lasting, transformational impact. Join Solve on this journey at solve.mit.edu.