Youth Innovation

Supporting young problem-solvers

Solve’s focus on youth-led innovation encourages, inspires, and supports young people as they become problem-solvers in their community and the world. 

Since our founding, we’ve run programming specifically designed for young innovators, including a first-year discovery course at MIT and a Solv[ED] program designed to partner with young people on their quest to make a positive social impact. Solve has also hosted the MIT PKG Center’s IDEAS Social Innovation Challenge on our platform since 2022.

solve_230505_2013.JPG imageedit_29_3383646175.jpg Get involved
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Solv[ED] hosted two Youth Innovation Challenges in 2022 and 2023, which selected and funded 20 Solv[ED] Innovators who are leading solutions for issues related to social justice, climate change, health, learning, and more.

Now, Solve utilizes the learnings from our youth-focused programming to host custom challenges for young social entrepreneurs. Recent partners include the NBA Foundation and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). With the NBA Foundation, Solve supported 25 young leaders in the Greater Boston area to tackle complex business challenges and prototype their ideas. With UNFPA, Solve ran the 4HerPower Challenge, which selected winners from 14 countries with innovative solutions improving sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) information, commodities, and services. 

Help us inspire the next generation of problem-solvers through a custom challenge, or youth-focused prize.

Browse past youth innovation challenges

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Custom Challenges

MIT IDEAS Social Innovation Challenge

IDEAS is MIT’s 19-year old social innovation and entrepreneurship program for students. Check out this year’s finalists and vote for your favorite project!
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Youth Innovation

2022 Solv[ED] Youth Innovation Challenge

Are you 24 and under and passionate about making a positive impact in your community and the world? If your answer is “yes!,” we want to hear about your solution.
Explore Challenge Explore Solutions
Closed
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Youth Innovation

2023 Solv[ED] Youth Innovation Challenge

Are you passionate about making a positive impact in your community and the world? If your answer is “yes!,” we want to hear about your solution.
Explore Challenge Explore Solutions
Closed
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Custom Challenges

4HerPower Challenge: Innovating for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

How can young people improve the quality of and access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) information, commodities, and services?
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See all challenges

Meet the youth innovators

Discover more
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Agrotech Plus

Agrotech Plus, a Walk-in, solar-powered cold stations for 24/7 storage and preservation for fresh fruits, vegetables and other agricultural perishables like Fish.
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Ollas Sostenibles

Community pots creating sustainable food systems by interconnecting access to food, water, and renewable energy in peripheral areas of Lima. 
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Signa

Signa is an app that allows the user (deaf) to communicate with others (non deaf). SignaPlay is an app that teaches sign languages to anyone with the help of AI
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Birth By Us

Birth By Us empowers mothers and birthing people to shape their own birthing experience while giving providers the insights and data to best support their birth.
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Green Venture Tanzania

Green Ventures is a recycling and manufacturing company that transforms plastic waste into sustainable lumber and modern handcrafted recycled furniture in Tanzania. 
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upLYFT: Improving Mobility with Smart Clothing

upLYFT is developing smart wearables that increase muscle strength and bone density, prevent injury and facilitate recovery. 
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AUesome

AUesome is a social enterprise with the mission of bridging the digital and physical world of at-home therapy for children on the autism spectrum, one kit at a time.
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Sign Talk

Sign Talk is a web app that aims to bridge the digital communication divide between the ASL community and non-ASL users.
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Cycleau

A compact greywater treatment system designed to advance household resiliency to public water contaminants while reducing the impacts of sewage pollution on local waterways.
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KLAW Industries - Pantheon

KLAW Industries processes waste glass that is sent to the landfill into a partial replacement for cement in concrete called Pantheon
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Vinsighte

Giving Vision, Creating Insight
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Sprxng

Sprxng is a reusable menstrual product that includes therapy for menstrual pain. At Sprxng, we are dedicated to combating menstrual stigma and menstrual poverty
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Etana

Building Gender Inclusive Digital Economies
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Envirofly

Managing food waste using insect technology to provide affordable and eco-friendly animal feed and fertilizer
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InSync

In-Sync is a health-tech solution that provides optimum mental health care to people with mental illness and emotional needs through the use of artificial intelligence and the power of people
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Hydroquo+

Hydroquo+ is focused on delivering water intelligence to drive water safety and availability with actionable insights
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Cropfix by eAgro

Farm Wise, Farm With Us
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Karpolax

Green Nanotechnology extending the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by 33 days
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JusticeText

Centralized infrastructure to store, catalog, analyze, and share video discovery in the criminal justice system to improve case outcomes for low-income defendants

Solve for the future