Nitro.
Good grades and full resumes only get you so far.
Complete the AI Advantage Bootcamp and you're shortlisted into the Nitro network for life, eligible to be matched with a startup for ownership of work that's actually leveraged in company operations and strategy. In return, you earn a founder's letter of recommendation, and if your first project goes well, the chance to earn an income while you're still a student.
Most internships happen two ways. Neither one is about you.
A parent's connections land you somewhere convenient, or you compete for a handful of spots in a selective outside program. Both skip the part that matters: whether the work fits who you are.
Just because your parent is a doctor doesn't mean you want to work in a hospital. When the match is wrong, you're disengaged, you get less out of it, and it doesn't add up to a coherent story for what's next.
Nitro starts from the other direction.
A match, made on purpose.
Nitro connects vetted students with early-stage startups for project-based work. Founders get an operator who moves their business forward. You get ownership of a project, direct founder access, and a letter of recommendation that carries weight.
It doesn't stop at the internship. Once you're in, you're part of the whole ecosystem:
- Priority access to curated internship matches
- Monthly fireside chats with founders and industry leaders
- A cohort of peers who match your ambition and motivation
Some students find their next internship here. Some find a mentor. A few have found their future co-founder.
Matched on your story, not just your resume.
Every match starts with three things.
Skills
What you already have, and what you're trying to build further.
Industries
The spaces you're actually curious about, not just the ones that sound impressive.
Causes
What you care about enough to think about outside of school.
Ginny has lived with Crohn's disease since she was twelve, and she's curious about how technology could make managing a chronic illness easier. Nitro matches her with a healthtech startup building tools for patients like her, work she already understands from the inside, on a team glad to have her instincts.
You build AI fluency. You leave with leverage.
The AI Advantage Bootcamp gives every Nitro student a shared foundation before they enter the network: the ability to direct AI with stronger questions, evaluate its output, strengthen their own judgment, and turn an idea into something concrete.
You learn how to direct AI
Understand which tools to use, how to ask for what you need, how to verify the output, and what should remain your own responsibility.
You leave with concrete deliverables
Every project ends with something a founder can actually use, not just a debrief.
You're evaluated on how you think
Not GPA. Not major. Assessed on initiative, ambiguity tolerance, and the instinct to find the problem first, then eligible to be shortlisted for a match.
It works with your schedule
Remote-first by default, with founders who understand student schedules. Flexible without being unstructured.
Built for students ready to compete.
- ✓You crave a project with genuine ownership, not another line on a resume
- ✓You're motivated and no stranger to competitive environments
- ✓You want a funded, working company, not a simulation
- ✓You have 5–10 hours a week to commit to the work
- ✓You want a founder's reference at the end of a strong engagement
There's a Nitro builder
for that.
Every startup runs on four things. Nitro students get their hands dirty in one of them, sometimes all four.
Product & Development
- Technical research & feasibility
- AI tool integration & workflow automation
- Product documentation & roadmap support
- Web content & basic dev support
- Data analysis & visualization
Marketing & Growth
- Content strategy & social execution
- SEO, AEO & search visibility
- Brand voice development
- Influencer & affiliate outreach
- Campaign research & ideation
Research & Strategy
- Market & competitor analysis
- Customer discovery & synthesis
- Industry landscape mapping
- Investor & partnership research
- Strategic frameworks & decks
Operations & Systems
- Process documentation & SOPs
- Project & task management support
- CRM setup & data organization
- Customer lifecycle mapping
- Vendor & partnership coordination
What the match looks like.
"Interning with Mabelle Brempong gave me real stories to tell, not just class projects. I leaned on that experience working with a global company throughout my college essays, and it helped me get into my highest reach school."Lindon B. — Student Intern, Mabelle Brempong (Fashion) · NYU Class of 2030
"The internship I received through Nitro became the experience I relied on most during recruiting. In my Millennium interviews, I drew from examples of working with clients, solving problems, collaborating with a team, and managing deadlines. It gave me much more to discuss than coursework alone and helped me secure one of the most competitive internships in finance."Eva C. — Columbia University '28
"Working with our Nitro intern helped make sure our outreach was headed in the right direction. Her quality and timeliness of work helped us exceed our goals."Jonathan Muruako — Founder & CEO, Fitalyst
B.S., M.S. & M.B.A., University of Pennsylvania
"Our Nitro intern was pivotal in supporting the financial modeling behind our pivot from B2C to B2B2C. I handed off full ownership of our customer surveys and the analysis that shaped our new positioning. I was genuinely impressed."Osahon Ojeaga — Founder & CEO, Aja Labs · Techstars-Backed
Finish the AI Advantage Bootcamp. Get shortlisted for Nitro.
The AI Advantage Bootcamp is Nitro's required two-week training experience. You'll learn how to use AI thoughtfully, strengthen your own judgment, and build a functional project before you're considered for a startup match.
The goal isn't to teach you to outsource your thinking. You'll learn to ask stronger questions, choose the right tools, and turn an idea into something someone else can actually use.
Finish the program, and you're shortlisted for the Nitro network for life: future startup matches, mentors, alumni programming, and ongoing opportunities to keep building.
Apply
Five minutes. No coding experience or finished idea required. Decision in 5 days.
Build, live, for two weeks
Build alongside our Director of Student Development and our lead instructor, a startup founder himself, plus a small founding cohort.
Join Nitro
Lifetime network access, eligible for startup matches, mentors, and a community of builders.
Why I built this.
For nearly a decade, I've worked on both sides of the same challenge: helping early-stage founders grow and helping ambitious students figure out how to stand out.
Nitro brings those two groups together through project-based internships built around a student's interests, strengths, and long-term goals.
The AI Advantage Bootcamp became the entry point because founders kept telling me the same thing: students need more than access to AI tools. They need the judgment to know what to ask, what to verify, what to build, and what should never be outsourced.
That preparation gives students something concrete to leverage before they ever enter a startup placement.
Straight answers.
Nitro internships are unpaid by default. Founders are welcome to compensate students if they choose, but it's never required. The primary value exchange is a letter of recommendation from a startup founder.
Right now, the AI Advantage Bootcamp is the entry point. Completing it gives you lifetime access to the Nitro network, where founders and students are matched on project fit and how you work.
No. You don't need coding experience, a startup idea, or a finished project. We're most excited about students with curiosity, initiative, and a willingness to build.
Not at all. Some students use Nitro to get startup-ready for internships and jobs. Some build something of their own, full-time or as a side hustle. Others want a strong project and story for college or grad school applications. All three paths belong here.
Founding cohort tuition is $1,200. Every applicant is automatically considered for a scholarship, no separate form. A limited number of spots are available at reduced cost for students who need it.
Both. Nitro works with motivated students across high school and college, matched on project fit and work style rather than year or GPA.
Nitro students have gone on to Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, NYU, and Wesleyan. High schoolers who joined Nitro have been admitted to those schools plus Rice, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Brown, UVA, and UT Austin, among others.
Your way into Nitro starts here.
Apply to the AI Advantage Bootcamp. Every applicant is automatically considered for a scholarship.
Apply to the Bootcamp →