Frequently Asked Questions

About the Fellowship

  • Activate does not charge any fees or take any equity (financial stake) in fellow’s companies for individuals to join and participate in the fellowship. Our fellowship program supports people, first and foremost. We have a nonprofit mission to help you find the optimal path for your project to go to market, regardless of the specific business model. The program provides optional funding opportunities that may take equity for additional flexible capital.

  • Activate does not claim any ownership rights over fellows’ IP. Our goal is to support fellows in developing their own IP. Fellows are expected to find research and development space that allows them to retain IP rights to inventions consistent with their business objectives.

  • Fellows are required to work on their proposed project full time. As such, you will have to give up any other primary employment in order to become a fellow. This does not mean that you are not allowed to work on your project using grants or other sources of funding. In fact, we actively help and encourage fellows to apply for grants, including SBIR/STTR, and raise private capital.

  • Applicants will be selected in early spring and quickly begin the onboarding process for a successful start to the fellowship. We expect all fellows to begin their two-year appointments between June 1 and September 1. Fellows are also required to attend the fellowship kickoff events during the early summer. See the timeline at activate.org/apply for details.

  • That's ok. We believe that housing your effort within an incorporated entity provides the best structure to support you as an entrepreneurial innovator. That said, our goal from day one is to support you in finding the best path to drive your technology concept toward impact in the marketplace. That can take many forms, from building a high-growth venture to licensing or early acquisition. Or you may realize that the idea has a fatal flaw you didn't expect. In any case, our primary goal is your personal success and with it the impact of your idea, regardless of the form that takes.

Fellowship Eligibility

  • Please see our eligibility requirements and details on what we look for in a fellow at activate.org/apply.

  • We support fellows whose innovations are based in the hard sciences and impact one of our sixteen verticals. We encourage you to think broadly about the potential use cases and impact of your technology when determining if your project fits, and email us at apply@activate.org with specific questions.

  • Our Fellowship does not currently support innovators developing technologies that only have application in mammalian health. If the underlying technology has the potential to pivot to other, non-healthcare markets and the stage of development is early enough such that market exploration during the fellowship is a key activity, the Activate Fellowship is likely to provide transformative support and it is worth applying. Specifically, if a focus during the fellowship is pursuing FDA approval, Activate is not a good fit. We encourage you to think broadly about the applications and potential impact of your technology and look at other companies we have supported for examples, including Cellcius Bio and Lift Biolabs.

    If Activate is not the right program for your healthcare innovation, below is a list of potential programs that you should explore: 

    There are many programs associated with specific universities with clinical strengths such as: 

  • We have supported pure software plays where there is a combination of a few of the following factors: the core innovation is rooted in a scientific discovery that needs additional technical de-risking, the application of the tech was unclear (e.g. Semiotic Labs), the capital expenditure would need to be high, the core software innovation will need to be built into a hardware product (e.g. Liminal Insights), and/or the impact potential aligned with Activate’s mission was huge (e.g. Terrafuse).

    In regards to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) innovations, we have supported many projects over the years that meet the above guidance.

  • Your participation in the fellowship from a U.S. commonwealth or territory (Puerto Rico, Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and U.S. Virgin Islands) is not limited. Just like all other applicants, you need to either commit to relocating/commuting to a geographically-connected community or convince the Activate Anywhere community review committee that you can be successful developing your innovation from your current U.S-based location.

  • All fellows must be authorized to work in the U.S. for the duration of the fellowship. Applicants who are foreign nationals need to explain their plans for obtaining a valid immigration status by the start of the fellowship. Activate cannot hold, sponsor, or petition for fellow work visas.

    Activate continues to research and share resources for foreign nationals who wish to obtain permission to work as entrepreneurs. Such pathways include the Global GEIR program and the O-1 visa for Individuals of Extraordinary Ability. We encourage you to research pathways that align with your particular background and situation. We encourage you to contact an immigration lawyer as a first step in identifying the options of visa pathways for your own situation.

    If you plan on accessing Berkeley Lab through the Cyclotron Road program as part of the Activate Berkeley community, please see the next FAQ “Does Berkeley Lab have access requirements?”

