The Audacious Project

Offers large social impact opportunities through the Audacious Project with donor-backed cohorts and high-ambition delivery commitments.

The Audacious Project is a TED-hosted philanthropic initiative that backs large-scale social-impact ideas with multi-year commitments. Launched in 2018 as the successor to the TED Prize, it mobilizes a donor consortium rather than paying projects directly from TED's own balance sheet.

The public route is built around annual cohorts and a hybrid application process. Applicants must be able to receive philanthropic funds and show an annual operating budget of at least $2 million, while the initiative itself has backed about 70 projects across eight cohorts and says it has catalyzed about $7.6 billion in commitments.

Selection favors bold ideas with evidence of impact, a clear delivery plan, and an operating team that can handle scale. Its portfolio spans climate, medtech, AI infrastructure, biotech, energy, and related fields, so The Audacious Project is best understood as a curated philanthropic platform that concentrates large commitments on a small number of ambitious bets.