Young Founders School

What Young Founders School does

Young Founders School (YFS) is a Hong Kong–headquartered, Singapore-anchored registered charity founded in 2016 that delivers entrepreneurship education to students aged 11–18 across 12 countries. Its programme stack is structured as a sequential funnel: a 2–3 hour Ideation Workshop feeds into a 2–3 day in-person Startup Bootcamp (4.9/5 student rating), a 4–6 week virtual High School Internship with vetted companies, regional Speedrunning Hackathons, and the Build For Good annual flagship competition. A separately branded AI Work Skills course adds a six-week AI-literacy curriculum covering LLM pairing, no-code agent building, and AI-assisted research and coding. Delivery runs through three channels — direct school partnerships (100+ schools), community-partner NGOs (e.g., Hacksat Tech in Nigeria reaching 13,000+ students), and corporate CSR programmes that pair employees as mentors with interns on real business problems.

YFS operates a digital learning platform with mentor matching, project management, and portfolio-building features; it does not expose a public API or proprietary AI model. Revenue is charitable in nature: a USD 1,000-per-student internship contribution directed as a donation, corporate CSR sponsorships and gala fundraising (SGD 500,000 raised at the 2025 Gala), donations, and foundation grants. Core programmes are fully funded for economically disadvantaged students, with 95% of under-resourced students on scholarships. Operations are governed by an inaugural Global Board (chairs: Robert Lin, ex-Alibaba Head of Investor Relations for Hong Kong; Neil Patwardhan, ex-Accenture SVP for Singapore). Cumulative reach is 42,000 students all-time with 26,000 trained in the trailing 12 months, supported by 1,177 mentors and 600+ corporate partners including Oracle, UBS, Meta, Uber, Morgan Stanley, Smile Group, and Murdoch University.

The go-to-market is a hybrid of community-led (school and NGO networks as distribution), sales-led (corporate CSR outreach), and event-driven (Gala, Build For Good) motions, with self-serve online enrolment layered on top. Reported 2025 metrics include 800% year-over-year growth in student participation and 300% growth in partner engagement. Public targets for 2030 are 1M+ students, 50K+ mentorship connections, 10K+ students placed in jobs or supported in creating them, and positioning as the world's largest youth innovation network.

Name

Young Founders School

Legal name

Young Founders School Ltd.

Website

https://youngfoundersschool.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Young Founders School is a Hong Kong–headquartered registered charity (founded 2016) that delivers AI-augmented entrepreneurship education — Ideation Workshops, Bootcamps, virtual Internships, and AI Work Skills — to students aged 11–18 across 12 countries, via school, corporate, and community-partner networks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Entrepreneurship Education

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA), Innovation & Design Thinking Programs (EDAMAHAD), Entrepreneurship, Business & Innovation Camps (EDAMALAL), Entrepreneurship & Small Business Workforce Programs (EDAAAOAM), Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

Keywords

• Youth entrepreneurship education
• High school mentorship programs
• AI business skills training
• Student startup bootcamps
• Virtual internship programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Kowloon City

HQ country

Hong Kong SAR China

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Program Fees (Internship): High School Internship program charges USD 1,000 per student, directed as donation to fund and expand educational initiatives for underprivileged students globally.
2. Corporate Partnerships & Sponsorships: Companies sponsor programs, donate CSR days, or provide event sponsorship. 2025 Gala raised SGD 500,000 for expansion and programming quality.
3. Donations & Charitable Contributions: Registered charity accepting donations to fund student access, regional programs, and school partnerships. Core programs free for economically disadvantaged students.
4. Foundation & Institutional Grants: Support from foundations and institutional funders for program expansion and impact reporting. Gala 2025 raised SGD 500,000 demonstrating donor appetite.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Young Founders School is a registered charity that delivers entrepreneurship education to high school students aged 11-18 through a sequential program journey including Ideation Workshops, Startup Bootcamps, virtual High School Internships, AI Work Skills courses, and Speedrunning Hackathons. Programs are delivered via an AI-powered digital learning platform, supplemented by in-person bootcamps, school-based delivery, and a global network of 1,177+ mentors from 600+ corporate partners. Students gain real startup experience, AI-first workflow skills, portfolio projects, and connections to industry mentors and companies across 12 countries.

