$100,000 a Year Activate Fellowship
- Organization: Activate
- Type: Fellowship
- Location: United States
- Deadline: October 30, 2026
- Funding: Fully Funded
Activate is a US nonprofit that runs a two-year fellowship turning scientists and engineers into first-time hard-tech founders. Fellows get a living stipend, research funding and close mentorship while they take a hardware-based technology from the lab toward market, and Activate takes no equity and charges no fees. **What you get:** - $100K living stipend per year for two years - $100K in R&D support for your project - $12K per year in travel and professional development funds - A health insurance stipend and a relocation allowance - Regular one-on-one mentorship with your community's Managing Director and quarterly advisory meetings - Zero equity taken and no fees charged **What you'll do:** - Work full time on your own hard-tech company for two years, starting July 1, 2027 - Join one of five communities: Anywhere (virtual, with quarterly US trips), Berkeley / Cyclotron Road, Boston, Houston or New York - Attend biweekly community programming and a weekly Elements of Entrepreneurship course in your first quarter - Attend the annual week-long summer retreat **Key dates:** - Applications accepted September 15 to October 30, 2026, closing 12 p.m. PT - Internal and external review October to December 2026 - Video interviews January to February 2027 - Finalist week March to April 2027 - Fellows selected April to May 2027 - Fellowship begins July 1, 2027 **More information:** - Complete the application interest form on the apply page to receive the link to the full application - Up to two co-applicants can apply per project, but only the Principal applicant is funded; co-applicants join as unfunded Affiliate Fellows - Activate cannot sponsor work visas; foreign nationals must explain how they will hold valid US work authorisation by the start - Healthcare-only projects and purely software projects are generally not supported
