Breakout Labs was a grant-making program of the Thiel Foundation (a philanthropic organization created by Peter Thiel) from 2011 until 2021. Breakout Labs issued convertible grants[1] for early-stage commercialization of scientific research that was considered too speculative or long-term to interest the for-profit sector (such as angel investors and venture capitalists) but may have been unsuitable for traditional sources of funding for scientific research due to its radical or offbeat nature.[2] Grants were made through a competitive application and selection process.[3]
 | |
| Founded | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Peter Thiel |
| Headquarters | 38 Mesa St., |
| Parent | Thiel Foundation |
| Website | breakoutlabs.org |
Recipients
editBreakout Labs announced its first batch of grantees on April 17, 2012,[4] its second batch of grantees on August 15, 2012,[5] and its third batch of grantees in April 2013.[6] In total, Breakout Labs made 50 investments before winding down the program in 2021:[7]
Media coverage
editThe announcement of Breakout Labs (October 2011), as well as the announcements of its first batch of grantees (April 2012), received considerable media attention.[8] The first and second batches of grantees were covered by TechCrunch.[9][10] Breakout Labs was also covered in Nature[11] and Scientific American.[12]
References
edit- ^ Parthasarathy, Hemai; Fishburne, Lindy (2015). "Philanthropy's role in translating scientific innovation". Nature Biotechnology. 33 (10): 1022–1025. doi:10.1038/nbt.3369. ISSN 1087-0156.
- ^ "About Us page on Breakout Labs". Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
- ^ "FAQs page on Breakout Labs". Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
- ^ "Breakout Labs Announces First Grantees". Breakout Labs. 2012-04-17. Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
- ^ "Thiel Foundation's Breakout Labs Announces Newest Grants at the Intersection of Biology and Advanced Technologies". Breakout Labs. 2012-08-15. Archived from the original on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
- ^ Cutler, Kim-Mai (2013-04-17). "Peter Thiel's Breakout Labs Funds "Nanostraws" And A Siri-Like Natural Language Processing Startup". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2013-04-17.
- ^ "Peter Thiel's 'audacious' early-stage science Breakout Labs fund is winding down". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "News page on Breakout Labs website". Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
- ^ Tsotsis, Alexia (2012-04-17). "Peter Thiel's Breakout Labs Awards $350K Each To Six Ambitious Biotech Startups". TechCrunch.
- ^ Cutler, Kim-Mai (2012-08-15). "Breakout Labs Grantees". TechCrunch.
- ^ "PayPal co-founder's Breakout Labs issues first grants".
- ^ "Breakout Labs – a new model for funding science and technology".