The newest class of fellows from the Thiel Fellowship is tackling some of the most ambitious problems in technology, from autonomous logistics and robotics to financial infrastructure, AI research, biotech simulations, and next-generation commerce platforms.
This year’s cohort reflects where global innovation is heading. Artificial intelligence remains a dominant theme, but the 2026 fellows are also building in industries like defense tech, fintech, robotics, logistics, infrastructure, fraud detection, and biotech. The selected founders span the globe, representing cities across North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Here’s a closer look at the 2026 Thiel Fellows and the companies they’re building.
1. Cavalla, Victor Boyd
Cavalla, founded by Victor Boyd, is focused on radically accelerating the movement of goods.
The startup’s long-term vision is ambitious: getting anything anywhere in under five hours. Cavalla is beginning with autonomous forklifts while working toward larger infrastructure systems, including what Boyd describes as “hypersonic highways.” The company sits at the intersection of robotics, logistics, and advanced transportation infrastructure.
2. Praso, Samuel Carvalho
Praso, founded by Samuel Carvalho, is modernizing wholesale commerce for underserved regions in Brazil.
Praso is building infrastructure that combines procurement, credit, and workflow tools for SMBs. The company aims to streamline operations for merchants and businesses that have historically lacked access to modern commerce systems and financial infrastructure.
3. EveryTicker, Nick Dobroshinsky
EveryTicker, founded by Nick Dobroshinsky, is designed to make institutional-grade financial research accessible to a broader audience.
The company focuses on covering the thousands of smaller public companies often overlooked by Wall Street analysts, giving retail investors and market participants deeper access to market intelligence across the U.S. stock market.
4. Juicebox, Ishan Gupta
Juicebox, founded by Ishan Gupta, is building AI-powered recruiting technology focused on improving hiring decisions.
The startup is creating AI agents that evaluate real-world skills and competencies, aiming to reduce bias and inefficiencies in the hiring process. Juicebox is part of a growing wave of startups attempting to reshape talent acquisition using AI-driven assessments.
5. Derpetual, Antoni Kiszka
Derpetual, founded by Antoni Kiszka, is building infrastructure for leveraged markets across a wide range of assets.
The startup’s broader mission is to enable markets for virtually any asset category, expanding how financial instruments can be traded and accessed.
6. Opt32, Milan Lustig
Opt32, founded by Milan Lustig, is building compute systems designed to bring AI directly into physical machines.
Opt32 is focused on enabling onboard AI for robots, drones, and vehicles, an increasingly important segment as edge computing and autonomous systems continue to advance.
7. Standard Intelligence, Galen Mead
Standard Intelligence, founded by Galen Mead, is working on aligned general learning systems.
The company is training large-scale models that actively explore and learn from the internet, reflecting the growing race toward more autonomous and adaptive AI systems.
8. Swoop, Aubrey Niederhoffer
Swoop, founded by Aubrey Niederhoffer, is beginning with food delivery services in Nigeria.
The startup plans to expand into financial services across Africa, positioning itself as a broader consumer technology platform that combines logistics, payments, and commerce into a single ecosystem.
9. Sentient Machines, Harry O’Connor
Sentient Machines, founded by Harry O’Connor, is building foundational AI models for robotics.
The company’s goal is to create systems that generalize across environments and tasks, addressing one of the largest technical challenges in robotics today.
10. The Antifraud Company, Alex Shieh
The Antifraud Company, founded by Alex Shieh, combines AI with investigative journalism techniques.
The company positions itself as a “fraud bounty hunter,” focused on identifying fraud and protecting taxpayer dollars through advanced investigative systems.
11. Claire Wang
Claire Wang is working on biologically accurate simulations of nervous systems, beginning with C. elegans.
Her work aims to build simulated brains that researchers can communicate with directly, laying foundational groundwork for future brain-computer interface technologies and neuroscience research.
12. Action, Kyler Wang
Action, founded by Kyler Wang, is an artificial intelligence startup currently operating in stealth mode.
While details remain limited, the company joins a broader wave of AI startups emerging from the fellowship program.
A New Generation of Builders
The 2026 Thiel Fellowship cohort highlights a broader shift happening across the startup ecosystem. Founders are increasingly targeting large-scale infrastructure problems, from AI alignment and robotics to financial systems, logistics, biotech simulations, and global commerce.
Rather than focusing solely on consumer apps, many of this year’s fellows are building foundational technologies with the potential to reshape industries at scale. The global nature of the cohort also underscores how innovation is no longer concentrated in a single region, with founders emerging from Brazil, India, Poland, Ireland, Nigeria-focused ventures, and beyond.
As AI, robotics, and infrastructure continue to dominate venture capital interest, this year’s fellows offer an early glimpse into the technologies and industries many investors believe could define the next decade.