Andreessen Horowitz bets on college alternative as Silicon Valley launches two-year academy for future tech talent

The Horowitz Andreessen Academy, or HAA, is backed by veteran investors Marc Andreessen (pic) and Ben Horowitz, two towering figures of the US tech industry and founders of venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz. — Picture via Facebook

First Published: Wednesday, 23 Sep 2026 1:15 PM MYT

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 23 — The most powerful venture capital firm in Silicon Valley is starting a two-year private school for young people intended to replace college, as some US tech elite question the benefits of a classical university education.

The Horowitz Andreessen Academy, or HAA, is backed by veteran investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, two towering figures of the US tech industry and founders of venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz.

The announcement said students would hear lectures from tech leaders including Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella, Uber founder Travis Kalanick and former OpenAI executive Mira Murati.

It framed San Francisco itself as central to the project, describing the city as unusually open to newcomers and a hub for innovation.

"We think this can be an elite institution that attracts top-tier talent — one that prepares students for the future rather than remaining stuck in the past," the academy's CEO, Gagan Biyani, said on X.

The venture has raised US$42 million from investors, including Shopify chief executive Tobi Lutke, DoorDash chief executive Tony Xu, and former Instacart chief and OpenAI executive Fidji Simo.

"We live in an age of infinite knowledge, and we are entering an age of infinite doing," the academy said in its launch announcement.

Biyani said the program would replace lecture-heavy coursework with independent, business-oriented projects, describing the model as closer to Oxford's tutorial system or the Montessori method than a conventional university.

Some of the tech industry's most celebrated founders never finished college — Microsoft's Bill Gates and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg both left Harvard, while Apple's Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College.

This history is often invoked in Silicon Valley to argue that a degree is not a prerequisite for building a major company, and that young entrepreneurs should not waste time in the classroom.

The academy joins a growing list of venture-backed efforts to position elite young talent outside traditional four-year degree programs, often on the grounds that US campuses are too liberal or anti-business.

The Thiel Fellowship, founded by right-wing billionaire investor Peter Thiel in 2011, pays selected young people to skip or leave college and build companies instead. Its current fellows receive US$250,000 over two years.

Anthropic, Coinbase, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir, Replit and Stripe are among more than 30 companies Biyani described as partners.

They will offer students work experience, advice and computing credits in exchange for early access to talent.

Applications are open for a tuition-free pilot year of 50 students starting in September 2027.

This will precede the eventual two-year, paid version of the program, which Biyani said would be similar in cost to an elite private university.

Annual tuition at Stanford University, in the heart of Silicon Valley, stands at US$67,731 for the 2026-27 academic year, not including room and board. — AFP