About SVIP

Learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur

The Silicon Valley Internship Program gives international Software Engineering university graduates (and related disciplines) the unique experience of working at a tech company in the San Francisco Bay Area through a one-year paid internship.

The aim is that through this experience, each SVIP participant will pick up the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial culture and bring this back to their home community.

Each successful candidate is matched with a SVIP partner Bay Area startup and will work as an integral part of their engineering team. Program participants will be paid a salary of $80,000. The SVIP arranges for US work visas, provides flights to and from San Francisco and organises each candidate’s first month of accommodation.

Throughout the year, the SVIP hosts regular Meet the Entrepreneur and Hackathon events. These take the SVIP participants through the startup formation process, all the way from from idea to revenue.

Our partner companies make a range of software products; from enterprise software to consumer offerings and even tools for developers. We aim to place each SVIP participant in a small- to medium-sized company where you will gain hands-on experience of day-to-day life in a Silicon Valley startup. This can sometimes mean that shoes in the office are optional and high-level meetings are conducted over a game of ping pong. In Silicon Valley, companies are agile and move quickly. You may even get to be a part of a real Silicon Valley success story; we’ve had SVIPers see their companies IPO, go through high profile acquisitions and, of course, pivot.

Our University Partners

Meet our Volunteer Team

Michael Hughes MBE

Founder

Catriona Balfour

Program Manager