In a venture ecosystem still dominated by elite networks and late-stage credentials, two Stanford students are betting that the next wave of breakout startups will come from founders who are still in school, and often locked out of capital.

Roman Scott and Itbaan Nafi have raised $2 million to launch Breakthrough Ventures, an accelerator designed to fund and support companies founded by college students and recent graduates across the United States.

The initiative targets a long-standing blind spot in venture capital: early-stage student founders with strong ideas but limited access to money, mentorship, and institutional credibility.

Breakthrough Ventures grew out of a series of student Demo Days hosted at Stanford beginning in 2024. What initially functioned as a campus-based showcase quickly revealed a larger opportunity.

Several participating student startups demonstrated real traction, prompting the founders to move beyond ad hoc programming and build a formal accelerator with national reach.

The fundraise marks a transition from a short-term student initiative into a long-horizon platform structured around sustained founder support rather than one-off cohorts.

Built by Students, Designed for Students

Scott completed his undergraduate degree at Stanford in 2024 and earned a master’s degree the following year. Nafi is currently a master’s candidate at the university. Their proximity to campus life is not incidental; it is central to Breakthrough’s design philosophy.

Unlike traditional accelerators led by former operators or career investors, Breakthrough Ventures is explicitly shaped by people who have navigated the same academic pressures, financial constraints, and credibility gaps as their target founders. The accelerator positions itself as “student-first” not as branding, but as infrastructure.

This positioning distinguishes Breakthrough from existing university-linked programs such as Berkeley’s Free Ventures, MIT’s Sandbox Innovation Fund, and Stanford-affiliated initiatives including StartX, LaunchPad, and Cardinal Ventures.

While these programs play critical roles within their institutions, Breakthrough is intentionally institution-agnostic, drawing participants from colleges nationwide rather than a single campus ecosystem.

The approach reflects a broader shift in how innovation is emerging, less concentrated in a handful of elite schools and increasingly distributed across underrepresented campuses.

Funding, Structure, and Institutional Backing

The $2 million fund attracted backing from venture firms including Mayfield and Collide Capital, alongside investments from Stanford founder alumni. The involvement of established capital firms signals confidence not only in the accelerator’s thesis, but in its leadership and execution plan.

Operationally, the accelerator strengthened its structure in early 2025 with the appointment of Raihan Ahmed to lead program execution.

Breakthrough Ventures operates a hybrid accelerator model. Participating startups gain access to in-person programming hosted at major venture capital firms, with the program culminating in a Demo Day held at Stanford. Each team receives a package of financial and technical support, including:

• Grant funding of up to $10,000

• Cloud and compute credits via Microsoft and Nvidia’s Inception program

• Legal guidance, mentorship, and founder support

• Eligibility for a $50,000 follow-on investment at the end of the program

The accelerator plans to deploy capital over three years, with a target of incubating at least 100 startups across sectors such as AI, health, consumer technology, deep tech, and sustainability.

While Breakthrough Ventures is US-based, its implications extend well beyond American campuses. For Gen Z founders globally, including in Africa and the diaspora, the initiative highlights a growing recognition that age and institutional pedigree are poor predictors of innovation.

Across African universities, student founders face challenges that mirror, and often exceed, those seen in the US: limited early capital, weak mentorship pipelines, and investor skepticism tied to youth rather than substance.

The emergence of student-led accelerators with institutional backing reinforces a critical lesson: access is not a reward for success; it is a prerequisite for it.

Breakthrough’s model also reflects a generational shift in entrepreneurship. For many young people, traditional career pathways no longer guarantee economic stability. Entrepreneurship, once considered risky or premature for students, is increasingly viewed as a viable, and sometimes necessary, an alternative.

A Bet on Gen Z’s Economic Future

Beyond funding startups, Breakthrough Ventures positions itself as a cultural platform for Gen Z entrepreneurship. The accelerator’s long-term ambition is to function as a hub for young founders navigating economic uncertainty, technological disruption, and shifting laboUr markets.

By lowering the barrier to entry for student entrepreneurs, the initiative aims to amplify stories that challenge the idea that meaningful company-building must wait until after graduation, corporate experience, or elite validation.

Applications for Breakthrough Ventures’ latest cohort are now open.