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Activate
Activate Fellowship
Amount
$90,000 for 2 years
Deadline
Oct 28, 2025
Odds
346 fellows to date
Effort
1 to 2 hrs
Can you get this?
✓For scientists and engineers founding hard tech startups
✓Early-stage science entrepreneurs supported
✓Two-year fellowship program
✓No equity taken from fellows
Your real odds
Activate has supported 346 fellows across multiple cohorts since founding, so spots open regularly and the program is selective without being vanishingly rare.
Five U.S. community tracks plus a flexible national track run each annual cycle, which means real competition from PhD-level deep-tech founders, and the program is built to find scientists who haven't launched yet rather than those already funded.
What it takes
Review criteria and find your community1 to 2 hrs
Prepare application covering research and vision1 to 3 wks
Submit before the cycle deadline1 day
Worth knowing
Activate explicitly targets the zero-to-one stage, so you don't need a co-founder, customers, or prior startup experience, and applying before you feel ready is the intended use of this fellowship.
What else do you qualify for?
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Select all three to see your result.
$50B+ in available capital across grants, VC funds, CDFIs, and accelerators. Filter by your industry, stage, and region, and see everything you qualify for.
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