Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship

Prof. Edward Roberts, one of the area’s “most influential pioneers in entrepreneurship” known for his work “encouraging startups and increasing MIT’s role in the tech industry ecosystem,” has died at 88, reports Aaron Pressman for The Boston Globe. “There’s this narrative that you’re born to be an entrepreneur, and he did this research and debunked that,” explains Prof. Bill Aulet. “It’s impossible to go into entrepreneurship, especially in Boston, but even globally, without finding his influences.”

The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship “offers expertise and support to entrepreneurial students across the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” reports Ian Wylie for the Financial Times. “The center’s executive director, Paul Cheek, says fintech companies launched as a result of its support include Sigma Ratings, Posh Technologies, Almond FinTech, Zumma and CashEx,” writes Wylie.

Latinx students were celebrated at the first MIT Latinx graduation celebration at the Media Lab on May 31, reports Arrman Kyaw for Diverse Issues in Higher Education. “It was an honor to plan the first Institute-wide Latinx graduation ceremony, a process that began over a year ago with the mission to recognize not only the academic achievements of our community but also this large milestone within our culture and heritage,” says Isabella Salinas ’23, president of the Latino Cultural Center.

Boston Globe reporter Janelle Nanos spotlight Spoiler Alert, an MIT startup that works with major food brands to save food that might have gone to waste. “One of our core beliefs is that waste is no longer a necessary or acceptable cost of doing business,” said Spoiler Alert cofounder and chief product officer Emily Malina MBA ’13. “Everything we do is geared towards moving perishable inventory faster to benefit brands, retailers, consumers, and the planet.”

Forbes has named Paul Cheek, a lecturer and the Entrepreneur in Residence at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship to their list of the 30 Under 30 Leading The Green Energy Transition. “On a mission to end plastic pollution, Paul cofounded Oceanworks to be a global marketplace for facilitating trade in recycled plastic.”. 

Fast Company reporter Yasmin Gagne spotlights MIT startup Spyce, which has developed a robotic restaurant kitchen. “With a global pandemic ongoing, a meal cooked with a robotic system might be just enough of a differentiator to help Spyce thrive in an era that has decimated the restaurant industry,” writes Gagne.

The Today Show highlights Spyce, a restaurant started by four MIT alumni where “robots prep and cook the meal and a team member completes it,” explains Sheinelle Jones. “What we are automating are the tough, repetitive monotonous jobs,” says co-founder Michael Farid, “to allow people to focus on what people are really good at - customer service, creativity, the presentation of your bowl.”

Chronicle highlights MIT startup Spyce, a restaurant with a robotic kitchen. At Spyce, the flames used to heat a wok “are replaced with induction metal,” explains Erika Tarantal. “The robot-controlled rotation ensures cooking on all sides.”

TechCrunch reporter Ingrid Lunden highlights RapidSOS, an MIT startup that “helps increase the funnel of information that is transmitted to emergency services alongside a call for help.”

Seb Murray writes for the Financial Times about the increasing importance of business plan competitions, like the MIT Launch competition. Prof. Bill Aulet, managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, stresses that winning a competition doesn’t guarantee success if winners “self-delude themselves into thinking they no longer need to evolve their business plans.”

The Boston Globe Magazine highlights two MIT spinoffs in a list spotlighting 19 bold new ideas and fresh faces from 2017. Startup Ministry of Supply, which creates custom apparel using high-tech design, has made “getting a great-fitting blazer...a seamless experience,” while another startup, Biobot, has begun analyzing sewer waste to determine which communities are most affected by opioids.

Forbes contributor David Worrell speaks with Nick Majer, a participant in a Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship startup incubator. Majer explains that at MIT, “innovation is contagious and inescapable, and with innovation being a major part of entrepreneurship, it makes sense that MIT students become effective entrepreneurs.”

Fortune reporter Katie Fehrenbacher features MIT startup Grove Labs in a piece about companies aimed at making our day-to-day lives more sustainable. Fehrenbacher explains that Grove's aquaponics-based gardening systems are aimed at providing “eco-minded customers a way to grow their own food.”

Bill Aulet, Managing Dir. of the Martin Trust Center, shares his tips on becoming an entrepreneur with Tito Philips of The Guardian.  “Closely following the people who become an entrepreneur by creating new business ventures from their breakthrough technologies are those with great business ideas,” says Aulet.

Boston Herald reporter Jessica Van Sack writes that Grove, an MIT startup dedicated to enabling people to grow their own produce, will award five of its indoor garden/fish tank systems to local schools. “When you have a full ecological system, it becomes more than just planting seeds and watching them grow,” explains co-founder Gabe Blanchet.