Merge Club
@mergedotclub
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Merge is a club for microgrant recipients working on big ideas. https://t.co/2nY3vVoBIY
Joined April 2024
This quarter we gave microgrants to some of the most ambitious builder's we've ever met. - Growing neurons for neuron-based computing.- Mechanized exoskeletons to enhance human strength.- Building the first pulse jet powered VTOL. More on these projects and grantees below 👀
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Meet @advaitpaliwal, Merge Club member in Michigan. - 20 years old.- Building cognitive architecture for LLMs.- Received a $1k grant from @1517fund's Medici Project.- Most recently built these AI smart glasses with Gemini 1.5 and a raspberry pi
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Meet Merger @RhythmDoshi from Dubai, UAE. - 17 years old.- Working on low cost nuclear waste recycling.- Received a grant from @DStrachman at @1517fund.- Got flown out to SF all expenses paid just by tweeting banger project updates
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Meet @nijmehvm, Merge Club member from Toronto. - 15 years old.- Coding since he was 10, working at startups since 12.- Currently automating city transport systems with AI.- Received a grant from @tylercowen at Emergent Ventures
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Meet Merger @momahmood_ from Austin, USA. - 23 years old.- Working on building new monuments, megastructures, and cities in America 🇺🇸.- Received a grant from @1517fund's Medici Project.- Prev. worked in economic development + hardware
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Meet @aridutilh Merge Club member from Connecticut. - 19 years old.- Working on creating nutrient-scalable rice using ultrasonics.- Received a grant from @srajagopalan at Emergent Ventures.- Also the admin of this account, don't mind me
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Was awesome seeing Merge Grantee @SantiagoDs_001 on stage tonight at Symposium demoing his mechanized exoskeleton!. He crushed it 🦾
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Meet Merger @0xastro98 from Mangalore, India. - 25 years old.- Building a platform for all your housing needs .- Received a grant from @Replit RV1.- Also building his own LLM to create speech AI models in Indian languages
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We started an experiment this quarter:.- Fund young builders.- $100-1,000.- decided by other builders. The outcomes so far have been incredible. Read more below 👇
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In Q4 of 2024, we gave microgrants to projects across 4 continents. Including:.- Low-cost micro weather stations for wildfire detection.- UAVs that help maintain Kenya's energy infrastructure.- Brain-controlled prosthetics. More on these projects and grantees below 👀👇
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2024 @mergedotclub Wrapped. Huge year for young talent chasing ambitious projects 🎉. In the past 6mo:.- 60+ grants received.- $450k raised.- Merge Grants given to builders across 5 continents. Check out our wrapped:
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Meet Merger @IanTheDev from Philadelphia, USA. - 16 years old.- Running a 6 week coding course for middle schoolers.- Received grants from @1517fund's Medici Project and Emergent Ventures.- Interned as a software engineer at a YC startup at just 15 years old
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Meet @yashv1r, Merge Club member from Virginia. - 17 years old.- Working on EEG-to-image reconstruction using ML.- He and his team received a grant from @ericschmidt Schmidt Futures.- Also declared National STEM Champion by the US Dept. of Education
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Cardboard, broken appliances, a 3D printer – and a dream to build sci-fi superhero tech. Merge Grantee @SantiagoDs_001 is making it all come true, one mechanized exosuit part at a time 🤖. Read our article on his Symposium demo below :)
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Meet Merger @tehseen_0 from Toronto, Canada. - 18 years old.- Received a @1517fund Medici Grant to build ML algos optimizing Internet routing software.- Currently building a consumer social and productivity platform for builders as a side project
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Meet @sashaprzybylski, Merge Club member from Ontario. - 16 years old.- Working on making lithium ion batteries last longer with AI and code.- Received a grant from @tylercowen at Emergent Ventures.- Wants to get into clean energy and energy storage
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Meet Merger @ivoinetech from Nassau, Bahamas. - 19 years old.- High school dropout.- Building a suit that makes you feel reality inside of VR.- Received a grant from @1517fund's Medici Project
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Meet Merger @itsharshag from Faridabad, India. - 22 years old.- Connecting Startups with Top Talent @ TechKareer.- Received $10k from @zfellows_ .- Met @Rippling's co-founder last month (pic below!)
