Bringing the best global software development talent to Silicon Valley to write great code, solve compelling problems and learn about entrepreneurship

The SVIP Developer Fellowship

Silicon Valley Internship Programme (SVIP) is an organization set up to give something back to the global entrepreneurial community.

Founded in 2012, it has been working with the GBx, British Consulate, top global engineering universities and high-growth startups to create the SVIP Developer Fellowship – a unique win-win situation where participating companies gain highly qualified software developers for 1 year or 18 months with the SVIP handling the bureaucratic hassle of visa processing and logistics, and newly-graduated software engineers getting the chance to hone their technical skills in their day job and developing their entrepreneurial aspirations in a structured program run by the SVIP.

The process

• Candidate Applications open in January. The SVIP typically receives over 1,000 applicants from candidates from the best universities around the world – applications are detailed and involve a targeted code test.
• The SVIP team reviews the applications, interviews interesting applicants and produces a pool of approved candidates for the SVIP Developer Fellowship to introduce to participating companies.
• The SVIP creates a shortlist of candidate SVIP Developer Fellows for each company based on their requirements to simplify the review process (though some companies choose to review all approved candidate SVIP Developer Fellows).
• Participating companies interview their candidate shortlist in the normal way they would evaluate a developer and have no obligation to the program if they do not find a candidate that matches with their culture and needs.

• The SVIP handles logistics (J1 visas, flights, first month’s accommodation, orientation, entrepreneurial training program).
• Once in the US (September 2024), the successful applicants work as full-time members of the company’s dev team, and take part in the entrepreneurial training program that the SVIP runs throughout the year.
• Participating companies pay the developer for the year ($80k stipend) and pays a fee to the SVIP to cover visa and relocation expenses.
• The SVIP Developer Fellows join their respective companies in September for the 1 year or 18 month fellowship, gaining experience as a full-time developer and participating in the events, hackathons and educational sessions of the program which happen outside of normal working hours.