Applications are open for MIT Solve’s 2027 Global Challenges and Crescent Enterprises AI for Social Innovation Prize, which will award $100,000 to innovators from MENA and globally using data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to address pressing social issues
Renewal builds on inaugural MIT Solve-Crescent Enterprises AI for Social Innovation Prize whose recipients are advancing AI-enabled solutions across Arabic literacy, women’s health, climate resilience and eye care, collectively reaching a million lives
Arabic-language MIT Challenge Clinic to return following success of inaugural edition which contributed to a 65% increase in MENA-based submissions to last year’s MIT Solve Global Challenges
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, October 2026: Crescent Enterprises, the UAE-headquartered diversified business, and MIT Solve, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that advances technology-led solutions to global challenges, have announced the renewal of the $100,000 Crescent Enterprises AI for Social Innovation Prize for 2027, extending their collaboration to identify and support MENA-based innovators applying technology to the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.
The renewal follows significant progress from the inaugural MIT Solve-Crescent Enterprises AI for Social Innovation Prize cycle. The four supported innovators, I Read Arabic, Smart Scope® CX, Visilant and Coastal Assembly (formerly Littoral), have continued to scale their impact – and together report direct reach to some one million users and patients, while 24 partnership connections have been brokered. The inaugural prize and the first ever MIT Challenge Clinic in Arabic also led to a 65% year-on-year increase in MENA-based submissions to MIT Solve’s Global Challenges.
Tushar Singhvi, Deputy CEO and Head of Investments at Crescent Enterprises, said: “Some of the most consequential innovation emerges closest to the problems it seeks to solve, yet often far from the capital, networks, and opportunities needed to scale. Our partnership with MIT Solve helps bridge that gap by connecting entrepreneurs with the resources and relationships to turn promising ideas into real-world impact. The increased regional participation since the inaugural prize underscores the value of sustained partnerships that broaden access to innovation and enable effective solutions to reach meaningful scale.”
Hala Hanna, Executive Director of MIT Solve, said: “After a decade of running open innovation challenges, we know that finding exceptional solutions is only the beginning. For innovation to create lasting impact, it must be trusted, funded, adopted, and embedded in the institutions, markets, policies, and infrastructure that shape people’s lives. That’s our mission at Solve, and it is what these bold solutions represent: the potential to change systems and improve the lives of billions around the world.”
The partnership forms part of Crescent Enterprises’ long-term approach to corporate citizenship, which focuses on sustained partnerships that expand access, build capability and deliver measurable outcomes. Through MIT Solve, Crescent Enterprises combines funding with mentorship, expertise and global networks to help promising solutions progress towards meaningful scale.
The inaugural Crescent Enterprises AI for Social Innovation Prize, awarded in September 2025 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week in New York, provided US$100,000 in equity-free funding to four teams applying artificial intelligence to challenges across education, healthcare and climate resilience. The recipients were I Read Arabic, advancing Arabic literacy through digital learning; Smart Scope® CX, expanding access to AI-assisted cervical cancer screening; Coastal Assembly (formerly Littoral), applying coastal data to early-warning systems and climate resilience; and Visilant, widening access to affordable AI-enabled eye screening.
As part of the 2026-27 cycle, Crescent Enterprises and MIT Solve will co-host a further MIT Challenge Clinic in Arabic, providing regional applicants with practical, local-language guidance on the Global Challenges application process and selection criteria. The clinic will help applicants refine their submissions, articulate their potential for impact and scale, and engage more effectively with MIT Solve’s global innovation ecosystem.
MIT Solve’s 2027 Global Challenges span climate, economic prosperity, health and learning. Applications are open until 2 November 2026: solve.mit.edu/challenges.
The next MIT Challenge Clinic in Arabic, presented with support from Crescent Enterprises, will take place on 27 October 2026. Register here: MIT Solve Arabic Application Clinic.
About Crescent Enterprises:
Crescent Enterprises is a multinational company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with strategic investments across sectors. Established in 2007, the business comprises a diversified group of 69 subsidiaries, affiliates, and investments across 24 countries, and employs more than 1,500 people.
The corporate structure has four platforms: CE‑Operates, CE‑Invests, CE‑Ventures, and CE‑Creates. The platforms span various business sectors, including ports, logistics, food and beverages, healthcare, life sciences, and business aviation. They also include business verticals, such as private equity, venture capital, and business incubation.
Crescent Enterprises is a subsidiary of Crescent Group, a family-owned business shaping the MENA region’s economy for over 50 years
About MIT SOLVE:
MIT Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that identifies and supports technology-based solutions to pressing global challenges. Through open innovation challenges, Solve connects innovators from around the world with funding, resources, expertise and a global network to help scale their impact.
Since its launch in 2015, Solve has run more than 110 challenges and received more than 30,000 applications from over 190 countries. It has mobilised more than US$90 million in funding and supported more than 470 Solver teams whose solutions are now reaching more than 500 million lives globally.
About the 2027 Global Challenges:
MIT Solve’s 2027 Global Challenges are open. Every applicant is also considered for the Crescent Enterprises AI for Social Innovation Prize, which will award up to $100,000 across as many as four Solver teams using data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to address pressing social issues.
The 2025 recipients show what’s possible. I Read Arabic builds Arabic literacy for hundred of schools, Coastal Assembly turns coastal data into early warning tools, Periwinkle Technologies brings AI-assisted cervical cancer screening to the point of care, and Visilant expands affordable eye screening. Together, they reach hundreds of thousands of lives.
Applications close November 2. Apply or share with a builder in your network: solve.mit.edu/challenges
solve.mit.edu
The next MIT Challenge Clinic in Arabic, presented with support from Crescent Enterprises, will take place on 27 October 2026. Register here: MIT Solve Arabic Application Clinic.