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going to Berkeley for an entire semester 100% free is easily the least interesting thing about this person. podcast episode coming soon
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Meet @suhasasumukh, Merge Club member from Bengaluru. • 16 years old.• Coding since the age of 10, worked at B2C & web3 startups.• Received a $150k credit grant from @Microsoft.• Building a multi-cloud platform that auto-provisions infra across AWS, GCP, and Azure
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merge meetups around the globe!. toronto 🇨🇦, san francisco 🇺🇸, bengaluru 🇮🇳
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From building self-assembling robots for satellite repair to working on the future of human preservation with cryogenics, you’ll love our conversation with @1517fund Grantee @kyrylok95. (00:00) - Engineering roots in Ukraine's coal country. (10:23) - Finding your place in a new
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Meet Merger @keshav_027 from San Francisco, USA. - 23 years old.- Currently building an AI platform automating CAD design across heavy industries .- Received grants from @tylercowen and @jposhaughnessy .- Built and sold a software + hardware at 12 years old for $100 profit
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New feature! You can see the live number of people who’ve applied to programs via the Microgrant Guide now
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Meet @GretherMurray, Merge Club member from Montreal. - 16 years old.- Building RxSearch to reduce inefficiencies in pharma (watch vid).- Received a grant from @1517fund's Medici Project.- Conducts battery storage experiments with PHD students in his free time
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Meet @mcmgoodall, Merge Club member from Ottawa. - 17 years old.- Wants to get into deep space propulsion.- Received a $1k grant from @1517fund's Medici Project.- Is currently building a jet-propelled skateboard in his garage
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For the next week, @developedbytoby is joining us as a Grantsmith - he'll be giving $1k in Microgrants to ambitious projects. Toby is an incredibly talented designer and engineer, getting his start at @hackclub before founding his startup @beemthinks. Apply below 👇 :).
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idk how but one of our members has raised a grand total of $35M in grant funding over the history of their company 💀.
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Meet Merger @KrishivThakuria . - 16 years old.- Building talking pandas for kids.- Received a grant from @tylercowen at Emergent Ventures.- Prev. built AI study tools for students
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Community Weekly Update 🔨. 💰 Added Protostars grant/resources to our Grant Guide.👀 @JShankarpure got accepted to the @VillarsIdeas.🎉 @BafnaVibhuti became a @risefortheworld Global Finalist.👇 @aaryankushwahh made an awesome video about his project, the "Grandma Saver"
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Meet Merger @KechoHayashi from Tokyo, Japan. - 16 years old.- Immortalizing endangered languages using mini LLMs @KotobaResearch.- Received a grant from @OpenNetwork_Lab.- Builds rocket payloads at Sheffield University on the side + plays around with neuro-visualization software
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Meet Merger @AtharvaRao13 from Alberta, Canada. - 17 years old.- Working on creating robots for food processing on farms.- Received a grant from @naarnett at @1517fund.- Wants to solve the world's biggest problems in industrial manufacturing and agriculture with robotics
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Welcome to Ep 3 of the Merge Podcast!. We talk with @mcmgoodall about falling in love with propulsion tech and landing a job at 16 at Canada's largest satellite company in Canada. Kai also shares thoughts and advice on learning and creating a portfolio of work as a young person.
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Meet Merger @AlexaKayman from NYC, USA. - 18 years old.- Building edtech to help Title 1 schools foster experiential learning.- Received a grant from @RileysWayFdn.- Head of ops @ Bloom (YC W21, profitable, $3m ARR+) at 16
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incredibly based advice from @mcmgoodall on how to make progress in the right direction even if you don't know what to build next
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Meet Merger @BafnaVibhuti from Delhi, India. - 17 years old .- Building a BMS with sodium batteries for EVs.- Received a $1k grant from @AlexEKoren at @1517fund.- Also built a prototype portable solar powered desalination system
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Meet @aprameyap1, Merge Club member from BITS Pilani. - 20 years old.- Working on obstacle-aware object tracking using UAVs.- Received a grant from @bitspilaniindia.- Also building a personalized AI longevity coach
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Advice for young people from @APompliano. 1. Use your young age as an advantage - most people want to help a young person, so tell people you are young. 2. Turn pro if you are serious about winning - treat your body like a professional athlete and avoid distractions that don't.
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Meet Merger @nealchopra from San Francisco, USA. - 18 years old.- Building an AI-powered teaching assistant.- Received a grant from @1517fund's Medici Project.- Prev built a career development platform for engineers and also has a YouTube channel with 21k subs
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The absolute 🐐 @ionkarbatra is playing a big role in lowering the barrier to entry for people building things for space. Keep up the insane work.
