Principal Investigator Luis Soenksen
Project Website https://protoventures.mit.edu/
Project Start Date October 2019
Powered by the MIT Innovation Initiative (MITii) and launched in October 2019, the MIT Proto Ventures program takes an entirely new approach to venture formation from within MIT. It oversees the accelerated emergence of new ventures along a full life cycle: from discovery of ideas and resources at MIT to exploration of the problem-solution space to a methodical de-risking process to helping build a “proto venture” with internal and external support that demonstrates the viability of the venture.
Under the leadership of MITii Venture Builder Luis Ruben Soenksen PhD '19, the program announced last week that two new MIT startups will launch as part of Proto Ventures.
The creation of new ecosystems, markets, and transformative technology ventures that have a profound impact on the world’s great problems. The Process:
(*) The Proto Venture process starts with identification of opportunities around problems and technology spaces, which generate a channel. A channel can be proposed through sponsorship.
(*) A Venture Builder is an agent with deep technology experience hired by MIT to lead discovery and experimentation of opportunities around a specific channel. This agent is surrounded by domain advisors who are experienced in technology translation.
(*) The Venture Builder leads teams composed of MIT Venture Fellows, faculty, advisors, and collaborators to de-risk any proposed Proto Starters during the Discovery and Experimentation phases. These activities culminate with the formation of Proto Ventures which focus on technically feasible solutions, clear value propositions, product-market fit, beachhead customers, and exit strategies. A select cohort of Proto Ventures progress further to fully incorporate as ventures beyond MIT.
In its first year, the Proto Ventures program has led to hundreds of ecosystem interactions, and a log of 319 screened concepts needed to identify the kind of high-impact proto ventures that would attract long-term collaboration with multiple faculty, students, and staff across MIT.