Two Stanford students have launched a $2 million startup accelerator program for students across the country

Two Stanford University students announced Monday that they have raised $2 million for an accelerator program called Breakthrough Ventures, which aims to fund companies founded by college students and recent graduates across the country.

Roman Scott and Etban Nafi began building the accelerator program after hosting a series of popular demo days at Stanford starting in 2024 and decided to expand it after the students found success.

“This fundraising transforms Breakthrough from a seasonal accelerator into a lifelong partnership with our founders,” Nafie, who is still a master’s candidate at Stanford, told TechCrunch.

Scott earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University in 2024 and earned his master’s degree there the following year.

Early last year, the duo hired Rehan Ahmed to lead the accelerator and then hit the ground running, formally fundraising from companies like Mayfield and Collide Capital (as well as a slew of Stanford alumni alumni) to support the next generation of AI, health, consumer, deep tech, and sustainability companies. What makes their accelerator program different is that it is designed specifically for “student founders by student founders,” Scott said.

Student programs like this are nothing new. UC Berkeley offers a similar program called Free Ventures for students looking for seed funding, and MIT has its own Innovation Sandbox Fund. Even Stanford University has some accelerator programs, both run by the school and affiliated with it, such as StartX, LaunchPad, and Cardinal Ventures.

“The students enjoyed the way we brought together many other students from different American colleges,” Nafie said of his program, comparing it to the TreeHackathon hackathon at Stanford University.

“The purpose of the Breakthrough Program is to bridge the funding and opportunity gap that exists in many of these ecosystems because students have historically lacked access to the capital and networks needed to launch their entrepreneurial endeavors,” Scott added.

Breakthrough will have a hybrid model, with in-person meetings at strong local venture capital firms, culminating in a Demo Day at Stanford. Program participants receive grant funding (up to $10,000), computing credits (through the Microsoft and Nvidia Inception Program), legal support, and mentorship, “along with the opportunity to receive a follow-on investment of $50,000 at the conclusion of the program,” Nafie said.

“We have succeeded in transforming the founding student experience into an excellent level,” Nafi said. “That’s why we provide the resources that we do and we’ve structured the program this way. The students really feel like we get it, and it’s because we’re students.”

The duo hopes to spread the fund over three years, with the aim of incubating at least 100 companies. Overall, Nafi hopes this fund will help grow Breakthrough into a “hub for Gen Z entrepreneurship and thought leadership,” specifically given the anxiety many young people feel about their economic future.

Applications for the latest batch are open today.

“We hope that by supporting young entrepreneurs, we will be able to raise as many stories as possible to inspire many around the world to use the tools and knowledge around them to pursue entrepreneurship to not only change their communities, but also achieve economic stability for themselves and their families,” Nafi said.

This piece has been updated to correct the name of one of the investment companies.