Each year, the Legatum Center provides seed funding to teams of MIT undergraduate and graduate students who are building promising ventures for low-income countries. For use during the Independent Activities Period in January and during the summer, the grants are awarded through a highly competitive application process. Deadline for application is Nov. 19.
Past recipients of Legatum seed grants include:
- Community Water Solutions, Ghana, which is working on creating a commercially viable community-based water training, treatment and distribution model to provide greater access to clean drinking water.
- Solar Rickshaws, India, which is developing unique solar cell modules that can be mounted onto autorickshaws for the purpose of decreasing fuel consumption and improving air quality in India.
- EGG-tech, Tanzania, which is developing a battery swap business that will serve low-income individuals in Tanzania who lack access to electricity by allowing them to buy and recharge, at local sites, batteries that can power households for up to three days.