  • Generally, most fellows in the Activate Berkeley community who want to access Berkeley Lab through the Cyclotron Road Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP) are able to do so in a timely manner through the normal onboarding process. However, applicants who are citizens of—or were born in—Iran, North Korea, China, Russia, Belarus, Cuba, or Syria need U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) permission to work at Berkeley Lab, a process which can take six months or longer to obtain with no guarantee of approval. This guidance is also subject to change. See more information from the Research Compliance Office here, Department of Energy on Counties of Risk here, and under “Foreign Visits & Assignments” here.

  • We encourage all applicants to explore programs that best support their growth as entrepreneurs and the development of their technologies. Eligibility for the Activate Fellowship depends on the timing and nature of your participation in other fellowships:

    • If you have not yet been accepted into Breakthrough or LEEP at the time of your Activate application:

      • Breakthrough Energy Fellowship: You may participate in both programs if offered.

      • LEEP (e.g., Chain Reaction Innovations, Innovation Crossroads, West Gate): You will likely need to choose either Activate or LEEP. In some cases, it may be possible to participate in LEEP while joining the Activate Anywhere community. Note that the Cyclotron Road program in LEEP is operated as a partnership between Activate and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

    • If you are currently a fellow or alumnus/a of Breakthrough or LEEP:

      • Breakthrough Energy Fellowship: It is very unlikely you would be selected for Activate, as our selection criteria emphasize additionality—the extent to which Activate would provide transformative value beyond other support already received.

      • LEEP: Former or current LEEP fellows are not eligible for the Activate Fellowship, as LEEP provides comparable support. Additionally, individuals who were co-founders of companies supported through LEEP are unlikely to be selected.

  • The intention of the Activate Fellowship is to give scientists the ability to pursue their entrepreneurial visions, which includes freedom from other commitments of their time and energy—including Ph.D. programs. To participate in the upcoming cohort, applicants currently in Ph.D. programs are expected to complete their degrees by September of the year the cohort starts. (Cohort 2026 applicants should complete their Ph.D. by September of 2026.)

    Activate is not a traditional academic post-doctoral fellowship. Our program enables fellows to launch companies to commercialize their inventions.

  • We will consider applications for projects ranging from early concepts that have not yet been fully validated—if the applicant has performed convincing cost or technoeconomic modeling—to projects with early prototypes. Most applicants have established an early “proof of concept” supported by data that the innovation works by experimentally testing their ideas. Projects already at full-scale commercial deployment are too advanced for the fellowship.

  • Yes, you can apply with a co-founder, and individuals working together on a project are required to apply together as a team (vs in two separate applications). We take up to two co-applicants from the same project on a single application. The Principal applicant needs to strictly meet the eligibility requirements. The co-applicant should meet our eligibility requirements as close as possible, but note that your application will not be disqualified due to an ineligible co-founder.

    The Principal applicant is the individual who begins the application by completing the eligibility quiz, and optionally adds a co-applicant as a collaborator to the application. You cannot swap the Principal and co-applicants in the application platform yourself. If you want to swap applicants, reach out to us at apply@activate.org for support.

    Note that our model is to provide fellowship funding for one individual per project, and our default is to fund the Principal applicant on your application. Co-applicants who are vetted through our application process will have the potential to become "Activate Affiliate Fellows." These individuals are fully recognized as part of the fellow communit and gain access to the fellowship program, but do not receive funded fellowships.

    If you are part of a team with multiple individuals who are eligible for the fellowship, we recommend you select the individual who most wants to participate in the fellowship education and community to be the Principal applicant.

  • If your co-founder is clearly not eligible for the fellowship, you should not apply with that individual as a co-applicant. The Principal applicant needs to meet 100% of our eligibility requirements. Co-applicants are preferred to also meet all eligibility requirements, but rare exceptions may be made for co-applicants with very close to or equivalent qualifications.

  • Applicants are not required to have an incorporated entity in order to apply, and applying after incorporation does not provide you with an advantage or a disadvantage. If selected for the fellowship, you will need to establish an appropriate legal and U.S.-based entity for your project with our support.

