Investor Profile: E14 Fund — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

E14 Fund, born at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the early stage venture firm for the MIT and Media Lab startup community, and learning how to get funding from E14 Fund starts with understanding that community first model. Created in 2013 and named after the Media Lab building, it invests in scalable deep tech startups and donates a portion of profits to MIT.

Investment thesis

The thesis is that world changing deep tech often looks unready when it leaves the laboratory, so it needs patient, early capital and community support. The fund invests when the science is ready even if the business is not yet fully formed.

Sectors and stages

The fund invests from pre-seed to Series A, and describes itself as usually a first investor. Its sectors include climate tech, industrial automation, digital health, life sciences, mobility, development tools, artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced manufacturing. The unifying test is not one industry, but scalable deep tech with a meaningful mission and a credible route from research to product.

Fund size and cheque size

E14 Fund began as a $2 million prototype fund in 2013, providing equity and non-equity funding, mentoring, and basic legal and accounting help. Its next fund, launched at the end of 2017, raised $37 million. MIT reporting put the fund's average funding at between $500,000 and $1 million. A current fund total and standard cheque size are not publicly disclosed in the materials reviewed.

Notable portfolio

Notable portfolio companies include Formlabs, a leader in professional 3D printing, Overjet, which applies artificial intelligence to dentistry, Tulip, a no-code platform for frontline workers, and Maven AGI, which applies AI to customer support. Earlier MIT reporting also named Affectiva, Figur8, Wise Systems, and ThruWave. MIT states that the fund has backed more than 100 MIT companies and organised dozens of community events and programmes.

Partners and team

E14 Fund is led by managing partners Habib Haddad and Calvin Chin, supported by venture partners and advisers. Haddad previously built Yamli, later sold to Yahoo, and founded Wamda, which helped shape entrepreneurship across the Middle East and North Africa.

Programs and perks

Programmes include the E14 Fellowship, which gives students, alumni, and researchers a lower risk runway to turn research into a company, and Beyond the Lab, its flagship Independent Activities Period activity, which provides investment fellowships and community office hours.

How to apply for funding

The verified route is the firm's own Apply for funding link on e14fund.com. MIT guidance is clear: if you have a past or current MIT affiliation, it is never too early to talk to the fund, and no request is too small. Non-MIT founders should not assume eligibility, because the fund is built for the MIT and Media Lab community.