Two Stanford Students Launch $2m Startup Accelator For Students Nationwide

Two Stanford students announced Monday that they person raised $2 cardinal for an accelerator programme called Breakthrough Ventures, which intends to money businesses founded by assemblage students and caller graduates nationwide.

Roman Scott and Itbaan Nafi began building nan accelerator programme aft hosting a bid of celebrated Demo Days astatine Stanford starting successful 2024 and decided to grow it aft students were achieving success.

“This fundraise turns Breakthrough from conscionable being a seasonal accelerator into a lifelong business pinch our founders,” Nafi, who is still a master’s campaigner astatine Stanford, told TechCrunch.

Scott received his undergraduate grade from Stanford successful 2024 and went connected to gain a master’s grade location nan pursuing year.

Early past year, nan duo tapped Raihan Ahmed to lead nan accelerator and past sewage to work, officially fundraising from nan likes of Mayfair and Collide Capital (as good arsenic a slew of Stanford laminitis alumni) to backmost nan adjacent procreation of AI, health, consumer, heavy tech, and sustainability companies. Scott said what makes their accelerator different is that it is specifically built “for student founders by student founders.”

Student programs for illustration this aren’t new. UC Berkeley offers a akin programme called Free Ventures for students seeking pre-seed funding, and MIT has its ain Sandbox Innovation Fund. Even Stanford has immoderate accelerator programs, some tally by aliases affiliated pinch nan school, specified arsenic StartX, LaunchPad, and Cardinal Ventures.

“Students person enjoyed really we’ve brought together truthful galore others from different American colleges,” Nafi said of his program, comparing it to Stanford’s Treehacks hackathon.

“Breakthrough’s intent is to capable successful nan backing and opportunity spread that exists successful galore of these ecosystems because students person historically lacked entree to superior and nan networks required to motorboat their entrepreneurial pursuits,” Scott added.

Breakthrough will person a hybrid model, pinch in-person meetups astatine section powerhouse VC firms, culminating successful a Demo Day astatine Stanford. Those participating successful nan programme get entree to assistance backing (up to $100,000), compute credits (through Microsoft and nan NVIDIA Inception program), ineligible support, Waymo thrust credits, mentorship (from Waymo CEO Tekedra Mawakana, among others), “along pinch nan opportunity to person a $50,000 follow-on finance astatine nan conclusion of nan program,” Nafi said.

“We’ve nailed nan student-founder acquisition to a T,” Nafi said. “Hence why we connection nan resources we do and person system nan programme successful this way. Students really consciousness for illustration we get them, and that’s because we are students.”

The duo hopes to deploy nan money complete 3 years, aiming to incubate astatine slightest 100 companies. Overall, Nafi hopes this money will thief turn Breakthrough into “the hub for Gen-Z entrepreneurship and thought leadership,” specifically fixed nan worry galore young group consciousness astir their economical future.

Applications for nan latest cohort unfastened today.

“We dream that by supporting young entrepreneurs, we’re capable to uplift arsenic galore stories arsenic imaginable to past animate galore much crossed nan world to usage nan devices and knowledge astir them to prosecute entrepreneurship not only to alteration their communities, but besides summation economical stableness for themselves and their families,” Nafi said.