MODO: IE Venture Day Sustainability Award winners

Both entrepreneurship and sustainability are at the heart of our values at IE University. As the first-ever university to make entrepreneurship a mandatory course in all of our programs, we aim to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit in every one of our students. Equally, as one of the first carbon-neutral universities in Europe, we’re passionate about building a more sustainable world and ensuring that this is built into the fabric not just of everything we do here, but into the ventures that emerge from our community.

MODO: a sustainable housing solution

IE Venture Day is one of the initiatives that combines both themes. The day marks the culmination of students’ work in the IE Venture Lab, our startup incubator, where the best projects pitch their business to a panel of investors and fellow students and entrepreneurs.

One of the awards presented is the Sustainability Award, and this year’s winners were MODO, a startup that designs and produces high-end prefab homes in Dubai using artificial intelligence.

The team behind MODO, who also took home second prize overall, are alumni of the Master in Business for Architecture & Design. Mario Sánchez, Wisam Allami, Aishah A. Arafeh and Farah Abou Hamza combined their existing architectural knowledge with what they’d learned in the program and the guidance and resources of the Venture Lab to come up with their idea. It’s one that not only exhibited their architectural and entrepreneurial skills, but also clearly demonstrated their commitment to sustainability to the judging panel. Recognizing that the construction process could be greatly streamlined through the use of AI, MODO leverages the power of technology to automate the design and production process itself, with a focus on creating a flawless experience for the end user.

An important part of MODO’s success was that they chose a market where they already had a shared knowledge. Several of the team live in Dubai, so they already understood key metrics such as their potential client base, local culture and regulations. What’s more, they recognized the need for clear communication—with the team geographically separated, it was crucial for all of them to stay connected and keep their efforts aligned with their overall strategic vision. So they addressed asynchronous working from the start, working together effectively over the project’s different iterations as it evolved.

Nurturing entrepreneurial talent

Like all students of the Master in Business for Architecture and Design, the MODO team members have studied a dedicated entrepreneurship module, divided into five courses: Entrepreneurial Management; Negotiation & Decision Making; Responsive Organizations; Managing Design Businesses and Law for Design Entrepreneurs.

The Venture Lab, in which they participate in the second half of the course, is where they develop their entrepreneurship-focused project for their final thesis.

IE Venture Lab puts students in the driving seat by providing them with the support and resources to see their idea all the way through from conception to launch. A key part of the lab is to focus on the full process launching a startup and the necessary changes that a project goes through as part of its evolution. Participants receive ongoing feedback from experienced professionals, helping to develop their problem-solving skills and overall entrepreneurial mindset.

For students on the Master in Business for Architecture and Design, it’s a crucial part of the practical training that they need to hone their ability to conceive and develop new ideas.

Moving towards a more sustainable future

Projects like MODO are an example of where entrepreneurship and sustainability combine to work towards a brighter future. MODO is just one of more than 1,000 startups to have gone through the Venture Lab—itself just one of the startup incubators and accelerators within the IE University ecosystem. In fact the best startups to emerge from IE University have received more than €80 million in funding. With a range of programs that place entrepreneurship at their core, IE School of Architecture & Design is nurturing the creativity of tomorrow’s leaders to build both successful careers and a more sustainable world.