MIT Event: Can Crowdfunding Democratize Access to Capital?

MIT has been set on creating a bitcoin relying community, as more events and programs make their way in the eyes of the public. The MIT Sloan School of Management hopes to have a round table and panel on the Challenges of Innovation in Economy. The topic will focus on Can Crowdfunding Change Innovation?

MIT Crowdfunding Panel

The event will take place on May 19th, between 1pm and 2pm. The goal of the event is to gain feedback from academics, entrepreneurs, venture capital investors, crowd-funding platforms, and SEC regulatory policy makers. The discussion will assess how changes will provide new opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurs.

The meetup will begin with a 10 minute introduction of the event by Professor Fiona Murray, who is the co-Director of MIT’s Innovation Initiative.

Her short speech will be followed by Assistant Professor Christian Catalini, who will examine basic economics and crowdfunding.  

For the remainder of the event, there will be a public Q&A session that include panelists such as Professor Ajay Agrawal from Toronto University, FundersClub’s Alex Mittal, Elliot Schneier from Fundable.com, Jean Hammond of LearnLaunchX, Jeff Fagnan of Atlas Venture, Sam Guzik of Guzik and Associates, and Dragon Innovation’s Thos Niles.

The panel will be moderated by Treasurer James Finch, and MIT’s Christian Catalini. The event will be free to the public.

MIT Bitcoin Expo

MIT’s Innovation Initiative is helping the local public become better acquainted with the digital currency. Earlier this month, its bitcoin expo had an attendance of over 300 people, ranging from students to teachers, and even locals.

The MIT community is billed as one of the world’s first bitcoin communities, devising ways to implement bitcoin into the surrounding area. The event was labeled as successful, which may predetermine the outcome of the upcoming panel on the 19th.

In addition to MIT bitcoin-related events, programs have also been set up to spread bitcoin awareness. Jeremy Rubin and Dan Elitzer are responsible for raising $500,000 in order to hand each MIT undergraduate student $100 in bitcoin for the fall 2014 semester. The money will help students understand what digital currencies are, and how to use them.

The duo was also responsible for organizing the MIT Bitcoin Expo.

Featured Image