A college with no degrees or grades: Meet Udemy co-founder Gagan Biyani behind Silicon Valley’s $42 million AI college- Moneycontrol.com

A college with no degrees or grades: Meet Udemy co-founder Gagan Biyani behind Silicon Valley’s $42 million AI college
Indian-origin entrepreneur Gagan Biyani is launching a $42 million-backed Silicon Valley academy where young students will learn through projects, mentorship and technology industry exposure.
September 25, 2026 / 13:45 IST
(Image: Gagan Biyani/LinkedIn)

• Horowitz Andreessen Academy offers a tuition-free program.
• Gagan Biyani leads the new Silicon Valley education experiment.
• The academy focuses on projects, tech, and real-world experience.

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Indian-origin entrepreneur Gagan Biyani is leading a new Silicon Valley experiment that puts projects, technology and real-world experience at the centre of education rather than a conventional degree. The Horowitz Andreessen Academy, backed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has raised $42 million and will offer its first group of students a tuition-free, one-year programme from September 2027.

The San Francisco-based academy is aimed at young people leaving high school or those in the early years of college who want to build products, explore technology and work on their own projects. The inaugural class is expected to have about 50 students. The programme will not award a degree or transferable college credits, and the academy is currently unaccredited

Instead of following a conventional college structure, students will spend much of their time developing projects, learning from technology entrepreneurs and industry figures, and gaining exposure to companies working in areas such as artificial intelligence. The academy says students will not have traditional grades, tests or homework as the central part of their learning model

Horowitz Andreessen Academy: What will students learn?

The academy describes itself as a school for “unusually ambitious young builders”. Its stated aim is to provide students with skills, professional networks and practical experience for an economy being reshaped by AI. Biyani, who is the academy’s CEO and co-founder, has positioned the project as an extension of his earlier work in education technology

The programme will combine short courses, mentorship and student-led work. Technology leaders including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang are among the prominent figures associated with the academy’s network. The academy has also announced partnerships involving companies including Google, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI and Palantir

However, the high-profile names are not intended to replace hands-on learning. The academy says students will be given substantial time to pursue their own objectives and build projects. Its model is centred on learning through practical work, mentorship and exposure to the technology industry

The academy’s founding corporate partners include Anduril, Anthropic, Coinbase, Google, Meta, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir, Replit and Stripe. It also plans to connect students with a wider network of technology companies and hiring partners

Gagan Biyani’s journey from Udemy to a new Silicon Valley school

The new academy is not Biyani’s first attempt to reshape how people learn. He co-founded Udemy with Eren Bali and Oktay Caglar, helping build the online learning platform into a major education technology company. He later co-founded Maven, a platform focused on cohort-based learning

With the Horowitz Andreessen Academy, Biyani is moving from online education to an in-person institution designed around building and experimentation. The academy’s launch announcement says the project grew from his belief in lifelong learning and the need to prepare young people for an environment increasingly influenced by AI

The academy’s selection process is also intended to place weight on what applicants have actually built, shipped or earned. However, current reporting indicates that applicants may still be required to provide transcripts and test scores, even though the programme itself does not use conventional grades as its primary learning structure

Horowitz Andreessen Academy fees: Why the first year is free

The inaugural programme will be tuition-free, with students also receiving more than $50,000 in computing credits and a $5,000 travel and research budget. The academy plans to use the first year to establish its model before seeking regulatory approval for a longer programme

If approval is secured, the academy plans to introduce a two-year programme from 2028. Biyani has said tuition could be in the range of $60,000 to $90,000 a year, broadly comparable with fees at elite private universities. The future programme would therefore represent a significant shift from the free inaugural year

The academy is being established as a separate for-profit education company rather than as an accredited university. It does not currently offer a degree, transferable college credits or federal student aid. The programme also does not guarantee students a job or paid internship

For Biyani, the central question is whether young people can gain enough practical skills, industry exposure and professional networks through this model to build careers without following the conventional college route. The first cohort, beginning in September 2027, will provide the academy’s initial test of that approach

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Source: www.moneycontrol.com