Indian-origin entrepreneur Gagan Biyani launches tuition-free AI academy; tech giants Satya Nadella, Sam Altman to teach

Indian-origin entrepreneur Gagan Biyani, co-founder of online learning platform Udemy, has launched a private academy in San Francisco, backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), that aims to offer young people an alternative to the traditional college route, with a focus on technology, entrepreneurship and artificial intelligence (AI).

The Horowitz Andreessen Academy, led by Biyani as CEO, has raised $42 million, including $35 million from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), according to media reports.

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Its first programme will begin in September 2027 with around 50 students. The one-year course will be tuition-free, although the academy is not currently accredited and will not award degrees or transferable college credits.

Students will receive $50,000 in computing credits and a $5,000 travel budget, Forbes reported. The academy will not guarantee jobs or paid partnerships.

It plans to seek regulatory approval for a two-year programme starting in 2028. If approved, the course could cost between $60,000 and $90,000 a year.

Who is Gagan Biyani?

Born to Indian parents in California, Biyani studied economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He began his career at Accenture before moving into technology entrepreneurship and journalism.

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He co-founded Udemy in 2009 with Eren Bali and Oktay Caglar. The online learning platform grew into a major ed-tech company offering courses to learners worldwide. Biyani later co-founded Maven, a platform for cohort-based courses and learning communities, and Sprig, a consumer research company.

Idea behind the college alternative

Biyani told Forbes that the idea behind the academy is not to reject conventional college. Instead, he wants to question the expectation that 18-year-olds in San Francisco must already have a start-up idea and should dedicate years building it. The academy is therefore looking for the brightest high schoolers, whom it calls "pre-idea founders".

The programme will combine campus learning, travel and work experience. Students will spend September through April on campus in San Francisco, travel abroad in May and take part in a co-op at a partner company from June through August.

Open to students without a minimum age requirement, the academy will require participants to arrange their own housing.

Biyani said the academy’s teaching model would include guest classes and conversations with technology leaders such as Sam Altman, Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella, Mira Murati, Fei-Fei Li and Travis Kalanick.

“The primary thing we're offering is the ability for students to pursue their own objectives,” he said.