Indian-origin entrepreneur Gagan Biyani launches Horowitz Andreessen Academy, an alternative to the traditional college for future founders.
For the first year, it will remain tuition-free and every student will get $50,000 in compute credits and a $5,000 travel budget, Forbes reported. The academy rather rejects the idea that 18-year-olds in San Francisco are valuable insofar as they have a startup idea to dedicate a decade to. Biyani is the CEO of the newly launched Horowitz Andreessen Academy, a private, for-profit school designed as an alternative to the traditional college route for young people interested in technology, entrepreneurship and artificial intelligence.
In the Forbes interview, Biyani said that the idea of an elite academy is not to reject conventional college. Teaching is not the primary focus of the academy, Biyani said. “The primary thing we’re offering is the ability for students to pursue their own objectives.”
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Gagan Biyani, best known as a co-founder of online learning platform Udemy, is now taking on an unusual education venture: a new San Francisco academy backed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z. It will neither guarantee a job nor a paid partnership. The academy is looking for brightest high schoolers and calling them pre-idea founders.
He worked as a tech journalist before venturing into entrepreneurship and in 2009, he co-founded Udemy. Born to Indian parents in California, Gagan studied Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He began his career working at Accenture before transitioning into technology entrepreneurship and journalism.
The academy has raised $42 million, including $35 million from Andreessen Horowitz, according to reports. Its first programme, beginning in September 2027, will be a one-year, tuition-free programme for about 50 students. The academy is not currently accredited and will not award degrees or transferable college credits.