More startups are forming today, and fewer are shutting down within their first year. Since the VC winter of 2022, Stripe Atlas incorporations have grown 92% and the one-year shutdown rate has fallen 16 percentage points.

Today we're launching Intercept: a $500M philanthropic initiative to make respiratory infections, like the common cold and flu, a thing of the past. We treat respiratory infections as a minor nuisance, but that’s really not the case. Most of us will spend 5% of our lives (!) sick from these viruses, they kill 1M people a year, cost $600B annually in productivity, and periodically threaten civilization through pandemics. So, if they’re such a big problem, why haven’t we dealt with them yet? Last year we convened ~40 leading scientists, pharma R&D leaders, biotech investors, and regulatory experts to better understand that. We heard two main reasons: (1) First, it’s just technically very challenging: respiratory viruses represent hundreds of distinct, mutating strains across several families. Fortunately, recent breakthroughs make this newly possible. (2) Second is a lack of funding: broad-spectrum solutions have historically been underfunded, in part because they’re not a great fit for most philanthropic or commercial funding (and while COVID generated a burst of activity around preventing and understanding respiratory infections through an influx of new funding, that hasn't been sustained). We think that with enough focus and funding, this might be solvable. Intercept is a $500 million philanthropic initiative that will take advantage of new tools to catalyze the development and deployment of two types of products: broad-spectrum preventatives and air cleaning technologies. This problem is undoubtedly difficult. But it’s more tractable now than it’s ever been. We think we should give it our best shot. We’re enormously grateful to our anchor funders: @stripe, @AnthropicAI, @TheFluLab, @FoundationOAI and individuals from Jane Street. And, I’m very excited to be building this with @incredutility and the rest of the team.

.@rachvid12 of Amperical AI, Atlas's 100,000th startup, chats with @MbyM about building AI for battery energy storage, growing up without power in India, and the similarities between being a founder and doing a PhD.

Startup formations are at a record high. More companies incorporated on Atlas in Q1 than any quarter ever: up 130% year-over-year. (Delaware incorporations up 38% year-over-year).

A meaningful stripe @atlas milestone: we just incorporated our 100,000th startup. Of course, we took a look… and helloworld to co-founded by Dr. Rachana Vidhi: @rachvid12. She is building AI-powered software for operating large-scale battery energy storage systems to help electricity grid operators improve reliability and cost. How cool! I had the pleasure to meet her today. Go startups.🔋📈

The majority of @atlas startup founders are over 35 years old for the first time. We’ve seen a surge in startup formation across all age groups, but the over 35 set has grown the fastest.

📣 Stripe is creating our first "New Grad Accelerator" program for (quite technical) product managers. Come learn how to build great products with us. - New grad (comp sci) or 0-2 years exp - In-person in SF, Seattle, or NY - Deadline to apply: April 24

Stripe Atlas now incorporates 1 in 4 Delaware corporations. Delaware is also hitting new records, with incorporations up 32% y/y in January, compared to last years' 18%. This means that January was our largest month ever for incorporations on Atlas (so large, in fact, that we had to check and triple check our internal charts to make sure they weren't broken!).

💡Want to help Stripe Atlas improve our product? I'm seeking founders who used Atlas in the last 2 years to share their experience registering for business in multiple US states, after incorporating in Delaware. DM @jmazz_1 to set up a chat and give us feedback!