Thiel Fellowship

About

A two-year, equity-free $250,000 grant supports people aged 22 or younger without a university degree who leave or skip college to work full-time on ambitious projects.

Benefits

• 💰$250,000 grant
  Selected Fellows receive a $250,000 grant spread over two years.
• 🧾No equity taken
  The Thiel Foundation states that it does not take equity in a Fellow’s company.
• 🌐Network access
  Fellows receive support from the Thiel Foundation’s network of founders, investors and scientists.
• 🤝Introductions
  The program offers help connecting Fellows to investors, partners and prospective customers in Silicon Valley and beyond.
• 🎓Alumni community
  Fellows gain access to a community of founders and resources offered by the Thiel Foundation.
• 📍Location flexibility
  Fellows are not required to relocate to San Francisco and are based all over the world.

Eligibility Criteria

• Individuals must be aged 22 or younger.
• Applicants must not hold a university degree, undergraduate or graduate.
• Applicants may be enrolled in high school or university at the time of application.
• Applicants are reviewed and accepted as individuals, although they may indicate eligible co-founders.
• Applicants do not need to have incorporated a company or built a full product, but they must demonstrate meaningful progress toward a concrete vision.

Participation Commitments

• Applications are accepted year-round with no fixed deadline.
• Applicants apply through the Thiel Fellowship online application, which asks for personal details, date of birth, country of residence, educational status, current project, industry, an optional project link, an optional deck or supporting materials, and open-ended questions.
• If selected while enrolled, a Fellow must drop out of school to accept the Fellowship; applicants who never enrolled may also apply.
• Fellows must commit to focusing full-time on their projects, companies or ideas for the two-year Fellowship.
• The Fellowship lasts two years.
• The application is free.

Target Sector

Sector agnostic, Agriculture & Food, Defense & Security, Education, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Government & Public Sector, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Media & Entertainment, Real Estate & Construction, Retail & Consumer, Semiconductors & Electronics, Sports & Fitness, Telecommunications, Transportation & Logistics, Travel & Hospitality, Other

Target Location

Applicants are eligible worldwide; no citizenship or residency requirement is stated.