Two Stanford students launch the first $2M accelerator for students nationwide

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

Roman Scott and Itbaan Nafi started building the accelerator program after hosting a series of popular Demo Days at Stanford since 2024 and decided to expand it after the students were successful.

“This fundraising transforms Breakthrough from just a seasonal accelerator into a lifelong relationship with our founders,” Nafi, who is pursuing a master’s degree at Stanford, told TechCrunch.

Scott received his bachelor’s degree from Stanford in 2024 and went on to earn a master’s degree there the following year.

Early last year, the duo tapped Raihan Ahmed to lead the accelerator and got to work, raising formal funding from Mayfield and Collide Capital (and a slew of Stanford alumni founders) to support the next generation of AI, health, consumer, deep technology, and sustainability companies. Scott said what makes their accelerator unique is that it’s built “for student founders by student founders.”

Student programs like this are not new. UC Berkeley offers a similar program called Free Ventures for students seeking pre-seed funding, and MIT has its own Sandbox Innovation Fund. Even Stanford has accelerator programs, both run or affiliated with the school, such as StartX, LaunchPad, and Cardinal Ventures.

“Students enjoyed the way we brought together many others from different American colleges,” Nafi said of his program, comparing it to Stanford’s Treehacks hackathon.

“The purpose of Breakthrough is to fill the financial and opportunity gap that exists in many of these natural areas because students have not been able to get the money and networks needed to start their businesses,” added Scott.

Success will have a hybrid model, with in-person meetings at local VC powerhouses, culminating in a Demo Day at Stanford. Those who participate in the program get access to financial support (up to $100,000), combine credits (through the Microsoft program and the Nvidia Inception program), legal support, Waymo boarding credits, training (from Waymo CEO Tekedra Mawakana, among others), “and the opportunity to receive $ 50,000 to follow the investment in the program,” said Nafi in the conclusion of the investment.

“We nailed the student founder experience to a T,” said Nafi. “That’s why we give the resources we do and organize this program this way. The students feel like we get them, and that’s because we’re students.”

The two hope to use the fund in three years, aiming to incubate at least 100 companies. Overall, Nafi hopes the fund will help grow Breakthrough into a “Gen Z entrepreneurship and thought leadership center,” especially given the concerns many young people feel about their economic future.

Applications for the latest batch are open today.

“We hope that by supporting small entrepreneurs, we are able to raise as many issues as possible to encourage many around the world to use the tools and knowledge around them to pursue businesses not only to change their communities, but also to find economic stability for themselves and their families,” said Nafi.

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