Thiel Foundation Announces 2019 Thiel Fellows

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New class includes 22 entrepreneurs in Robotics, Healthcare, AI and more:

SAN FRANCISCO—JULY 10, 2019—The Thiel Foundation today named 22 people into the 2019 class of Thiel Fellows. The Fellowship program, which launched in 2011, encourages talented young people to pursue big ideas and start companies instead of attending college.

“Each year, thousands of young people come to us with the best ideas in business and technology,” said Jack Abraham, executive director of the Thiel Fellowship. “Higher education is broken. After a year rife with scandal and the endless debt that follows those who attend, college is becoming even less attractive to young people who have ideas that are ready now.”

During the course of the two-year program, Fellows receive $100,000 and mentorship from the Thiel Foundation’s network of technology founders, investors, and scientists.

“Since its inception, the Thiel Fellowship has been supporting fearless entrepreneurs who want to do big things outside of a classroom and this group is no exception,” said Allyson Dias, director of the Thiel Fellowship. “This next generation of founders is dedicated to creating new things that solve real problems for real people.”

To date, companies created by Thiel Fellows are together worth more than $8.2 billion, not including Thiel fellow-created Ethereum, a distributed computing platform whose cryptocurrency Ether currently has a market cap of more than $30 billion.

About the 2019 Thiel Fellows (Name: Hometown, Current Location):

Adam Pollack: Oyster Bay, NY/Denver, CO

Board

Real Estate, Financial Technology

Board is a new type of mortgage company that upgrades any offer to a cash offer, giving every buyer who can afford a mortgage a better shot at winning their dream home.

Andrei Serban: Mississauga, Ontario/San Francisco, CA

Fuzzbuzz

Software, Cybersecurity

Fuzzbuzz is an automated software testing platform that generates and runs thousands of tests per second to help developers find bugs and security vulnerabilities in their code.

Andrew Ninh: Fountain Valley, CA/San Francisco, CA

Docbot

Healthcare, Medical Device, Health IT

Docbot has developed better computer vision software to save people from colon and stomach cancers by helping colonoscopists identify more precancerous polyps.

Claire Coder: Toledo, OH/Columbus, OH & New York City, NY

Aunt Flow

Healthcare, Feminine Hygiene

Aunt Flow supplies free-venddispensers and 100% organic cotton menstrual products to businesses and schools to ensure that everyone has access to healthy, sustainable wellness products wherever they are.

Davis Foster: Boston, MA/Boulder, CO

Scythe Robotics

Robotics, Hardware, Autonomous Vehicles

Scythe Robotics is building industrial-scale,computer vision-drivenautonomous lawn mowers for commercial landscaping contexts.

Emily Wang: New Haven, CT/New York, NY

Canairy

Healthcare IT, Healthcare AI, Healthcare Technology

Canairy’s software platform tracks and monitors chronic respiratory diseases by using signal processing and machine learning to evaluate qualities and changes in a person’s cough or voice.

Iddris Sandu: Ghana/Los Angeles, CA

Technology, Design

Iddris is a designer and engineer focused on creating a resource hub to empower African youth through sustainable design and technology.

Ilayda Buyukdogan: Istanbul, Turkey/Copenhagen, Denmark

Compocket

Hardware

Compocket is disrupting traditional electronics measurement device manufacturers by creating pocket-sizedand mobile-based smart devices, starting with a mini oscilloscope.

Jake Hillard: Salt Lake City, UT/Palo Alto, CA

Red Leader

Lidar, Hardware

Red Leader is building a software-definedLidar system that uses a fundamentally new architecture and modern digital signal processing to dramatically improve point density.

Jamie Marshall: Providence, RI/Berkeley, CA

Snackpass

Consumer, Software

Snackpass is an app that lets college students order takeout, earn rewards, and share discounts with friends.

Joanne Peng: Regina, Saskatchewan/Victoria, British Columbia

Biology Research

Joanne is a longevity researcher working with blood-basedbiomarkers to better understand how people age.

John Andrew Entwistle: Katonah, NY/Austin, TX

Coder

Software Development

Coder eliminates the limitations of the local machine for software engineers by moving software development to the cloud.

Kai Kloepfer: Boulder, CO/Boston, MA

Biofire

Hardware, Smart Guns

Biofire is building smart guns that use advanced biometric technology to enable radically safer ownership of firearms.

Matthew DiMarcantonio: Williamsburg, VA/Reston, VA

Marble

SaaS, Enterprise Software, Software

Marble makes elegant self-orderingkiosks for cashier-free checkout at restaurants. The company has processed 250,000 orders and will soon launch with several national chains.

Mel Du: Houston, TX/Denver, CO

Ramp USA

Medical Robotics, Electric Vehicles

Ramp USA is expanding mobility for wheelchair users by developing a conversion kit that turns a normal wheelchair into an easy-to-use,off-roadcapable electric vehicle.

Neiman Mathew: Portland, OR/Palo Alto, CA

Hex Labs

Polymer Nanotechnology

Hex is a scientific research company working on quantum computing, supercapacitors, and superconductivity.

Paige Brown: Bangor, ME/Palo Alto, CA

WindBorne

Weather Technology, Aerospace

WindBorne’s high-altitudeweather balloon system flies up to 60x longer than existing offerings, allowing it to provide high-resolution atmospheric data and superior weather prediction services to clients in agriculture, transportation, and disaster preparedness settings.

Phillip Chao: Shanghai, China/San Francisco, CA

Doppler

Software

Doppler is a modern configuration and secrets management tool that helps teams and businesses secure, store and manage API keys, tokens, database credentials, and other sensitive information.

Rohit Kalyanpur: Sammamish, WA/Chicago, IL

Optivolt Labs

Decentralized Energy