Breakout Ventures, formerly Breakout Labs,[1] is a venture capital firm affiliated with the Thiel Foundation (a philanthropic organization created by Peter Thiel).

[2] Breakout Labs issued convertible grants[3] for early-stage commercialization of scientific research that was considered too speculative or long-term to interest the for-profit sector (such as angel investors and venture capitalists) but may have been unsuitable for traditional sources of funding for scientific research due to its radical or offbeat nature.

[4] Grants were made through a competitive application and selection process.

[8] In total, Breakout Labs made 50 investments before winding down the program in 2021:[9] The announcement of Breakout Labs (October 2011), as well as the announcements of its first batch of grantees (April 2012), received considerable media attention.

[11][12] Breakout Labs was also covered in Nature[13] and Scientific American.