Two Stanford University students announced Monday that they have raised $2 million for an accelerator program called Breakthrough Ventures, which aims to provide funding to companies founded by college students and recent graduates across the country.
Roman Scott and Itbaan Nafi began building the accelerator program after hosting a series of popular demo days at Stanford starting in 2024, and decided to expand the program after seeing student success.
“This funding transforms Breakthrough from just a seasonal accelerator to a lifelong partnership with the founders,” Nafi, who is still a master's candidate at Stanford University, told TechCrunch.
Scott earned his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 2024 and his master's degree there the following year.
Early last year, the pair named Raihan Ahmed to lead the accelerator, and then went to work, formally raising capital from Mayfield and Collide Capital (and a number of Stanford founding alumni) and others to support the next generation of AI, health, consumer, deep tech, and sustainability companies. Scott said what makes the company's accelerator unique is that it is built specifically “by student founders, for student founders.”
Such student programs are not new. The University of California, Berkeley offers a similar program called Free Ventures for students seeking pre-seed funding, and MIT has its own Sandbox Innovation Fund. Stanford University also has several accelerator programs run by Stanford or partnered with the school, including StartX, LaunchPad, and Cardinal Ventures.
“The students enjoy that we have brought together so many students from different universities in the United States,” Nafi said of his program, comparing it to Stanford University's Treehacks hackathon.
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“Breakthrough aims to fill the funding and opportunity gap that exists in many of these ecosystems, as students have historically lacked access to the capital and networks necessary to begin their entrepreneurial journey,” Scott added.
Breakthrough will employ a hybrid model, with in-person meetups at leading local VC firms and culminating with a demo day at Stanford. Participants in the program will have access to grants (up to $100,000), computing credits (through the Microsoft and Nvidia Inception programs), legal support, Waymo ride credits, mentorship (especially from Waymo CEO Tekedra Mawakana), and “the opportunity to receive a follow-on investment of $50,000 at the end of the program,” Nafi said.
“We nailed the student and founder experience to a T,” Nafi says. “That's why we provided the resources and structured the program this way. Our students truly feel that we get it. It's because we are the students.”
The pair hope to roll out the fund over three years, aiming to incubate at least 100 companies. Overall, Nafi hopes the fund will help grow Breakthrough into a “hub for Gen Z entrepreneurship and thought leadership,” especially given the anxiety many young people feel about their economic future.
Applications for the latest cohort begin today.
“By supporting young entrepreneurs, we hope to lift up as many stories as possible and inspire even more people around the world to use the tools and knowledge around them to pursue entrepreneurship and not only change their communities, but also gain financial security for themselves and their families,” Nafi said.
This article has been updated to correct the name of one of the investment companies.