Patrick Collison—Co-founded Fast Grants, distributing $50M+ to COVID researchers within days of application
Patrick Collison and economist Tyler Cowen created Fast Grants in March 2020, raising over $50 million from tech leaders including Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, and Eric Schmidt. The program provided funding to scientists within days rather than months, dramatically accelerating COVID research.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Services & Social Safety Net | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.993 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.66)
Evidence (2 signals)
HustleFund documented Patrick Collison co-founding Fast Grants for COVID-19 research
HustleFund reported that Patrick Collison co-founded Fast Grants with economist Tyler Cowen in 2020 to accelerate COVID-19 research funding. The program distributed over $200 million to researchers, cutting typical grant timelines from months to days.
Co-founded Fast Grants, distributing $50M+ to COVID researchers within days of application
Patrick Collison and economist Tyler Cowen created Fast Grants in March 2020, raising over $50 million from tech leaders including Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, and Eric Schmidt. The program provided funding to scientists within days rather than months, dramatically accelerating COVID research.