The Thiel Fellowship, originally named “20 under 20,” is a prestigious program established by billionaire Peter Thiel through the Thiel Foundation. The main goal of the fellowship is to encourage these young talents to depart from traditional educational paths and pursue alternative endeavors, such as engaging in scientific research, launching their own startups, or contributing to social movements. Geared towards students aged 22 or younger, this fellowship provides them with a total of $100,000 over a span of two years, along with valuable mentorship and resources. The selection process for the fellowship is highly competitive, with approximately 20 to 25 fellows chosen each year.

The inaugural batch of fellows (which was in September 2020 at TechCrunch Disrupt), selected from applications submitted at the end of 2010, was announced in May 2011. Subsequently, the second round of fellows, chosen from applications received in late 2011, was revealed in June 2012. In that same year, the fellowship launched the “20 Under 20 Documentary Series,” an online platform showcasing the journeys of four inspiring Thiel Fellowship recipients.

The third class of fellows, announced in May 2013, comprised 22 individuals working on diverse projects ranging from garment manufacturing and B2B web products to ARM powered servers and biomedicine. Notably, seven fellows hailed from countries outside the United States.

As of December 2013, a Wall Street Journal article summarized the notable achievements of the Thiel Fellowship up to that point: 64 Thiel Fellows had initiated 67 for-profit ventures, raising $55.4 million in angel and venture funding. Moreover, they published two books, created 30 apps and 135 full-time jobs, and made a significant impact by providing clean water and solar power to 6,000 Kenyan individuals in need.

Since its inception, the Thiel Fellowship has continued to recognize outstanding individuals making extraordinary contributions. Notable recipients of the fellowship include the following individuals, along with the year they were awarded the prestigious fellowship:

Laura Deming (2011) – Founder and Partner at Longevity Fund.

Dale J. Stephens (2011) – Founder of Year On, previously known as UnCollege, a gap year program focused on work and life skills training.

Dylan Field (2012) – Co-founder and CEO of Figma, a design and prototyping tool.

Taylor Wilson (2012) – The second youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion.

Ritesh Agarwal (2013) – Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms, a prominent hospitality company.

Austin Russell (2013) – Founder and CEO of Luminar Technologies and, as of 2021, the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.

Vitalik Buterin (2014) – Co-creator of Ethereum, a groundbreaking blockchain platform.

Stacey Ferreira (2015) – Co-founder of Forge, a platform dedicated to gig workers.

Simon Tian (2015) – Creator of the Neptune Pine, a crowd-funded smartwatch.

Cathy Tie (2015) – Founder of Ranomics and Partner at Cervin Ventures.

Boyan Slat (2016) – Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, a notable environmental initiative.

Iddris Sandu (2018) – Co-founder of Spatial Labs, specializing in innovative technologies.

Joshua Browder (2018) – Founder and CEO of DoNotPay, an automated legal firm.

Erin Smith (2018) – Creator of software designed to detect Parkinson’s Disease.

These individuals exemplify the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship fostered by the Thiel Fellowship, and their contributions have left a lasting impact on various fields and industries.

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