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R42 Founder Program

Deep Tech, AI and Science Foundry

Mission

Our mission is to develop diverse entrepreneurs to create, launch, and fund AI companies.

You have an idea, but no one to help you prototype it. We want to help you with it.

R42 will bring your ideas to life. We look at the very earliest stage of ideas, likely when there are only one or two founders, no prototype. This is not a typical accelerator - we want to jump in and help found the company with you. 

For an equity stake, we will join with you in developing, ideating and strategically positioning resources to help get your idea funded quickly.

You will be guided through a process of intense, rapid, and immersive education aimed at accelerating the life cycle of innovative companies, compressing a years’ worth of learning-by-doing into a few months. At the end of the program, individuals will be expected to ultimately build an MVP and Business Model, and will have the opportunity to pitch to R42 and other investors for an investment.

We believe talent exists everywhere. We are inclusive and actively search for entrepreneurs from different backgrounds who want to work in deep science.

Our founders program

  • Dedicates intense resources to develop a few companies at a time all the way through formation, launch and fundraising

  • Provides co-investment funds

  • Arranges demo days internally and externally presenting to customers, partners and investors

  • Provides education in design thinking, product management, AI and its applications, and strategy

 

Our approach

We provide entrepreneurs with mentors who have deep science expertise, who are themselves serial entrepreneurs and  PhDs with 20 years’ + experience in commercialization

 

Our mentors have started, invested in, and sold companies to Motorola, RIM, Apple, Ericsson among others, and bring with them a network of connections to other deep science public and private companies.

 

Dates:

  • Application Open: Rolling

  • Duration: 6 months, with a mid-point check-in after 3 months

 

Next Steps:
  • Apply

  • Finalists will be interviewed by Dr. Ronjon Nag and the R42 Institute team

Application Criteria:

  1. Early-stage startup idea or a project – this could be an idea you have formulated independently or completed as part of your undergraduate final year project, Master’s individual project or PhD project (if involving university intellectual property, check with your academic advisor).

  2. Must involve Deep Tech/Science component

  3. Location: US or UK

  4. Open to those who are about to graduate or have graduated

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