Andreessen Horowitz launches startup 'academy' backed by Google, Meta, Palantir

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has announced a new initiative called the "Horowitz Andreessen Academy," pitched as a pathway for young people into building or joining a Silicon Valley startup.

The program launches with ten partner companies — Anduril, Anthropic, Coinbase, Google, Meta, NVIDIA, OpenAI, Palantir, Replit, and Stripe — along with $42 million in funding led by a16z.

No degree, but industry access

Although billed as a "highly selective school," the academy does not grant any degree or accreditation. Instead, participants will attend short classes taught by notable tech figures, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, as well as "co-op" placements giving students roles at tech companies.

To join the one-year program, students must relocate to San Francisco and arrange their own housing. Participants are promised more than $50,000 in compute credits along with a $5,000 travel and research budget from a16z. The academy says there will be "no traditional grades, tests, or homework" — students will attend short, high-impact classes and spend the rest of their time working and exploring.

Part of a broader trend

The academy follows a pattern of Silicon Valley billionaires creating their own alternatives to traditional education, with Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos all having funded their own schools. a16z founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have previously criticized traditional colleges — last year, Andreessen reportedly described Stanford and MIT as "political lobbying operations fighting American innovation" in a group chat with White House officials and tech leaders, according to The Washington Post.

The first one-year cohort, starting in fall 2027, will be free of charge and will accept only 50 students, mainly recent high school graduates.