Meet Onkar. 19 year old YC founder from Jammu building Bifrost, a satellite comms co. Was awarded the president award in India. Became a Schmidt fellow. Dropped out of college in first year to come to San Francisco. Shot a podcast with him about his inspiring journey. Go
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Meet @Winstonisk, Merge Club member from LA. - 17 years old.- Received a grant from @tylercowen at Emergent Ventures.- Currently working on accelerating AI literacy for students K-12.- Also a concert pianist and music tech researcher at MIT
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OSV Applications are open! . two great non-dilutive funding options for builders and creatives. check out the Microgrant Guide pages on OSV’s $100k fellowship and $10k grant below 👇.
Start 2025 by betting on yourself! . O'Shaughnessy Fellowship & Grant applications are NOW OPEN: .• $100K Fellowships .• $10K Grants . Join a global community of builders changing the world—no strings attached.
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apply to the Merge Grant! we want to see what you're working on :). $50-$1,000.
Also very cool: this was apparently the second Merger grant ever. Many more are waiting for ambitious projects around the world. If you're building something you love, apply here:.
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Meet Merger @sohi_patel in New Haven, CT. - 18 years old.- Building Organ, which records hyper-personalized health context at the molecular level.- Received a grant from @tylercowen at Emergent Ventures.- Also sold her startup to a US defense co in senior year of high school
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Meet @pasricha_sehaj, Merge Club member in Bengaluru. - 19 years old.- Got a grant from @srajagopalan at Emergent Ventures.- Believes that the meaning of life is to play Factorio (context below).- moved to BLR to explore industrial infra like energy, and build @WayfarersSpace
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Meet Merger @AziziKhosraw from DFW, Texas. - 18 years old .- Building Secant, the AI-powered teaching assistant that saves you time.- Received grants from @1517fund & @learnnontrivial .- Been building startups since 9th grade including a minecraft server that generated $15k MRR
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Precisely the kind of people we want to support with microgrants at Merge.
This is what would-be founders should be doing when they're young, not bogus startup pitching competitions.
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Meet Merger @CarlitosJarquin from Los Angeles, USA. - 19 years old.- Making acid mine drainage into an alternative material for cement production.- Received a grant from @1517fund's Medici Project.- Also just got a grant from the @TacoBell accelerator program?!
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Meet @anurie_, Merge Club member from Tampa. - 16 years old.- Received a grant from @tylercowen at Emergent Ventures.- Building Pickup, the all-in-one platform for creating and joining pickup soccer games.- Hit 60k interactions in its first week after launching!
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How "3rd door" thinking got @tehseen_0 a meeting with the Co-Founder of LinkedIn — @1517fund Grantee on his first time in SF, understanding incentives, and effectively deciding what to work on. (02:44) - The right questions to better understand problems.(08:31) - How to
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Christmas came early for builders 🎄👀 $100-$1k microgrants to people building exciting new projects. Apply!.
We give $100-$1k Microgrants to ambitious young builders with the Merge Grant!. Need-based microgrants with a quick application process for ambitious new projects. Apply 👉
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Welcome to Ep 4 of the podcast! . We talk with the amazing @sashaprzybylski who recently published the outcomes of her project to determine a battery's state of charge. She shares how she discovered her interest in material sciences and chemistry after reading a book about
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Meet Merger @FilippoFonseca from San Jose, Costa Rica. - 17 years old.- Building Flux, an AI studying suite tailored for the IB Diploma.- Received a grant from @1517fund's Medici Project.- Prev. worked on autonomous drones and productivity apps
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17yo talks about the difference between life in high school and life in the real world
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Weekly Update 🔨. 🔥 @SunirKM won a grant from Emergent Ventures to revolutionize the future of transportation. ‼️ @BafnaVibhuti received a $20k grant from Emergent Ventures for her agtech moonshot project. 💯 @habril27 ALSO received an EV grant, more details on that tomorrow 👀.
Won the Emergent Ventures Grant from @tylercowen to revolutionize the future of Transportation. Thanks to everyone who has supported me along this journey. Special Thanks to my best friends !!!
