You are
Typically 18-25 years old
Technical, hands-on
Idea-stage or pre-seed, with <$100K raised
Most exceptional young people don't have the room for their ideas to develop
We’re in a new phase of invention.
The lines between disciplines have blurred. Technology is moving faster, and the cost and time required to build have collapsed to a fraction of what they were a decade ago. But the systems around it haven’t kept pace. Venture funding and academic research still expect ideas to conform to narrow, outdated categories.
When complex work is reduced to fit those frameworks, much of it gets overlooked. We don’t force that. We work across disciplines and are comfortable with ideas that don’t fit neatly into predefined boxes.
Most exceptional young people don't have the room for their ideas to develop
We’re in a new phase of invention.
The lines between disciplines have blurred. Technology is moving faster, and the cost and time required to build have collapsed to a fraction of what they were a decade ago. But the systems around it haven’t kept pace. Venture funding and academic research still expect ideas to conform to narrow, outdated categories.
When complex work is reduced to fit those frameworks, much of it gets overlooked. We don’t force that. We work across disciplines and are comfortable with ideas that don’t fit neatly into predefined boxes.
Who we select
You are what we look for
We back young builders who have already shown they can ship. We're sector-agnostic and founder-first. We don't look for a polished pitch deck or a perfectly formed idea. We look for evidence that you move, and that you've moved before.
Typically 18-25 years old
Technical, hands-on
Idea-stage or pre-seed, with <$100K raised
Appetite to work at a pace most environments don't support
Clarity on what you're building and why now
Evidence of execution, ie. a project, a repo, a product that exists
How we started
Our story
$100 grants for students founders.
We started as a small program giving $100 grants to technical students building on the internet, without an office or formal structure, with a simple mission: investing in young minds beyond Silicon Valley.
The first hacker house in Bangalore went viral.
Applications came in from across the country within days. We expanded to Japan, Romania, France, and briefly Delhi. A small team, mostly high schoolers and undergrads, started traveling to find and back exceptional people.
We built around the programs
As we expanded into new countries, we added a media team, a community fund, and perks around the programs, and started incubating our own in-house companies.
Labs, not houses.
We moved away from informal, accommodation-based setups in houses to fully equipped labs. These spaces let us work with larger, more interdisciplinary groups and provide access to the tools and equipment needed for more specialized work.
Behind the work
Teams
LocalHostHQ is run by builders and operators who grew up inside the ecosystems we serve.
The ecosystem
Supporters and Partners
Technology partners, event sponsors, and capital partners who believe in backing founders at the earliest possible stage.
Press
View all
The lab is open
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. We back young people from all backgrounds, regardless of credentials.
