OVERVIEW: The Thiel Foundation supports science and technology, new inventions, and mimetic theory across social sciences.
IP TAKE: The Thiel Foundation is best known for “disrupt[ing] the traditional path to success” with its Thiel Fellowships. While Thiel considers himself a libertarian, much of the foundation’s past giving skews conservative. According to Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen’s article, “The Thiel Foundation: Contrarian Philanthropy,” Peter Thiel’s “tech stagnation thesis” contends that advances in computer science and communications masked disappointing progress in energy, transportation, biotechnology, disease prevention, and space travel. Thiel argues these disappointments have led to near-stagnation in real incomes and wages since 1973, and for widening inequality in wealth distribution. Much of this belief appears to guide the Thiel Foundation’s approach to philanthropy, as well as Thiel’s approach to politics. Beyond his foundation, Thiel invests in various DAFs — like $4.2 million in 2021 to DonorsTrust, associated with far-right issues like hate — as well as a handful of interests outside of his typical focus areas, like pronatalism. In contrast to it’s founder’s fortune, the Thiel Foundation makes very few grants each year.
In recent years, the Thiel Foundation has narrowed the scope of its giving down to core programs, greatly reducing its web presence down to a single page. The Foundation’s website is skeletal; however, it does include the sentence, “We also back people working on hard problems that won’t otherwise get solved,” followed by the contact information for press inquiries. And while the direct meaning of the statement is unclear, it does seem to imply that the foundation is open to hearing from grantseekers about their projects. This funder’s named programs accept applications via their individual websites.
PROFILE: Thiel Foundation is a private foundation in West Hollywood founded in 2006 by Peter Thiel. The Thiel Foundation seeks to “support science, technology, and long-term thinking about the future.” After attending Stanford for undergrad and law school, the German-born and conservative donor Thiel served as an appeals court clerk and a derivative trader for Credit Suisse before founding Thiel Capital Management, PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and the Founders Fund. PayPal eventually went public and was later sold to eBay, making Thiel’s shares worth roughly $55 million. Thiel used part of this fortune to found Clarium Capital, a global macro hedge fund. He also co-founded Founders Fund, a venture capital firm, with other PayPal cofounders. Thiel was also an early backer of Facebook, OpenAI, DeepMind, and Cognition Labs.
The Thiel Foundation focuses on three programs: Imitatio, Breakout Labs, and The Thiel Fellowship.
Grants for Technology, Science and Cell Research
The Thiel Foundation’s website is a bare-bones single page, but it lists two separate funding programs that focus on:
The Thiel Fellowships provides $100,000 of funding over two-years for young people to drop out of school to build new things.
Fellows are located all over the world and the fellowship is open to applicants aged 22 or younger. There are about 20 to 30 fellows each year. Read the FAQ before applying.
Considering the nature of the Thiel Fellowships, the Foundation has given to several colleges and universities in the past. It is important to remember, however, that higher education does not appear to have received any real support since Thiel established the fellowships. Nevertheless, past grantees include Leland Stanford Junior University, Claremont Mckenna College, King’s College, Haverford College, and Cambridge.
- According to Forbes, the Thiel Fellowships have yielded positive results.
Imitatio promotes the idea that imitation drives human behavior. René Girard served as a professor in the French and Italian departments at Stanford University, who wrote on several topics from culture to philosophy. Influenced by Girard’s mimetic theory — which holds that human desire is not autonomous, but copied — Thiel learned to categorize behavior across disciplines. In this light, Thiel cofounded Imitatio in 2007 with Robert Hamerton-Kelly to further Girard’s work across disciplines:
These grants further research and application of René Girard’s mimetic theory across the social sciences.
Grantseekers can apply here.
- Breakout Ventures, formerly Breakout Labs, is another funding opportunity, reflects a partnership between Thiel and Lindy Fishburne to start a seed fund for bioscience. The pair observed a funding gap, with little seed money for companies pursuing research that had yet to show commercial validation. Unafraid to take funding risks, Breakout Labs has become the first funder for many of these start-ups.
- While it is not listed on the Thiel Foundation, funding has supported much of BV’s work.
- The firm provided companies with up to $350,000 and two years of mentorship, helping develop a growth strategy and attract funders.
- More than a traditional grantmaking opportunity, BV provides vc-backing for bioscience entrepreneurship. BV provides companies with up to $350,000 and two years of mentorship, helping to develop a growth strategy and attract funders. BV has a portfolio of several dozen science companies that have raised over $1 billion in follow-on funding.
- BV claims that its recipients have grown artificial leather, developed therapeutics to alter the course of Alzheimer’s disease, and transformed industrial carbon dioxide emissions into useful products. Breakout also provided seed funding for SciBac, a company developing medicines for patients with antibiotic resistance.
- The Thiel Foundation also makes other grants outside of its three . Most of these have gone to science and technology-focused organizations.
- The foundation gave $3.5 million to the Methuselah Mouse Prize foundation’s anti-aging research and heavily supported Methuselah Foundation. It gave $1.627 million to Machine Intelligence Research Institute.
- Thiel has also given over $1 million to the Seasteading Institute to support building floating communities on the ocean. It has also given to mimetic organizations such as the Colloquium On Violence and Religion and The Cornerstone Forum.
Grants for Democracy and Civic Engagement
According to a recent interview, Thiel “has lost interest in democracy.” Direct donations for candidates aside, the foundation has provided funding for think tanks and conservative policy groups in the past.
- The foundation has given at least $400,000 to The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism, a nonprofit think-tank dedicated to promoting the work and ideas of the controversial writer.
- It has also given to Preaching Peace and Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace.
- According to 990s, the foundation has consistently funded Mercatus, a right-wing think tank based at George Mason University. In 2020, Mercatus launched Emergent Ventures with a $1 million grant from Thiel’s foundation.
Grants for Faith-based Giving
While this is not a major area of giving, it is a growing trend reflected in 2023 tax filings. Much of this funding is an extension of Thiel’s conservatism and background in Mimetic Theory. Recent grantees include the multi-year grantee Lumen Christi Foundation.
Important Grant Details:
While the Thiel Foundation is currently focused on the fellowships and Imitatio grants, in past years, annual grantmaking has averaged $4 million to $8 million. $50,000 is the most common amount.
- This funder makes grants all over the U.S., but has also made grants globally to foundations in Italy, Brazil, the Netherlands, Mexico, Ireland, and the U.K.
- While it makes grants nationally, this funder concentrates funding in California, specifically in the Bay Area.
- Thiel does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding; however, it does provide a way to contact the foundation with questions at jeremiah@torchcomllc.com.
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