Venture capital funding has become the
highest-performing asset class for university endowments, with 13.4% in returns , bringing in more than private equity and U.S. equities. MIT's
The Engine is an example: it backs long-term, long-shot, tough tech. Sample portfolio:
- Sync - Use nature (vs brute force computing) to solve problems
- ISEE - Why can AI beat chess grandmasters but not drive a car?
- Syzygy - Chemical manufacturing that uses light instead of heat
- Cambridge - The rise of gallium-nitride over silicon in electronics
- FormEnergy - Cheaper, longer lasting batteries that use sulphur
- RiseRobotics - Use electricity (vs hydraulics) in heavy machinery
- Commonweath - Compact (vs present gigantic) fusion reactor
- BostonMetal - Agile steel making that uses electricity (vs coke)
- C2Sense - Give products a unique, non-counterfeit-able smell
- Quaise - Harvest the thermal energy deep within the earth's crust