Fellowship Application Process

  • We can only accept one application per applicant or applicant team (two individuals applying together, as co-founders) per application cycle. If you have multiple projects or ideas, we recommend that you apply with the project that best fits our selection criteria. If you are developing a platform technology with many potential end uses, see the “How should I write my application if I am applying with a platform technology that has many potential end uses? Am I at a disadvantage?” FAQ for more information.

  • We have supported many fellows with “platform technologies,” like a new material or process, who have an early hypothesis of the best market and product when they apply, but spend the fellowship exploring options. We suggest that you focus your application on what you have defined as the most promising initial use of your technology, but discuss the scope of other potential use cases. It is better for you to be open about potential, unexplored use cases so our team sees the full potential of your project. Also answer “yes” to the following application question that flags your potential to pivot to our team: “Does your technology have the potential to pivot to other markets not mentioned in your application?” Our review team keeps the range of use cases and the potential to pivot in mind when evaluating the future impact of your innovation.

  • Your application will be reviewed by scientific and industry experts from our network in accordance with our privacy policy. Based on summary application information, potential reviewers will be asked to recuse themselves from accessing any application that may pose a potential conflict of interest, and any selected reviewers will commit to not disclosing information outside of the formal selection process. We will not share application materials outside of the review process without your express permission. While we encourage you to be as open as possible in your application, we would advise against including any critically sensitive proprietary details. We are using AI tools internally to categorize and contextualize applications. We are not using public AI tools that train on the information provided. Finally, remember to mark all pages of your application with the footer “Confidential and Proprietary – Exempt from Disclosure.”

    Review Activate’s Privacy Policy here.

  • We have selection committees for each of our fellowship communities. These committees evaluate applications based on our selection criteria and consider feedback from expert reviewers. See activate.org/apply for more information.

  • Our primary selection filter will be based on your individual strengths as a potential fellow. We are looking for entrepreneurial technical leaders who have the drive and ability to build transformative technology and lead a team in its development. We also work to ensure that the initial project concept is technically sound, reasonably differentiated, and addresses a well-framed problem with the potential for significant long-term impact in one or more of our sixteen verticals we target. (Note: If you are working in life science, please review the FAQ on life science project eligibility.) Learn more at activate.org/apply under “What We Look For”.

  • Activate Fellows are actively translating science to product, so access to laboratory space to do that work is essential. As part of the application process, all fellowship applicants are required to explain how the Activate community they are applying to will help them to be successful in their pursuit to turn science to impact. This includes an explanation of their plan to access laboratory space by the start of the fellowship that will let them retain control of any intellectual property generated and is aligned with their needs.

    To be successful, a typical fellow needs to be able to access the tools, equipment, facilities, and collaborators necessary to advance their technical projects toward a commercial product while retaining intellectual property (IP) rights consistent with the fellow’s business objectives. We strongly believe that requiring fellows to direct and control their own efforts (i.e. not under the direction of a principal investigator as would occur in an academic lab) is necessary for their growth as entrepreneurs. Although we expect applicants to have thought carefully about where and how they will conduct their work, we understand that some arrangements will be more straightforward than others. We do not expect an applicant’s plans for accessing laboratory space to be finalized or executed when they apply, but we do expect a reasonable plan that can be put in place by the start of the fellowship in summer 2026. Candidates who reach the interview stage based on the overall strength of their application will have the opportunity to discuss this aspect of their fellowship with the Activate team.

    Example laboratory space accessed by Fellows:

    • Federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) or government-sponsored research institute

    • User facility or incubator at a local university

    • Non-academic incubator with the necessary facilities

    • Lab space rented by the applicant

    See the “Does Activate provide access to laboratory space?” FAQ for more information.

  • Fellows coming out of a Ph.D., postdoctoral, or staff scientist appointment will not be allowed to continue working directly in their current academic laboratory under the management of their principal investigator. Fellows may, however, form collaborations with their previous academic laboratory or with other institutional laboratories, provided those collaborations are focused on developing their technology and do not compromise their ability to develop independent intellectual property (IP).

    One of the key opportunities of the Activate Fellowship is that it allows fellows to create a new, independent mindset centered around developing their technologies for the greatest impact. We believe that requiring fellows to direct their own efforts in a new environment is necessary for their growth as entrepreneurs.