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Merge Grantees are spread across 5 continents as of Q1 2025 🌎
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Meet Merger @aldrichalvarez_ from Manila, Philippines. - 19 years old.- Building an AI Venture Studio with an ex-Palantir.- Received a grant from Tyler Cowen at Emergent Ventures.- Sold his devshop to the GP of first spark ventures (eric schmidt’s deep tech vc fund)
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The 19-Year-Old Building Tree-Planting Robots to Combat Deforestation — @MartaBernardin, on climate robotics, sustainability, and finding purpose. (01:15) – Early beginnings in mechanics and robotics.(02:27) – Finding purpose through her community.(06:18) - Challenges with
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Community Weekly Update 🔨. 💰 Shipped another Merge Grant .👀 Upgraded Grant Guide went live.👋 Big meetup at the @1517fund summit!.🔥 @aaryankushwahh got a full ride scholarship to @tksworldhq .👌 @_soulninja demoed DripCraft at HackerHouse
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Meet Merger @AlexHuHJY from Toronto, Canada. - 20 years old .- Founded @efaglobal to bring English education to rural schools across Asia.- Received grants from Iress, Wolters Kluwers, and others.- Now building software that teaches 2 yr olds to read @MentavaInc
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Meet Merger @Rob_Tolan from NYC, USA. - 25 years old.- Founded a housing policy think tank with support from @tylercowen at EV and @join_ef.- Emergent Ventures Recipient & Polaris Fellow.- Now working in finance and tinkering on side projects. Also has a twin 👬
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Meet Merger @yuvanarvind from Chennai, India. - 22 years old.- Building a tool to build landing pages via WhatsApp.- Received grants from @AntlerIndia Fellowship & ETH India.- Prev built a dropshipping e-commerce store, SaaS product, and marketing agency
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"I should be in high school but I got a grant to drop out two months ago, thankfully.".
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Meet Merger Spike O’Carroll from Irvine, California. - 19 years old.- Building DispatchAI, the world’s first AI 911 Operator working to eliminate wait times for EMS.- Received over $40k in grants from UCI NewVenture, Butterworth, and others.- Also does graphic design
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Meet Merger @divyan_b from Toronto, Canada 🇨🇦. - 17 years old.- Working on improving DNA synthesis using machine learning.- Received a grant from @tylercowen's Emergent Ventures.- Previously did wet lab work at Mt. Sinai Hospital
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Welcome to the first ep of the Merge Podcast!. We talk with @sohi_patel about selling her startup to a U.S. defense company in high school, raising non-dilutive capital for her new company, and her advice for young people in STEM. You don’t want to miss out. Timestamps:.(07:24)
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The crazy story of @AlexHuHJY — starting a nonprofit at 14 years old that scaled to 20 schools and now building @MentavaInc to empower kids and their parents. (06:19) Starting a non-profit at 14. (12:10) Scaling language learning while still in high school. (23:10) Joining
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Meet Merger @marcelochaman from Toronto, Canada. - 20 years old.- Led Canada's largest undergrad conference on AI (CUCAI) at 18 & 19. - Received a grant from the @NRC_CNRC.- Wrote his first line of production code last may and has since shipped to thousands of users
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Nautilus is now on the Grant Guide!.
Announcing Nautilus: A three-month gap program where you get paid –no strings attached– to dive into your craziest, most ambitious project. Yes, you read that right. Come live with us in San Francisco and build the next Renaissance. How it works:
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Weekly Update 🔨. 🔥 @aaryankushwahh got a grant from Emergent Ventures for his elder care fall-prevention startup. ✈️ @ryan_morr made his first trip to El Segundo as a part of his Tech Tour, visiting tech hubs across the US. 🎙️ Podcast w/ @alxmthew dropped, give it a listen 👇.
The 16-Year-Old Building an AI Plushie Transforming Teen Mental Health — @alxmthew, a @1517fund Grantee on GenZ mental health, alternative education, and validating ideas. (05:28) – Leaving public school for an alternative education.(10:46) – How personalized learning unlocks
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At his first internship, he was so hungry that he finished an entire month's work before his first week had even ended 🤯
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Community Weekly Update 🔨. 💰 @ivoinetech received $10k from Emergent Ventures.👀 @Rob_Tolan got accepted to the @rootsofprogress Fellowship.🛣️ @Ryannadar18 was invited to tour Mumbai's Hyperloop.📽️ BC Youth Dev Collective recorded @PrajwalP028's sick project demo
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"The difference between a good education and a poor education is the difference between having agency in your life and not." . Full podcast with @AlexHuHJY dropping tmrw 👀
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Meet Merger @InWooPark10 from Vancouver, Canada. - 18 years old.- Building RxSearch to reduce inefficiencies in pharmacies.- Received a grant from Ingenious+ for a project to predict TB with ML.- Will be attending Minerva University in San Francisco in the fall
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Meet Merger @amoghyisabogy from Connecticut, USA. - 16 years old.- Currently building a experiential learning based high school career discovery platform.- Received a grant from 1517 Fund's Medici Project.- Organized a 1100 person hackathon
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Don't botch your microgrant applications anymore!. Check out our new guide on "How to Write a Winning Microgrant Application" where we go over:. - writing the application.- determining your budget.- nailing the interview.
