About our client:

Blue Ridge Labs (BRL) is a venture studio, accelerator, and funder that launches and invests in new technology ventures focused on fighting poverty in NYC. Currently, BRL runs three programs aligned with each of these areas: the Fellowship, Catalyst, and the Follow-On-Fund. The Fellowship is BRL’s flagship venture studio program that takes designers, product managers, engineers, and experts through a four-month co-creation process with low-income New Yorkers to launch new start-ups tackling issues of poverty. Catalyst is a six-month accelerator providing funding, connections, and insight for early-stage tech innovators to move from initial product to scale. The Follow-On-Fund provides the initial capital (up to $250,000 per venture), the network, and the guidance critical for new tech ventures to scale. At the heart of the programs is the Design Insight Group (DIG), a community of over 2,500 low-income New Yorkers. They’ve personally faced poverty and now work alongside program participants to develop solutions to the systemic issues they’ve experienced firsthand.

2025 BRL Founder Fellowship — Now Accepting Applicants

This opportunity is intended for early-stage founders building bold solutions to the biggest challenges facing low-income communities in the U.S. The Blue Ridge Labs Founder Fellowship is designed specifically for them.

Hosted by Robin Hood Foundation’s startup lab, the fellowship helps social impact entrepreneurs go from idea to fundable MVP. BRL is looking for builders, dreamers, and doers working at the intersection of technology and equity—especially in the areas of financial empowerment, affordable housing, healthcare, education, and economic mobility.

What Fellows Will Be Doing:

• Leading community-driven research to uncover and define urgent, unmet needs.
• Working closely with a cross-functional team of technologists, designers, and product thinkers to explore solutions.
• Rapidly prototyping, testing, and refining ideas based on real user and customer feedback.
• Building toward a compelling, user-validated MVP by the end of the program.
• Collaborating with community members to ensure solutions are relevant, trusted, and sustainable.
• Sharing progress and insights regularly with peers, mentors, and external stakeholders.
• Thinking beyond launch and focusing on building solutions that can scale and sustain long-term impact.

Who They’re Looking For:

• Individuals deeply committed to advancing equity and tackling challenges that affect low-income communities.
• Professionals with experience in tech, design, product, engineering, or related fields who are ready to apply their skills to meaningful problems.
• Listeners who ground their research in empathy and real-world insights.
• Builders who have developed a product, program, or prototype and can reflect on what they learned in the process.
• Collaborative team players who thrive in cross-functional environments.
• Scrappy and iterative minds who know how to test, learn, and adapt quickly.
• Entrepreneurs with strong drive and a people-centered approach to problem-solving.

Benefits:

• A chance to build real solutions to real problems alongside the communities most impacted.
• Collaboration with a dynamic mix of experts, peers, and community voices who challenge and support one another.
• Access to hands-on mentorship, research support, and funding through Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood.
• A clear runway to turn ideas into high-impact ventures—whether that’s a startup or a nonprofit.
• Learn more about the fellowship and apply here: https://www.labs.robinhood.org/our-programs/fellowship

Compensation:

Fellows selected for the in-person Launch Phase (Phase 2) will receive a $20,000 stipend to support full-time participation in the program. There is no cost to participate.

The Blue Ridge Labs Fellowship (FIR – Founder-In-Residence) offers a unique opportunity for passionate individuals to make a tangible impact on low-income communities. Fellows engage in intensive, community-centric research to identify, define, and test solutions to pressing issues. Collaborating with diverse teams, they develop and iterate on prototypes, aiming to launch minimum viable products (MVPs) that can evolve into sustainable ventures.