How MIT Is Teaching Regions Around The World To Unlock Their Entrepreneurial Potential

According to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study, companies spun out of MIT are valued at over $1 trillion, enough to be the 17^th largest economy in the world. Due to this success, world leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors regularly visit MIT to see how it has transformed the role of the university from an institution of higher learning to a driver of economic growth.

MIT’s comprehensive collection of centers, programs, and initiatives – including the D-Lab, MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, the Legatum Center, the MIT Venture Monitoring Service, the Lemelson-MIT Program, among others – offer funding, mentoring, and support for entrepreneurs. This infrastructure has taken a long time to build, and MIT has been one of the most entrepreneurial universities in the world for more than 100 years, but these centers have only existed for 20 years.

In 2012, MIT started the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (MIT REAP), to teach how to create a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation. In this program, founded by Bill Aulet, Scott Stern, Fiona Murray, and Ed Roberts, high-level teams from around the world work alongside MIT faculty for two years to spur innovation in their city, region, or country. So far, MIT REAP has hosted teams of five to eight individuals from five stakeholder groups (corporations, entrepreneurs, government, risk capital, and universities) to work together to build an action-based strategy for change. They then implement this strategy.

For more information on the MIT REAP, visit their Web site.

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