Are you looking for a way to get into the startup world? You are no longer alone in this journey.
Launch your startup alongside experienced entrepreneurs and ambitious teenagers like yourself from all over the world. Connect safely from home with your future cofounders and join our workshops, remote challenges, online activities, and more.
COVID-19 Omicron:
We are closely monitoring the situation worldwide and locally in San Francisco. If COVID cases don't decline and Omicron remains of concern, we will move this program to an online format in the interest of our students' safety. This means there would be two online programs with their own schedule to accommodate everyone. We should know more by March. Thank you for being so understanding.
Do you want to experience life in Silicon Valley and explore its colleges and companies while building your startup?
Have the opportunity to take a hands-on approach to entrepreneurship in San Francisco. Work and live alongside expert entrepreneurs and like-minded teenagers that will become your cofounders, friends, and family.
We turn ambitious teenagers into startup founders.
Leangap’s unique approach doesn't rely on mock companies or simulations; you will experience entrepreneurship in the real world, not through PowerPoint slides, allowing you to cultivate the crucial skills of successful founders: leadership, creativity, public speaking, and more.
Giving canned lectures to accommodate a large number of students is the go-to option for many programs. We are the only program that takes a 1-on-1 approach for each startup to see them succeed in the real world, not on power-point slides.
Recently, in the middle of a pandemic, Leangap Entrepreneurs achieved:
Currently a Bioengineering student at Northeastern University, Taiki's interests lie in entrepreneurship and the startup community. He interned at the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, one of the top accelerators on the East Coast.
While the vast majority of entrepreneurship programs for high school students only talk about ideas and validation, we take it one step further. We believe that only by building and selling can students truly learn the core fundamentals of entrepreneurship.
During the first week, student entrepreneurs will pitch ideas individually, then students will vote on the best ideas to form teams around them, validate business models, and create the first proof of concept of their products or services.
Teams will then create a minimum viable product with the guidance of our mentors and network.
They will then beta test with real customers and come back to the drawing board with their new learnings.
The ability to generate traction is what separates real startups from "projects". As soon as that first dollar hits your account, you have a company.
With the support of our mentors, students will get sales as soon as humanly possible.
On the last week, students will demo and pitch their company to a judging panel formed by investors, CEOs, technologists, and more.
Companies will be judged based on product-market fit, market size, traction, and pitching.
Amal has two years of experience in venture capital, from due diligence, market research, and fund management, to fundraising directly from limited partners. In 2017, she was the sole Rising Tide team member based in Seoul, South Korea where she raised a feed-fund from high-impact South Korean investors to co-invest with Rising Tide in Silicon Valley companies.
The Leangap Experience is one of the most impactful things you can do as a teenager — starting and launching your own company. This does not go unnoticed by College Admission Officers, Recruiters, Scholarships Officials, Companies, etc.
Since Leangap started 7 years ago, hundreds of alumni have grown into successful startup founders, venture capitalists, prominent community leaders, outstanding business men and women, brilliant students at Ivy League colleges, remarkable interns at top tech companies, and more.
COVID-19 Omicron:
We are closely monitoring the situation worldwide and locally in San Francisco. If COVID cases don't decline and Omicron remains of concern, we will move this program to an online format in the interest of our students' safety. This means there would be two online programs with their own schedule to accommodate everyone. We should know more by March. Thank you for being so understanding.
“I've developed an invaluable network with entrepreneurs and executives that will set any kind of person up for success!”
“The mentors are easily some of the best people I've met in my life. We still keep in touch, and they still look out for us.”
“Leangap changes your life, not just your summer. What I created and experienced at Leangap played a big part to being admitted to Harvard.”
“One time, one of the mentors stayed up the entire night to help me code and build our prototype. Talk about commitment.”
“I came home with the start of a movement, incredible friends, and the knowledge/backing of an invaluable network of entrepreneurs.”
“I can't believe how we created a real tangible product that impacted very real people in the world in just a couple of weeks.”
“I was pushed above and beyond my limit and gave more than I thought I had in my arsenal for the sake of the company and my team.”
“I made lots of new friends. I know these friends will stay for life and the lessons will help me in the future to create my own business.”
“I learned things that I only could by actually building a business, stuff I wouldn't learn by attending 'entrepreneurship' classes”.
Having real entrepreneurs and technologists is the secret sauce to the world's leading teen entrepreneurship program. We invite only the brightest to Leangap, and that applies to mentors as well. Meet successful CEOs, TED speakers, startup founders, software engineers, marketers, and more. We have a 4:1 student to staff ratio.
Co-founder at Discovr Labs, Forbes 30 under 30, Thiel Fellow. She has an EdTech background having previously founded an educational nonprofit. Former research associate at CalTech.
While in college, Kaeya got a deal on ABC’s “Shark Tank” with a prototype for her first product, BZbox. She is now the founder of a venture-backed startup disrupting e-commerce.
Sadok is a TEDx speaker and one of FastCompany Magazine's "Most Innovative Creatives". He also received the Best Mobile Innovation award at the Mobile World Congress.
Oliy started top.gg at 15, which he has grown to over 6 million monthly users. He continues to develop the platform today and advises multiple companies for tech and investment needs.
Find out more about the rest of our team and mentors in this page.
Lindsey was announced as a finalist in Conrad Challenge, one of the most prominent entrepreneurship competitions. Currently a Junior at Saigon South International School, she's leading Elevate the Future Chapter Vietnam, a non-profit organization providing business and computer science education to young learners.
Benefit from these resources from our beloved partners when you join Leangap. Make use of our vast network to increase your chances of success.
For more answered questions, head over to the complete FAQ page.
COVID-19 Omicron:
We are closely monitoring the situation worldwide and locally in San Francisco. If COVID cases don't decline and Omicron remains of concern, we will move this program to an online format in the interest of our students' safety. This means there would be two online programs with their own schedule to accommodate everyone. We should know more by March. Thank you for being so understanding.
“I've developed an invaluable network with entrepreneurs and executives that will set any kind of person up for success!”
“The mentors are easily some of the best people I've met in my life. We still keep in touch, and they still look out for us.”
“Leangap changes your life, not just your summer. What I created and experienced at Leangap played a big part to being admitted to Harvard.”
“One time, one of the mentors stayed up the entire night to help me code and build our prototype. Talk about commitment.”
“I came home with the start of a movement, incredible friends, and the knowledge/backing of an invaluable network of entrepreneurs.”
“I can't believe how we created a real tangible product that impacted very real people in the world in just a couple of weeks.”
“I was pushed above and beyond my limit and gave more than I thought I had in my arsenal for the sake of the company and my team.”
“I made lots of new friends. I know these friends will stay for life and the lessons will help me in the future to create my own business.”
“I learned things that I only could by actually building a business, stuff I wouldn't learn by attending 'entrepreneurship' classes”.
