Sequoia Capital Launches Equity-Free Fellowship Program for Open Source Developers

Sequoia Capital, the renowned Silicon Valley venture capital firm, has announced its Open Source Fellowship  through which it will sponsor two or three open source software developers per year. This initiative, initially introduced on an exclusive basis last year, seeks to offer financial assistance to developers working on open source projects without the need to give up any equity or ownership.

Last year we introduced the Sequoia Open Source Fellowship with the goal of encouraging the development of open source software and supporting the community of open source developers. More than ever, open source serves as the bedrock and lifeblood of the world’s software, with companies of all sizes utilizing OSS. The entire ecosystem relies on libraries and software packages—often solely maintained by open source developers. While Sequoia has partnered with many companies that found success commercializing OSS, the non-commercial spirit of open source collaboration underpins almost every aspect of modern technology. The fellowship was designed to support this work without any expectation of an equity stake in a commercial project or company.

We started the fellowship as an invite-only program. This year, we are excited to announce that we are opening applications to the public. Starting today, any developer working on an open source project may apply for a fellowship stipend. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. 

The firm emphasized the recipient's full control of their code, stating, "We do not expect anything in return for sponsorship. Any code written before or after the program is yours to decide what to do with. You are also welcome to decide what to work on and we do not expect to have any influence over your roadmap."