Breakout Ventures Explained

Breakout Ventures
Founder:Peter Thiel
Former Name:Breakout Labs
Foundation:2012
Location:38 Mesa St.
Location City:San Francisco, CA
Parent:Thiel Foundation
Homepage:breakout.vc

Breakout Ventures, formerly Breakout Labs,[1] is a venture capital firm affiliated with the Thiel Foundation (a philanthropic organization created by Peter Thiel).[2]

Breakout Labs issued convertible grants[3] for early-stage commercialization of scientific research that was considered too speculative or long-term to interest the for-profit sector (such as angel investors and venture capitalists) but may have been unsuitable for traditional sources of funding for scientific research due to its radical or offbeat nature.[4] Grants were made through a competitive application and selection process.[5]

Recipients

Breakout Labs announced its first batch of grantees on April 17, 2012,[6] its second batch of grantees on August 15, 2012,[7] and its third batch of grantees in April 2013.[8] In total, Breakout Labs made 50 investments before winding down the program in 2021:[9]

Media coverage

The announcement of Breakout Labs (October 2011), as well as the announcements of its first batch of grantees (April 2012), received considerable media attention.[10] The first and second batches of grantees were covered by TechCrunch.[11] [12] Breakout Labs was also covered in Nature[13] and Scientific American.[14]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Loizos . Connie . 2017-09-14 . Breakout Ventures, spun out of Peter Thiel's Breakout Labs, has closed its debut fund with $60M . 2024-11-23 . TechCrunch . en-US.
  2. Web site: Loizos . Connie . 2021-12-10 . Breakout Ventures has a new, $112.5 million fund, backed by Tony Fadell, Chris Sacca and others . 2024-11-23 . TechCrunch . en-US.
  3. Parthasarathy . Hemai . Fishburne . Lindy . 2015 . Philanthropy's role in translating scientific innovation . Nature Biotechnology . en . 33 . 10 . 1022–1025 . 10.1038/nbt.3369 . 1087-0156.
  4. Web site: About Us page on Breakout Labs. 2012-06-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20120227133502/https://www.breakoutlabs.org/about-us.html#. 2012-02-27. dead.
  5. Web site: FAQs page on Breakout Labs. 2012-06-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20120227122041/https://www.breakoutlabs.org/faqs.html#. 2012-02-27. dead.
  6. Web site: Breakout Labs Announces First Grantees. Breakout Labs. 2012-04-17. 2012-06-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20120616114659/https://www.breakoutlabs.org/news-events/news-event-item/article/breakout-labs-announces-first-grantees.html#. 2012-06-16. dead.
  7. Web site: Thiel Foundation's Breakout Labs Announces Newest Grants at the Intersection of Biology and Advanced Technologies. Breakout Labs. 2012-08-15. 2012-08-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20121013195314/https://www.breakoutlabs.org/news-events/news-event-item/article/thiel-foundations-breakout-labs-announces-newest-grants-at-the-intersection-of-biology-and-advanced.html#. 2012-10-13. dead.
  8. Web site: Peter Thiel's Breakout Labs Funds "Nanostraws" And A Siri-Like Natural Language Processing Startup. TechCrunch. Cutler. Kim-Mai. 2013-04-17. 2013-04-17.
  9. Web site: Peter Thiel's 'audacious' early-stage science Breakout Labs fund is winding down . 2024-02-19 . www.bizjournals.com.
  10. Web site: News page on Breakout Labs website. 2012-06-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20120227122630/https://www.breakoutlabs.org/news-events.html. 2012-02-27. dead.
  11. Web site: Peter Thiel's Breakout Labs Awards $350K Each To Six Ambitious Biotech Startups. TechCrunch. Tsotsis. Alexia. 2012-04-17.
  12. Web site: Breakout Labs Grantees. TechCrunch. 2012-08-15. Cutler. Kim-Mai.
  13. Web site: PayPal co-founder's Breakout Labs issues first grants.
  14. Web site: Breakout Labs – a new model for funding science and technology.

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