Harris StolzenbergIn February 2024, we launched the $1M Moonshot competition, challenging MIT and Harvard students, graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and alumni to compete for up to $1M in startup funding.
Why Moonshot? Traditional grant programs are broken—slow, cumbersome, and risk-averse. Investors often hesitate to back bold ideas from pre-graduation founders. Moonshot changes this paradigm by fast-tracking visionary founders tackling humanity’s most pressing challenges.
We were so impressed by the applications we received that we launched the competition again this year – this time, extending its reach to all current undergrads, graduate students, postdocs and faculty at all universities (learn more | Deadline: 3/2).
From over 450 applications last year, we selected four exceptional winners. Learn more about the teams below.
Our 2024 Moonshot Winners
Rowan | Chemistry
Rowan is developing innovative computational tools to make molecular design more efficient and cost-effective across industries like drug discovery, materials science, and chemical development. By replacing expensive quantum mechanics simulations with machine learning-powered predictions, they aim to accelerate scientific R&D and democratize access to advanced computational chemistry methods.
Founder and CEO, Corin Wagen, is a Harvard PhD scientist with expertise in organic and computational chemistry. With experience developing and deploying scientific software at scale, he brings a unique combination of deep technical knowledge in chemistry and practical software engineering experience to Rowan.
Mirian | Semiconductors
Mirian is building an AI platform for inventing better chemical processes. Co-founders Albert Musaelian, Cameron Owen, and Chris O’Connor earned their PhDs from Harvard in applied mathematics, theoretical chemistry, and experimental chemistry, respectively. Before starting Mirian, the team worked together as researchers to develop and apply cutting-edge techniques in chemistry.
hydroGel | Manufacturing
hydroGel is developing innovative material solutions to make bioprocesses more efficient and cost-effective across industries like biopharmaceuticals, food, and specialty chemicals. By rethinking traditional manufacturing methods, they aim to drive scalable and sustainable advancements in the products that power our daily lives.
Co-founders Arjav Shah, Luca Mazzaferro, and Patrick Doyle are MIT PhD engineers and scientists with expertise in materials science, separations, and polymer physics. Having successfully built companies before, they bring a unique combination of deep technical knowledge and entrepreneurial experience to hydroGel.
Fuze Bio | Biology
Fuze Bio is mining viruses from across the virome to find better shuttles for delivering nucleic acid medicines to specific cell types in the body. Fuze is based on technology developed in George Church’s lab at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.
Looking Ahead: 2025 $1M Moonshot Competition
We’re expanding our search! The 2025 competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and faculty from any university.
Application deadline: Sunday, March 2nd
Learn more and apply: here