Andreessen Horowitz is putting $42 million behind a new education venture aimed at young tech builders who might otherwise head to college, betting that the artificial intelligence boom is creating demand for a different path into Silicon Valley.
The Horowitz Andreessen Academy, a for-profit company incubated by the venture capital firm known as a16z, plans to bring its first class of roughly 50 students to San Francisco in September 2027 for a tuition-free, one-year fellowship.
Instead of relying heavily on traditional academic credentials, the academy says admissions will focus on what applicants have already built, shipped or earned. Students will spend much of the program working on projects and learning from technology executives and entrepreneurs rather than taking traditional tests and completing homework.
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The approach represents a Silicon Valley experiment in how education could change as AI reshapes the skills companies seek from workers and founders.
“In our estimation, the AI revolution is going to be as transformational to jobs as the Industrial Revolution was to the agricultural society that came before it,” said Ben Horowitz, co-founder and general partner at a16z. “The training that worked for the Industrial Revolution isn’t going to map perfectly onto the AI revolution, so somebody has to pioneer how you train a person for this new world. That’s what we built the Academy to do. This isn’t just an investment idea for us. It’s an investment in the future of the country.”
A16z is joined in the $42 million investment by technology executives and investors including Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, Quora co-founder Adam D’Angelo, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan and Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar.
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The venture has also lined up Google, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic, Coinbase, Palantir, Stripe, Anduril and Replit as founding partners. The companies will provide resources and expertise, including software, hardware and computing power, according to the academy.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOOGL | ALPHABET INC. | 343.92 | +1.56 | +0.46% |
| META | META PLATFORMS INC. | 751.66 | -25.93 | -3.33% |
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP. | 225.07 | +0.49 | +0.22% |
Each student is expected to receive more than $50,000 in computing credits and other technology resources, along with a $5,000 travel and exploration budget. Courses will cover areas including AI systems, sales, fundraising, finance and startup formation.
Gagan Biyani, who co-founded online learning company Udemy and later founded Maven, is leading the academy as founder and CEO. Marc Andreessen and a16z general partner Erik Torenberg will join him on its board.
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The fellowship is designed primarily for high school graduates and can serve as a gap year or college deferral. The academy plans to seek regulatory approval for a two-year program that could begin in fall 2028, with tuition expected to be comparable to elite private universities.
The company is separate from Andreessen Horowitz despite its close ties to the venture capital firm.
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