  • Most communications from Activate will come from the apply@activate.org email address. We recommend making sure emails from this address are not sent to your spam or promotion folders. We post our application review timeline on the Activate Apply webpage.

  • Finalizing a cohort of fellows requires many levels of coordination with our partners and sponsors, so occasionally we need to put applicants on an acceptance waitlist if not fully confirmed by the notification deadline. Any applicants on the waitlist will be accepted or rejected from the fellowship at a date no later than the fellowship start date indicated in our application review timeline on Activate.org/apply.

  • We typically do not provide written or verbal reviews of applications, including the input we receive from external written reviewers. If we have feedback to provide, it will be offered to you. The Activate communities occasionally offer feedback to applicants who were interviewed at the video interview or finalist interview stages.

Fellowship Communities

  • Activate offers five Activate communities: collectives of fellows who are either geographically or virtually connected. Our geographically-connected communities are Activate Berkeley, Activate Boston, Activate Houston, and Activate New York. Fellows in the Activate Anywhere Community are located throughout the U.S. and virtually connected.

  • Any one fellow or pair of fellows on the same team can only join one community because 1. Each fellow (or team of fellows) receives individual mentorship and support from a dedicated Managing Director and local team in their community. 2. We require fellows to participate in community-led activities to build close bonds within their community of fellows.

  • We allow applicants to apply to as many fellowship communities as they wish using the following guidance:

    • If you plan to live within 70 miles of Berkeley, Boston, Houston, or New York City during the fellowship you are ineligible for the virtual Activate Anywhere Community.

    • The community of fellows is the most valuable aspect of the Activate Fellowship, and in-person participation in fellowship activities is essential to building those lasting relationships. For this reason we have strong in-person participation expectations for fellows. Only apply for the communities for which you are willing and able to be a full participant:

      • Anywhere: Fellows are required to attend US-based quarterly trips, sponsored by Activate.

      • Berkeley / Cyclotron Road: Relocation to the SF Bay Area, CA is required.

      • Boston: Relocation to the Boston / Cambridge, MA area is required.

      • Houston: Fellows are required to relocate to within a commutable driving distance (e.g. Austin) to Houston, TX for attending a minimum of twice a month in-person programming.

      • New York: Relocation to within a two hour commute of the New York, NY area is required.

    Applicants are asked to rank the communities for which they wish to be considered and provide information on how rank was determined. If you apply to multiple communities, Activate will ultimately match you to a community. We look closely at candidate preference alongside other factors when matching to communities. An applicant’s ability to be a contributing member of the fellowship community is strongly considered in the application evaluation process. We provide a relocation stipend for new fellows who live further than 70 miles from their community and move to participate.

  • This limitation exists because the intention of Activate Anywhere is to offer the fellowship opportunity to scientist entrepreneurs located in geographies removed from our in-residence Activate communities.

  • No. As long as you, the Fellow, are participating in-person in your Activate community’s events, you can continue to work with collaborators and/or team members elsewhere.

  • We encourage you to apply to the Activate Community that is the best fit for the Primary Applicant. Remember that we expect fellows on the same team to be participating in the same Community, so the ability of the Co-applicant to join the fellowship as an affiliate fellow will depend on your unique circumstances and the flexibility of the Community to allow commuters (See the “Can I participate in multiple Activate communities?” question for details.)

  • Activate does not have dedicated laboratory space, but:

    • We provide $100,000 in research funding to each project / company in the fellowship that may be used to access laboratory space as needed

    • In our geographically-connected communities, we have a number of laboratory partners where we provide streamlined facility access. See our community pages for details.

  • Starting in Cohort 2022, we began to support fellows located in the U.S. but outside our Berkeley, Boston, Houston, and New York communities as part of a virtual community of fellows called Activate Anywhere.

  • Fellows consistently rate the relationships they form within their cohorts and across the wider Activate community to be the most valuable aspect of the fellowship. This is no different for fellows in the Activate Anywhere Community. We facilitate regular (approximately one per quarter) in-person meetings for the Activate Anywhere Fellows.

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