The Accelerator Ends, the Work Begins: See the BiTS Americas Fellows’ Big Ideas
A programmable interface between mitochondria and human health. A porous orbital reef that slows space debris. A replacement for rodenticides. An atlas of early-risk signals in children's development. These are four examples of the 14 R&D programs presented at ExhiBiTS, the culminating showcase of the Big if True Science (BiTS) Accelerator's Americas cohort, where fellows pitched the programs they built over 15 weeks to ARPA-style agencies, philanthropic funders, and leaders across the R&D ecosystem.
BiTS is Renaissance Philanthropy's accelerator for scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs with bold ideas for transforming a field. The goal of the program is to design actionable R&D programs that can be funded by philanthropists or supported by ARPA-style agencies. Over the course of the program, fellows moved through the same arc that has defined every BiTS cohort: field strategy and expert conversations, idea refinement, and finally the intensive work of producing a cohesive and concise concept note and engaging pitch.
“‘Feedback is a gift.’ BiTS is exactly that: an intense experience where brilliant people generously share their knowledge to help you make your idea stronger and your impact bigger.”
Designed and led by former DARPA program managers, the accelerator equips fellows to move from vision to a concrete, fundable program. Following kick-off in February, fellows worked hand-in-hand with world-class mentors – distinguished leaders from the ARPA ecosystem with proven experience in designing, launching, and executing similar programs and organizations.
ExhiBiTS is where that work comes to life. In May, the 14 fellows presented their programs to an invited audience of funders, ARPA-style agency leaders, and members of the R&D community at the National Union Building in Washington, DC. Each fellow shared a concept note detailing their proposed program, now available online. Programs from the cohort participants include:
Plasma-electrified industrial chemistry by Ryan Chaban
A programmable interface between mitochondria and human health by Liyam Chitayat
Early-life fermented food exposure to prevent childhood disease by Rachel Dutton
Biosecurity for the fourth eon of life by Chris Ganje
A replacement for rodenticides by Mal Graham
A platform for open source geoscience data by Graham Lederer
Creating new chips to observe the physical world at extreme scale by Zack Li
Using scalable sensing to reduce the risk of mining waste and unlock value by Iuma Martinez Germano
A porous orbital reef that slows space debris by Joseph Meany
An atlas of early-risk signals in children's development by Agustín Pardo Van Thienen
Building disease-specific biobanks for better detection, treatment, and cures by Celestine Schnugg
A better drug discovery pipeline by Jerzy Szablowski
New open infrastructure for scientific exchange by Ronen Tamari
Decoding the brain–ovary–gut network for personalized interventions by Maryam Ziaei
What started as bold, early-stage visions across synthetic biology, biosecurity, plasma chemistry, developmental neuroscience, animal welfare, geoscience, space engineering, and scientific collaboration has been transformed into concrete proposals — each one designed to go beyond the scale of any single lab or institution.
“I think BiTS mentors get as much out of the program as anyone. I repeatedly told my mentee that our check ins were my best calls of the week. What they are trying to do is hard, and seeing the ideas come together and their work pay off is just cool to be part of.”
BiTS addresses a critical gap in the global research ecosystem; it identifies and trains field leaders to design R&D efforts that go beyond the scale of a single existing institution, positioning them to launch and execute initiatives that could reshape entire fields and tackle humanity’s most pressing problems.
The Americas cohort, powered by Coefficient Giving, is the third in Renaissance Philanthropy's BiTS program. We’ve partnered with the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) for a UK cohort, followed by our EU cohort, supported by SPRIND, Germany’s Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation. Since the cohort’s beginning, we also launched a fourth cohort, in Japan, which supports the Cabinet Office’s Global Startup Campus initiative.
“With four cohorts across three continents, BiTS continues to build the case that the missing ingredient in turning ambitious scientific ideas into field-changing programs is providing the training, mentorship, and eventually funding to turn ideas into reality.”
Success for BiTS goes beyond the completion of the accelerator. Graduates of earlier cohorts have gone on to run eight-figure R&D challenges at SPRIND, started unusually ambitious research startups (both non- and for-profit) and started ambitious labs at the frontier of science automation. We'll be following the Americas fellows as they pursue funding and host institutions, and will share updates as those partnerships take shape.
The Big if True Science Accelerator represents Renaissance Philanthropy's commitment to building systematic pathways for developing research program leadership, creating a replicable model for how governments, philanthropists, and research institutions can cultivate a robust pipeline of ambitious visionaries capable of catalyzing breakthrough innovations.
Learn more about our fellows here, including concept notes, bios, and video pitches from ExhiBiTS.
