MIT Arts Startup Incubator: Student Pitch Competition

Join us for the MIT Arts Startup Incubator 2025 pitch event! Five teams of MIT students present their creative industry ventures to a panel of expert judges to compete for a $15K prize.

Following the pitches meet the teams and:

• Experience a live coding DJ set by Char Stiles, 2024 competition finalist.
• Hear an update from Anj Fayemi, 2021 competition winner, about his music-tech startup Rivet and experience launching a creative venture in and outside of MIT.
• Enjoy a light dinner & refreshments.
• Find out the winner of $15K!

5:00 - Appetizers & Mingling

5:20 - Pitch & Q+A

7:00 - Rivet update & Live Coding DJ Demo

7:30 - Reception & DJ Set

7:50pm - Winner Announced

The MIT Arts Startup Incubator supports creative entrepreneurship at the Institute by equipping a cohort of students to develop arts-focused ventures and compete for a $15K prize at a culminating pitch event.

Kathleen Kennedy is a dynamic leader at the forefront of technology and innovation with pursuits in AI education, digital transformation, organizational design, and sustainable fashion. She is currently the Executive Director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence and leads MIT Horizon. Kathleen has held several key leadership positions including President of MIT Technology Review, President of the MIT Enterprise Forum, and Cofounder and board member of HubWeek. She attended James Madison University and the University of Virginia.

Somak Chattopadhyay is the founder of Armory Square Ventures, investin in early-stage startups in New York State and emerging venture regions. Before launching ASV, Somak was a partner at Tribeca Venture Partners and VC at Edison Ventures, where he sourced and evaluated investments in tech-enabled service sectors, managed deal flow referral networks and identified emerging growth companies in under-invested regions in the Northeast. He has served on the boards of numerous companies, including the Upstate Capital Association of New York.

Anj Fayemi is the co-founder and CEO of Rivet, an AI-driven platform that helps artists and creator teams identify devoted fans and increase revenue and engagement with their content and products. Rivet has received 1871’s Industry Disruptor Award and named a Top 14 Creator Company by Business Insider this year. Anj studied engineering at MIT and Imperial College, has a Theatre Arts Minor and is an active recording and performing musician who's opened for Grammy-nominated 6lack.

Char Stiles is a computational artist currently pursuing her master's in the Media Lab’s Future Sketches group. She works in graphical computational systems and researches the future of creative coding in performance. Char is a part of the Livecode.nyc collective and co-founded Hex House, an artist studio and event space in East Williamsburg. She has performed internationally, including festivals such as Electric Forest, SXSW, Portola, and Mutek Nexus and has lectured and led workshops at Carnegie Mellon University, Duke University, University of Limerick, MIT, and NYU.

Accessibility

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage and participate fully. To request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, please contact philana@mit.edu.

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