弊社TechCrunchはここに、Founders Fundとの提携による新しいスタートアップ投資事業The TechFellow Awardsを発表する。目標は、技術のイノベータたちにそれにふさわしい社会的経済的栄誉を与え、素晴らしい萌芽期(early stage)アイデアに投資という燃料を与えて、それを燃え上がらせることである。
TechFellow Awardsは少なくとも12名のフェローに1人当たり25000ドルの資金を付与し、彼らが選んだ萌芽期スタートアップに投資させる。Founders Fundがこれらに対しさらに25000ドルの追加資金を提供し、また次のラウンドの資金調達において新たに25万ドルの投資を行う権利を要求する。全体としてFounders Fundはこの事業に$3.6M（360万ドル）を投ずるものと期待される。
フェローが投資する企業には、いくつかの制約がある。フェローは以下の4つのカテゴリーのエキスパートから選ばれる: 技術的リーダーシップ、製品設計とマーケティング、総合マネージメント、そして画期的なイノベーション。
TechFellow Awardsの候補指名は誰もが行える。候補者の挙名推薦に関する手続き等の情報は、こことTechFellow.comで入手できる（自己推薦も歓迎する）。指名の締め切りは、2009年5月8日である。
TechFellow Awardsの審査員として、以下のような、すばらしい方々のご参加をいただいた。入選者は6月の授賞晩餐会に正式に招待される。
- Marc Andreessen, Ningの協同ファウンダで会長
- Michael Arrington, echCrunchのファウンダで編集長
- John Battelle, Federated Mediaの会長でCEO
- Ron Conway, Baselineの特別パートナー
- Chris DeWolfe, MySpaceの協同ファウンダでCEO
- Esther Dyson, EDventureの会長
- Caterina Fake, Flickrの協同ファウンダ
- Shawn Fanning, Napster, SNOCAP, およびRuptureのそれぞれ協同ファウンダ
- Reid Hoffman, LinkedInのCEOで協同ファウンダ
- Joi Ito, Creative CommonsのCEO
- Max Levchin, SlideのファウンダでCEO, PayPalの協同ファウンダ
- John McKinley, OurParentsのCEOでファウンダ
- Jonathan Miller, News CorpのCDO(Chief Digital Officer)
- Tim O’Reilly, O’Reilly Mediaのファウンダ
- Sean Parker, Napster, Plaxo, Facebookの協同ファウンダ; Founders Fundのマネージングパートナー
- Geoff Ralston, LaLaのCEOでYahoo!の元CPO(Chief Product Officer)
- Terry Semel, Windsor Mediaの会長でCEO, Yahoo!の元会長でCEO
- Danny Sullivan, SearchEngineLand.comの編集長
- Peter Thiel, Founders Fundのマネージングパートナー, PayPalの元CEO
- Jeff Weiner, Accel PartnersとGreylock Partnersの常勤役員
- Michael Yanover, Creative Artists Agencyの企業向け開発担当
- Mark Zuckerberg, FacebookのファウンダでCEO
以下はプレスリリースの全文だ（英文ママ）:
TECHCRUNCH, FOUNDERS FUND LAUNCH FIRST ANNUAL ‘TECHFELLOW AWARDS’
$50,000 “Genius Grants for Geeks” to Invest in Emerging Companies
SAN FRANCISCO—April 16, 2009—TechCrunch, a leading technology blog, and Founders Fund, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, today announced the TechFellow Awards, a new annual program honoring technology innovators for achievement and excellence in high-tech entrepreneurship.
The twelve initial TechFellow recipients will be chosen from a pool of candidates contributed by the nominating committee with the help of the readers of TechCrunch. This open nomination process starts today on the TechCrunch website. Final fellowship selections will be made in June 2009 and announced at an awards dinner for the honorees.
The awards will recognize individuals for their critical role in developing breakthrough products and services in four categories: 1) Engineering Leadership, 2) Product Design and Marketing, 3) General Management, and 4) Disruptive Innovation.
Each TechFellow will be awarded $25,000 to invest in a new startup of their choice. Founders Fund will match each investment, for a total of $50,000. Founders Fund may also provide additional future investments in these companies.
“Even in a down market, the innovation and entrepreneurship of Silicon Valley continues unabated,” said Michael Arrington, Founder of TechCrunch. “The TechFellow Awards recognize and reward current role models of our industry.”
“In challenging times, focusing on innovation remains a good bet,” said Sean Parker, Managing Partner at Founders Fund. “It’s time to double-down on the future of technology by encouraging the next generation of innovators.”
Public TechFellow nominations launch today on TechCrunch via a Webform available at http://www.techcrunch.com/techfellow and will be open until Friday, May 8, 2009.
The 2009 TechFellow Awards Nominating Committee members are:
• Marc Andreessen, Co-Founder and Chairman, Ning
• John McKinley, CEO and Founder, OurParents
• Michael Arrington, Founder/Editor, TechCrunch
• Jonathan Miller, Chief Digital Officer, News Corp
• John Battelle, Chairman, CEO, Federated Media
• Tim O’Reilly, Founder, O’Reilly Media
• Ron Conway, Special Partner, Baseline
• Sean Parker, Co-Founder, Napster, Plaxo, Facebook; Managing Partner, Founders Fund
• Chris DeWolfe, Co-Founder and CEO, MySpace
• Geoff Ralston, CEO, LaLa and former Chief Product Officer, Yahoo!
• Esther Dyson, Chairman, EDventure
• Terry Semel, Chairman and CEO, Windsor Media and former Chairman and CEO, Yahoo!
• Caterina Fake, Co-Founder, Flickr
• Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, SearchEngineLand.com
• Shawn Fanning, Co-Founder, Napster, Co-Founder SNOCAP, Co-Founder Rupture • Peter Thiel, Managing Partner, Founders Fund, Former CEO, PayPal
• Reid Hoffman, CEO and Co-Founder, LinkedIn
• Jeff Weiner, Executive-in-Residence, Accel Partners and Greylock Partners
• Joi Ito, CEO, Creative Commons
• Michael Yanover, Head of Business Development, Creative Artists Agency
• Max Levchin, Founder and CEO, Slide, Co-Founder, PayPal
• Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Facebook
For additional information about the TechFellow awards please visit http://TechFellow.com.
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About TechCrunch
TechCrunch is a leading technology media empire dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies. Founded in 2005, TechCrunch and its network of websites reach 5.5 million unique visitors and have more than 15 million page views per month. TechCrunch operates a global network of websites including TechCrunch Europe, TechCrunch France, and TechCrunch Japan as well as specialized industry websites including MobileCrunch, CrunchGear, and TechCrunchIT. TechCrunch is also home to CrunchBase, a leading data resource about start-up companies, people and investors, as well as industry events including TechCrunch 50 and The Crunchies, and various meet-ups worldwide serving as community platforms for industry conversation and collaboration. TechCrunch is a privately held company located in Palo Alto, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.techcrunch.com.
About Founders Fund
Based in San Francisco, Founders Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm created in 2005. Founders Fund is run by entrepreneurs who have started and managed their own companies, and is committed to innovation in venture capital using a non-traditional, founder-focused approach to investing. The FF team is comprised of people with engineering, product, design, and online marketing experience from companies like PayPal, Facebook, and Google. If you’re solving a big and interesting problem, we’d like to hear what you’re doing. For more information visit http://www.foundersfund.com.
[原文へ]
（翻訳：hiwa）
