A 16-year-old from the United Kingdom has secured $1 million in venture capital funding for his artificial intelligence project, prompting him to leave school before taking his final exams and move to San Francisco. Toby Brown's project, named Beem, attracted the investment from South Park Commons, a fund established by some of Facebook's earliest engineers.
The decision to forgo traditional education and relocate to the heart of the tech industry highlights a growing trend of young entrepreneurs pursuing high-risk, high-reward ventures in the competitive AI landscape. Brown's journey involved a complex visa process and a self-directed approach to both learning and fundraising.
Key Takeaways
- Toby Brown, a 16-year-old from the UK, raised $1 million for his AI startup, Beem.
- He left school prior to completing his high school exams to work on the project full-time.
- The funding came from South Park Commons, a Silicon Valley venture fund.
- Brown relocated to San Francisco after obtaining an O-1 visa for individuals with "extraordinary ability."
- He taught himself to code starting at age seven and used social media to build a following that attracted investor interest.
A Self-Taught Path to Technology
Toby Brown's interest in technology began at a young age. For his seventh birthday, he received a Raspberry Pi, a small, affordable computer used for learning programming. This gift sparked a long-term passion for coding and understanding how systems work.
He primarily used online resources like YouTube and Google tutorials to teach himself various programming languages. His parents, who work in marketing and healthcare, supported his curiosity but were not technologists themselves. This self-driven learning style became a defining characteristic of his early years.
Brown described his childhood interests as isolating at times. While his peers were engaged in other activities, he would spend hours after school experimenting with technology. This focus on personal projects continued through his school years, where he considered himself an "average" student who preferred learning on his own terms.
Early Experiments with AI
One of Brown's first encounters with artificial intelligence involved creating a program to automate his homework. He built a system that gathered information from Google Classroom and processed it through an early language model. While the results were sometimes nonsensical, the project demonstrated his early aptitude for applying AI to practical problems.
Developing Beem and Securing Investment
In 2023, Brown began developing the concept for his AI project, Beem. While specific details about the project remain confidential, he describes its goal as redefining how people interact with technology by reducing time spent on undesirable tasks.
To pursue the project full-time, he decided to seek venture capital funding. During his summer recess in August 2024, he began pitching his idea to investment firms. His initial efforts involved cycling to different offices in London to present his product.
His fundraising efforts expanded to New York and, eventually, Silicon Valley-based venture capitalists through video calls. Brown explained that he had no formal coaching on how to pitch investors. Instead, he adopted an iterative approach, refining his story and presentation with each meeting based on the audience's reaction.
The $1 Million Investment
In November 2024, Brown met with representatives from South Park Commons via Zoom. The fund, started by early Facebook engineers, responded positively to his presentation. Brown received the call confirming their $1 million investment on his 16th birthday.
The news solidified his decision to leave school. He was with his mother when he received the confirmation, a moment he described as an "out-of-body experience."
The Move to Silicon Valley
With funding secured, Brown chose to move to California to be in the center of the tech world. However, the relocation presented significant logistical and legal hurdles, primarily because he lacked a high school diploma or a college degree.
To legally work in the United States, he had to apply for an O-1 visa. This visa category is reserved for individuals who can demonstrate "extraordinary ability" in their field. The application process was lengthy and delayed his move by several months.
"The thrill of the investment was dampened by having to wait months for the visa to be approved. I felt paralyzed waiting for the letter to arrive that would allow me to go to California."
After receiving his visa, Brown moved to San Francisco in June 2025. He noted the unique energy of Silicon Valley, citing the presence of self-driving cars and a pervasive atmosphere of innovation as things he had not experienced elsewhere.
Navigating Education and Career
Brown's school was reportedly supportive of his decision, understanding the unique opportunity he had been given. His friends, however, were surprised by the news, as many were unaware of his entrepreneurial activities outside of school.
Despite leaving before his exams, Brown has stated his intention to complete his high school qualifications. He plans to dedicate a few weeks in the coming year to prepare for and take the exams, viewing it as a personal goal to prove he can achieve them.
Advice for Young Innovators
Brown offers several pieces of advice for other young people interested in pursuing a similar path. His primary recommendation is to follow personal curiosity rather than trying to replicate someone else's success story.
He emphasizes the advantage of youth, noting the lack of constraints like jobs and bills allows for deeper exploration of personal interests. He suggests finding something you are obsessed with and working on it relentlessly.
Another key piece of advice is to be vocal about your work. Brown built a following of approximately 8,000 on the social media platform X, where he posted updates on his projects. This public sharing attracted the attention of some of the venture capitalists who later invested in Beem.
- Follow your curiosity: Don't copy others; find a unique interest and pursue it.
- Share your work: Use social media and other platforms to document your progress and build a community.
- Be persistent and positive: He advises being "delusional" in your belief in what you are creating.
He believes that genuine passion, born from curiosity rather than a desire for financial gain, is the foundation for success. His journey from a self-taught coder in the UK to a funded startup founder in Silicon Valley serves as a modern case study in non-traditional career paths in technology.
