Breakthrough Prize
The Breakthrough Prize Foundation is a privately funded charitable foundation, established in 2012 by tech entrepreneurs including Yuri Milner, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, and Anne Wojcicki, that awards six annual $3 million prizes in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, and Mathematics to world-leading scientists globally, supplemented by early-career and women-in-science awards.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Breakthrough Prize does
The Breakthrough Prize Foundation is a privately funded charitable foundation established in 2012 that awards what are commonly described as the world's largest individual scientific prizes. Founded by technology entrepreneurs Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki, the foundation awards six annual main prizes of $3 million each across three disciplines: Fundamental Physics (founded 2012 by Yuri Milner), Life Sciences (founded 2013), and Mathematics. It supplements these with $100,000 New Horizons in Physics and Mathematics Prizes for early-career researchers (generally no more than 12 years post-PhD), a $50,000 Vera Rubin New Frontiers Prize for women physicists within two years of their PhD (inaugurated 2026), and a $50,000 Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize for women mathematicians. Selection is performed by discipline-specific committees composed of previous laureates, and winners are honored at an annual Hollywood-style gala ceremony in Los Angeles that is broadcast globally, often referred to as the "Oscars of Science."
The foundation operates an ecosystem of additional programs under the umbrella brand "Breakthrough Initiatives," including Breakthrough Listen ($100 million initiative launched in 2015 with Stephen Hawking to search for extraterrestrial intelligence) and Breakthrough Starshot ($100 million program launched in 2016 with Stephen Hawking for interstellar travel technology). It also runs the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a global annual science video competition for students aged 13-18. The organization is headquartered in New York, employs 11-50 staff, has no commercial revenue, and is funded exclusively through the personal foundations of its co-founders and a small group of additional sponsors including Ma Huateng (Pony Ma) and Jack Ma. In January 2026, the foundation extended its scope beyond prize-giving with a $1 billion private donation to CERN's Future Circular Collider project — the first private philanthropy CERN has accepted in its 72-year history — bringing cumulative prize money distributed over 15 years to more than $340 million.
Breakthrough Prize firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Breakthrough Prize
- Legal name
- Breakthrough Prize Foundation
- Website
- https://breakthroughprize.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Breakthrough Prize Foundation is a privately funded charitable foundation, established in 2012 by tech entrepreneurs including Yuri Milner, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, and Anne Wojcicki, that awards six annual $3 million prizes in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, and Mathematics to world-leading scientists globally, supplemented by early-career and women-in-science awards.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Breakthrough Prize industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Science Awards and Research Recognition
- NAICS
- Grantmaking Foundations (813211)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)
Keywords
Where Breakthrough Prize is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Breakthrough Prize business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Others, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | Six main Breakthrough Prizes of $3 million each awarded annually |
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels7 records
Breakthrough Prize product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Breakthrough Prize Foundation administers the world's largest scientific awards, conferring six annual prizes of $3 million each in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics, plus New Horizons Prizes of $100,000 for early-career physicists and mathematicians and New Frontiers Prizes of $50,000 for women physicists and mathematicians. Laureates are selected by committees of prior Breakthrough Prize winners and honored at a Hollywood-style annual ceremony broadcast globally. The foundation also runs the Breakthrough Junior Challenge student video competition and affiliated research initiatives including Breakthrough Listen (SETI) and Breakthrough Starshot (interstellar travel).
Product overview
The Breakthrough Prize is a portfolio of prestigious international science awards recognizing outstanding achievements in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics. The main offerings include six annual main prizes of $3 million each, supplemented by early-career New Horizons Prizes in Physics and Mathematics ($100,000 each), the Vera Rubin New Frontiers Prize for women physicists ($50,000), and the Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize for women mathematicians ($50,000). Additionally, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge is a science video competition for students. Related initiatives include Breakthrough Listen (SETI search program) and Breakthrough Starshot (interstellar travel research). The organization was founded in 2012-2013 by technology entrepreneurs Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki, and is often called the 'Oscars of Science'.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Breakthrough Initiatives: Family of programs working to explore and understand the universe, including Breakthrough Listen, Starshot, and Junior Challenge.
Products and services
- Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Annual $3 million award recognizing transformative advances in life sciences, including genetics, molecular biology, oncology, and neurology, honoring researchers whose work extends understanding of living systems and human life.
- Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics Annual $3 million award recognizing profound contributions to fundamental physics by theoretical, mathematical, and experimental physicists working on the deepest mysteries of the Universe.
- Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics Annual $3 million award recognizing outstanding achievements in mathematics, the third main category of the Breakthrough Prize portfolio.
- New Horizons in Physics Prize $100,000 prize awarded annually to up to three promising early-career physicists who have already produced important work, generally within 12 years of their PhD.
- New Horizons in Mathematics Prize $100,000 prize awarded annually to up to three early-career mathematicians who have produced important work, generally within 12 years of their PhD.
- Vera Rubin New Frontiers Prize $50,000 prize awarded to women physicists and astrophysicists who have completed their PhDs within the previous two years, named in tribute to astronomer Vera Rubin.
- Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize $50,000 prize awarded annually to three women mathematicians who have recently completed their PhDs and produced early-career work.
- Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics Special one-off $3 million prize in Fundamental Physics awarded to recognize lifetime contributions, distinct from the annual main prize.
- Breakthrough Junior Challenge Annual global science video competition for students aged 13–18; winner receives a $250,000 college scholarship, their teacher $50,000, and their school a $100,000 science laboratory designed with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
- Breakthrough Listen $100 million scientific initiative to reinvigorate the search for extraterrestrial intelligence in the Universe.
- Breakthrough Starshot $100 million research and engineering program seeking to develop technology for interstellar travel.
- Eureka Manifesto Short book by Yuri Milner published in 2021 placing human civilization within the context of cosmic evolution, available as website, ebook, and audiobook.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over $340 million distributed to scientists over 15 years
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Breakthrough Prize
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Breakthrough Prize technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Breakthrough Prize partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- CERNflagshipBreakthrough Prize Foundation provided $1 billion in private donations to support CERN's Future Circular Collider project, marking the first time in CERN's 72-year history that it accepted private philanthropy. The funding is part of a project estimated to cost $18 billion.
- Stephen HawkingflagshipLaunched Breakthrough Listen ($100 million initiative for search for extraterrestrial intelligence) and Breakthrough Starshot ($100 million research program for interstellar travel technology).
- Cold Spring Harbor LaboratorycorePartner in Breakthrough Junior Challenge; designs the $100,000 science laboratory awarded to winning student's school.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Breakthrough Prize competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Nobel Prize: The Nobel Prize is the most prestigious global science award, distributed annually in Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology/Medicine — directly comparable to the Breakthrough Prize's Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, and Mathematics categories, and the benchmark against which the Breakthrough Prize positions its $3M purse.
- Shaw Prize: The Shaw Prize is a Hong Kong-based annual science award honoring achievements in Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences — a direct competitor to the Breakthrough Prize in both prize structure and philanthropic funding model.
- Kavli Prize: The Kavli Prize, awarded biennially in Astrophysics, Nanoscience, and Neuroscience, is funded by the Kavli Foundation and represents a peer philanthropic science award with similar prestige and laureate-selection dynamics.
- Wolf Prize: The Wolf Prize, awarded by the Wolf Foundation in Israel, recognizes lifetime achievements in sciences including Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Medicine — a longstanding peer in the international science-prize ecosystem.
- Fields Medal: The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to outstanding mathematicians under 40 — directly comparable to the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics and the New Horizons in Mathematics Prize.
- Lasker Award: The Lasker Award is one of the most prestigious biomedical research awards and is widely regarded as a precursor to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine — comparable to the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.
Broad incumbents
- Templeton Prize: The Templeton Prize is a large annual award funded by John Templeton's foundation recognizing contributions to affirming life's spiritual dimension — a peer philanthropic science/recognition prize, but with a fundamentally different scope.
- Simons Foundation: The Simons Foundation, established by Jim and Marilyn Simons, funds major research in mathematics, physical sciences, and life sciences — a peer philanthropic science foundation, though operating through research grants rather than public prize-giving.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute: HHMI is one of the largest biomedical research organizations in the U.S., funding hundreds of investigators and embedding itself in life-sciences research — a peer philanthropic science-funding entity with overlapping mission in life-sciences recognition and support.
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation: The Moore Foundation funds science, environmental conservation, and patient-care improvement — a peer billionaire-founded philanthropic foundation with overlapping interest in fundamental scientific research.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Breakthrough Prize social profiles
Digital presenceBreakthrough Prize financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Breakthrough Prize leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Breakthrough Prize subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries3 records
Breakthrough Prize funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Breakthrough Prize M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments1 record
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Breakthrough Prize
What does Breakthrough Prize do?
The Breakthrough Prize Foundation administers the world's largest scientific awards, conferring six annual prizes of $3 million each in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics, plus New Horizons Prizes of $100,000 for early-career physicists and mathematicians and New Frontiers Prizes of $50,000 for women physicists and mathematicians. Laureates are selected by committees of prior Breakthrough Prize winners and honored at a Hollywood-style annual ceremony broadcast globally. The foundation also runs the Breakthrough Junior Challenge student video competition and affiliated research initiatives including Breakthrough Listen (SETI) and Breakthrough Starshot (interstellar travel).
Is Breakthrough Prize a public or private company?
Breakthrough Prize is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Breakthrough Prize founded?
Breakthrough Prize was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Breakthrough Prize based?
Breakthrough Prize is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Breakthrough Prize's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Nobel Prize, Shaw Prize, Kavli Prize, Wolf Prize, Fields Medal and Lasker Award. Broad incumbents are Templeton Prize, Simons Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Does Breakthrough Prize have an API?
No public API is recorded for Breakthrough Prize.
What industry is Breakthrough Prize in?
Breakthrough Prize's product category is Science Awards and Research Recognition. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAI, Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations. Its NAICS code is 813211.