$100,000 a Year Activate Fellowship

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

• Bachelor's degree and 4+ years of post-baccalaureate scientific research, engineering or technology development experience
• Leading the commercial development of a hardware-based technology for the first time (not a repeat hard-tech founder)
• Committed full time to the project if awarded, including leaving other employment or a PhD programme by September 1
• Legally able to work in the U.S. for the whole fellowship; Activate does not sponsor visas
• Proficient in English
• Project based in the physical or biological sciences or related engineering disciplines, still in development and not ready for full-scale sales
• Project has raised no more than $2M in non-governmental debt or equity funding by the deadline
• Must be located in the U.S.; in-residence communities require living in or relocating to that metro area
• Former or current DOE LEEP Innovators are not eligible