Why we exist
Our mission
To help people build what's next by giving them the knowledge, community, access to capital and care they need to thrive, as founders and as whole people, no matter where they start.
Our vision
An innovation economy where success looks like everyone: shaped by women, by underserved communities, and by the artists, educators and builders who make a place worth building in.
We started as Funding Breakthrough Lab, an equity-free pre-accelerator built by a founder who arrived in Silicon Valley with no network. We built the program we wished we had.
Today Breakthrough Lab is the home for everything we run: open workshops, curated gatherings, hackathons and the accelerator itself. We teach founders to value themselves and to see that capital is everywhere once they do. We believe breakthroughs come from people who are supported, connected and inspired, so we invest in the whole person and the culture around them, not just the company.
94% of alumni surveyed say we were a key contributor or the driving force behind getting started.
Alumni survey, August 2026 (17 responses)
Our story
Breakthrough Lab grew out of Funding Breakthrough Lab, the equity free pre-accelerator. Since 2025, 72 founders have come through 3 accelerator cohorts, and our community and newsletter now reach more than 30,000 founders and builders.
The accelerator keeps its own home at fundingbreakthroughlab.org. Everything else we run lives here: open workshops, curated gatherings, hackathons, summits and the communities we champion.
Breakthrough Lab, home of the Funding Breakthrough Lab accelerator, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit known legally as Funding Breakthrough Lab Inc. EIN 33-2936020.
Leadership
Operators, investors and founders who coach, advise and support every cohort, from selection to demo day.
Founder
Founder and CEO, Funding Breakthrough Lab
Natalie founded FBL after seven years as a nonprofit community builder, and has grown it into a community of 25,000+ founders and builders. She leads the Pre-Accelerator and curates the speakers and investors in every cohort.
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, WOMEN x AI
Jenny Kay co-founded WOMEN x AI to empower women in AI globally, and brings that network and perspective to FBL Fellows.
Startup GTM advisor · Berkeley SkyDeck
Keith advises startups on go-to-market and lectures at Berkeley SkyDeck, where he is a key advisor.
Product leader · Investor and advisor
A decade of technology-enabled transformation, including FDA-registered SaMD products for remote patient monitoring and AR/VR education at zSpace. Holly is an active investor, advisor and mentor across healthcare and emerging technology.
Senior Startup Program Manager, INNOVIT
Rochi designs and runs startup acceleration programs at INNOVIT, with a data-driven background spanning MercadoLibre, AON, EY and General Motors.
Head of AI Events
A founder and operating executive focused on AI, agentic systems and enterprise software, with two decades leading product and go to market, including multiple roles as founder and CEO. Sajjad mentors founders and is cofounder and past President of Harvard Business School Alumni Angels.
Head of Deep Tech Events
Founder and CEO of DeepMechanix, building AI native tools for engineering and construction. Aman holds a Ph.D. from Purdue and publishes research on mechanical metamaterials.
Head of Women's Events
On the investments team at Mercurius Media Capital, after running Draper University's residential accelerator and a Venture Fellowship at GoingVC. Her career spans India, Australia and the US.
Head of Philanthropy
A founder, engineer and artist working across robotics, physical AI and logistics. Ivan co-founded Woosh, a crowdsourced logistics platform, and holds an M.Eng. in controls from UC Berkeley.
Engineering
An engineer focused on physical AI, IoT and AI agents, studying for a Master of Engineering at UCLA. His team placed second globally out of 24,000 entries in the EY AI and Data Challenge.
Head of Operations
An operations executive who has helped scale organizations from $12M to $60M in revenue, leading multi site teams of 120+ people and putting ISO 9001 quality systems in place.
What we value
Candid feedback from investors and operators, including the parts that are hard to hear.
We teach what actually works, and treat venture, debt, grants and revenue as equally valid paths.
Your interests ahead of any single deal, even when the right answer is not to raise yet.
Started by a founder who began with no network. We build what we wish we had.
Partners help fund our programs. They never decide who gets in.
No equity and no tuition in our accelerator, ever.