Product overview

Young Founders School operates a platform-plus-programmes model delivering youth entrepreneurship education through multiple channels. The core curriculum spans five programme tiers — Ideation Workshop (2-3 hours, entry), Startup Bootcamp (2-3 days intensive, flagship), High School Internship (4-6 weeks virtual, flagship), Speedrunning Hackathons (48-72 hours, AI-powered), and AI Work Skills (6 weeks, live instructor). These are delivered through three channels: direct school partnerships, community partner organisations, and corporate CSR mentorship programmes. Build For Good is the annual flagship hackathon event and accelerator that serves as the culminating competition across all regional programmes, with winners advancing to the Singapore Gala Finals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ideation Workshop A 2-3 hour high-energy workshop where high school students explore real-world problems, design solutions, and pitch their first ideas. Serves as the gateway program into deeper YFS offerings.
• Startup Bootcamp A 2-3 day immersive in-person program where students form teams, identify real problems, interview customers, prototype fast, and pitch to a panel of industry judges. YFS's flagship offering.
• High School Internship A 4-6 week virtual internship placing high school students with vetted companies to complete meaningful business projects. Each intern receives a mentor, scoped project, portfolio case study, and reference letter; 95% completion rate.
• Speedrunning Hackathons Regional hackathons spanning 48-72 hours where teams of 14-18 year olds build working AI-backed prototypes using AI-assisted ideation, vibe coding, and rapid prototyping tools.
• AI Work Skills A 6-week, 5-hours-per-week live instructor program covering ten core business skills for the AI economy, including prompt engineering, AI-assisted research and writing, no-code agent building, and data analysis. Students leave with a portfolio AI-assisted project.
• Build For Good Annual international AI hackathon where students use AI to tackle real global challenges across three tracks: AI for Sustainability, AI for Education, and AI for Inclusion. Regional winners advance to the Global Finals at the YFS Gala in Singapore.

Quantifiable outcome

• 42,000 students trained all-time, 26,000 in last 12 months
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

23 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• AlibabacoreOthers · 17 March 2026Former Head of Investor Relations Robert Lin appointed Chair of Hong Kong Board, bringing Alibaba leadership experience to governance.
• AccenturecoreOthers · 17 March 2026Former Senior Vice President Neil Patwardhan appointed Chair of Singapore Board, bringing Accenture leadership to governance.
• Brunswick GroupsupportingOthers · 17 March 2026Elaine Li from Brunswick Group appointed to Hong Kong Board governance.
• Joint PR ConsultantssupportingOthers · 17 March 2026Tiffany Tse from Joint PR Consultants appointed to Hong Kong Board governance.
• Hacksat Tech LtdcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Community partner in Nigeria since 2022. Together equipped 13,000+ students with digital and entrepreneurship skills. Ran two YFS bootcamps serving 200 students in 2023. Sa'ad Ahmad Sa'ad, Founder: 'Every cohort raises the ceiling on what young people in our communities believe is possible.'
• OraclecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner hosting interns and providing employee mentors for CSR programs. Oracle mentors consistently report YFS as highest-rated volunteering activity. Mentors guide students through real business projects.
• UBScoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFinancial services partner providing mentors for internship programs. Testimonial: 'YFS is building the confidence and practical judgment young people need to thrive in real teams.' - Clement Parazon, UBS
• Morgan StanleycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner with mentors engaged in YFS programs. Harish Jayaram, Mentor from Morgan Stanley: 'The student I mentored had more determination than most people I interview.'
• MetacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerTechnology partner. VP of Asia Pacific Dan Neary serves as supporter, providing testimonial about son's YFS program experience.
• UbersupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerTechnology company partner in YFS corporate ecosystem, hosting interns and providing mentorship opportunities.
• JubilantsupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner company in YFS ecosystem providing internship and mentorship opportunities.
• Toys R UssupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerRetail partner in YFS corporate ecosystem.
• SidleysupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerLegal services partner in YFS corporate ecosystem.
• Murdoch UniversitysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity partner aligned on equity and inclusive education mission. Peter Waring, Pro Vice Chancellor: 'YFS's mission aligns closely with Murdoch University's commitment to equity and inclusive education.'
• Singapore Global NetworksupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerSupported YFS Gala 2025, providing keynote speakers and networking support for the event.
• TiE SingaporesupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerEntrepreneurship network partner. Prantik Mazumdar: 'The quality of student ambition and execution this year was exceptional.'
• Ritz-Carlton Yacht CollectionsupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerHospitality partner. Seb Seward: 'This is one of the most meaningful mentorship ecosystems we have seen.'
• BlackpandasupportingGTM or Marketing PartnerTechnology company partner. Struan Todd: 'YFS is proving that impact and performance can grow together.'
• Nexus International SchoolsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational school partner hosting YFS bootcamp in Singapore.
• ITE College EastsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnical education institution. Emmanuel Joseph: 'Partnering with YFS has been exceptional. Their team brings clarity, structure, and genuine innovation to every programme.'
• Dulwich CollegesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational school partner hosting YFS bootcamp in Singapore.
• BSD EducationsupportingTechnology or IntegrationEducation technology partner for virtual internship programs. Collaboration on CLAP@JC virtual internship program in Hong Kong.
• CLAP@JCsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCareer and Placement program in Hong Kong. Joint virtual internship program with BSD Education delivering structured work experience for Hong Kong students.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@youngfoundersschool
• Facebookfacebook.com/youngfoundersschool
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/young-founders-school
• Instagraminstagram.com/youngfoundersschool

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Young Founders School