I've reviewed *hundreds* of microgrant applications in the past months. @mcmgoodall and I made the ultimate guide for how to crush your application, budget, and interview for microgrants and fellowships. YouTube vid and in-depth article below 👇📺
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We're now onboarding members into the club in batches. Next batch gets onboarded next week!. If you're a grant recipient and want to meet others working on ambitious projects learn more in our bio.
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Community Update 🔨. 📰 Added 4 new programs to the Grant Guide.🍕 Pinball and Pizza meetup in SF.👀 @suhasasumukh featured in @Infosys 20u20 Entrepreneurship.🛫 @yashv1r got his private pilot license
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"[The company I worked at] spent hundreds of thousands of $$$$ on Google Adwords. Then we started going to [industry] summits — it cost next to nothing but drove 80% of our sales. Be really willing to do in-person outreach.". - overheard in our office hours today.
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Reminder for people applying to grants: we have a Grant Guide 💰. Big upgrades coming soon, if you’ve received a grant and want to contribute to it dm us!.
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Come say hi!!.
Late Night Coffeeshop is coming to Toronto 🇨🇦 next Friday (3/21). We've booked out a Victorian mansion near Yonge & Bloor to put together a space for you to build, code, and design in through the evening. Great coffee, great wifi, all in great company.
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Ep. 6 of the Merge Podcast w/ @rob_tolan — building LLM job matching in Ireland. (02:55) Leveraging cold emails as an “outsider”.(13:59) Housing Theory of Everything.(25:01) @join_polaris and getting a grant from @mercatus’s Emergent Ventures
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Meet Merger @rbccawang from NYC, USA. - 18 years old.- Working on gunshot detection + building a mentorship app.- Received grants from @mojombo, the Ulvade Foundation, and @TMobile.- Founded a hackathon for 5000 girls, now advising state policy on increasing STEM funding
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Meet @amritakbhasin, Merge Club member from SF. - 23 years old.- Received a $1k grant from @1517fund's Medici Project.- Building a platform solving reverse logistics for surplus inventory.- 2nd place winner at 2023 AWS Startup Competition
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Symposium. ODF. Merge. HERE WE COME 👀💰.
We're also hosting a Cozy Hang & Hack Café in Waterloo ⁂🇨🇦 on Thursday (3/20). Turning another beautiful home in Waterloo Park into a cozy hangout & coworking spot for @socraticainfo. We're hoping to give out some @mergedotclub grants to help you with your projects, too! :)
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"I'm not sure I'm the guy to get this up and running before the war starts in 3 years, but I'll try" .- steel casting facilities founder, overheard during office hours.
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Community Weekly Update 🔨. 🔥 Shipped another Merge Grant.🎉 @ionkarbatra got accepted to @ycombinator .📈 @0xastro98's @Flashmateshq hit 25k+ users/mo in Bangalore alone.🎖️ Prajwal won 2nd at @HackTheNorth's lightning challenge
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Meet Merger @JShankarpure from Pune, India. - 17 years old .- Since 12, built and scaled newsletters, podcasts, and software products! .- Currently, building an ecosystem to host tech events at Astra.- Also providing funding/grants to ambitious GenZ builders at Localhost
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Meet @RashiBhavs91606, Merge member from Mumbai. - 21 years old .- Building a sustainable, electricity-free and effective mosquito killing bio-device.- $3000 iGEM Biohackathon Grand Prize .- Passionate about solving the world’s biggest problems with biotech
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Meet Merger @MartaBernardin from Lisboa, Portugal. - 18 years old.- Building a highly efficient and adaptive tree planting hexapod to end reforestation limitations.- Received grants from @1517fund, In-nova, and @NatGeo.- Wants to use robotics to solve climate's biggest problems
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