FIRST PRIZE
CRATE, Jane Booth, MBA ‘26, and Michelle Kang, MBA ‘26
Platform offering key logistic insights and financial services so galleries can thrive in the contemporary art market.
FINALIST TEAMS
Artist Fans
Be the Beat
Block Party
Front Row Fantasy
FIRST PRIZE
Culture Crate, Nadine Zaza SM ‘24
Hands-on learning kit and platform to preserve endangered artforms and cultural practices.
FINALIST TEAMS
BlueprintML
Hex House
HONMI
SceneSpark
FIRST PRIZE
Monki Tox, Divya Iver SM ’24
An audio storytelling app that helps Indian children connect with their roots.
FINALIST TEAMS
Artizen
Embrace
Kino AI
Oneshoe3D
FIRST PRIZE
Rivet, Anj Faymei, BS Chemical Engineering ’20, Mojo Oke, BS Mechanical Engineering ’22, and Korede Aderele
Empowering musicians and creators to build and scale one-to-one relationships with their superfans to increase revenue streams.
FINALIST TEAMS
Fermentation Heritage Project
Casso
Azeki Road
FIRST PRIZE
Elements, Michael Stradley, SMArchS ‘20, and Maria Esteban Casanas, SMArchS ‘20
Individual art-making kits that promote creative thinking.
FINALIST TEAMS
Rarify
Material Futures Lab
FIRST PRIZE
Teach To Learn, Mark Adams
Free online cultural-exchange and mentorship service that supports musicians in resource-poor countries by connecting them to mentors in the United States using live video and e-learning platforms.
FINALIST TEAMS
Sky International Music Education
ArtNext
Along Fault Lines
FIRST PRIZE
Project Daredevil (Hapticomix), Daniel Levine ,SM ’18, Matthew Shifrin, BM ’21, and Ellen Shakespear, MA ’19, MCP ’19
Hapticomix creates VR experiences for the blind, utilizing 3D radio dramas with motion simulation via a wearable vestibular-affecting device.
FINALIST TEAMS
Spaceus
Helm
Piccles
FIRST PRIZE
Roots Studio,
Rebecca Hui, MCP ’18, and Macauley Kenney, SM ’16
Roots Studio allows craft communities to thrive and survive in this new, globalized world. They use technology to connect Indian artists from rural villages to the world.
FINALIST TEAMS
PicFit
Cherry Stems
Goons Art Collective
Tekuma, Marwan Aboudib, MArch ’15, and Kun Qian, MArch ’16
Tekuma’s mission is to display millions of artworks in physical spaces and activate generic spaces with unique art by emerging artists.
FIRST PRIZE
TapTape (formerly SoundSpark), Jared van Fleet, and Christopher Nolte, MBA ’15
A music crowd-funding site that works with labels, allowing fans to co-invest in an artist’s record deal and receive a share of revenues. By working with the world’s most influential labels, TapTape allows fans to connect with label-curated artists before they blow up.
FIRST PRIZE
Depict.com (formerly Mediuum) , Shambhavi Kadam, MIT Sloan MBA ’12, and Kimberly Gordon, MIT Sloan MBA ’13
An online platform that helps people discover, display, and enjoy art digitally by bringing new art to any wifi-enabled device with a screen.
