Key Takeaways
- • Kleiner Perkins launches its 2027 Design Fellowship, a summer program placing students in San Francisco Bay Area portfolio companies to gain hands-on product design experience alongside founder mentorship and entrepreneurial workshops.
- • The fellowship targets product designers, interaction designers, HCI specialists, and visual designers; applications close January 31, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on a rolling review basis.
- • Selected fellows work full-time on real products within high-growth portfolio companies, supplemented by a curated founder speaker series and community-building events designed to expose participants to the broader startup ecosystem.
- • The KP Fellows Program historically places over 50 portfolio companies annually and maintains an alumni base exceeding 700 graduates across engineering, product, and design disciplines, with past placements at companies including Uber, Stripe, Brex, Robinhood, and Figma.
Summary
Kleiner Perkins, the Sand Hill Road-based venture capital firm, is recruiting for its 2027 Design Fellowship, a structured summer program aimed at connecting emerging designers with practical startup experience and leadership exposure within its portfolio ecosystem. The fellowship represents the firm's continued investment in early-career talent development across design disciplines, complementing its broader engineering and product fellowship offerings.
The program places selected fellows at San Francisco Bay Area offices of Kleiner Perkins portfolio companies on a full-time basis for the summer 2027 period. Candidates from product design, interaction design, human-computer interaction (HCI), visual design, and related technology disciplines are eligible. The application deadline is January 31, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, with reviews conducted on a rolling basis to allow earlier decision-making for qualified applicants.
Beyond direct product work, fellows participate in a structured curriculum including founder speaker sessions, entrepreneurial workshops, and community events. This dual-track approach—combining operational experience with educational programming—aims to accelerate fellows' technical skill development while building professional networks within the innovation ecosystem. Fellows contribute to real-product launches and development cycles, providing meaningful early-career exposure to how technology products are designed and commercialized.
The KP Fellows Program operates at scale, historically placing students across more than 50 portfolio companies annually. The program's track record includes placements at marquee companies such as Uber, Stripe, Brex, Robinhood, and Figma. With over 700 alumni across engineering, product, and design tracks, the program functions as a talent pipeline that has produced multiple generations of technologists and founders who have remained engaged with the Kleiner Perkins ecosystem. This 2027 cohort continues that model for the design discipline specifically.
The program places selected fellows at San Francisco Bay Area offices of Kleiner Perkins portfolio companies on a full-time basis for the summer 2027 period. Candidates from product design, interaction design, human-computer interaction (HCI), visual design, and related technology disciplines are eligible. The application deadline is January 31, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, with reviews conducted on a rolling basis to allow earlier decision-making for qualified applicants.
Beyond direct product work, fellows participate in a structured curriculum including founder speaker sessions, entrepreneurial workshops, and community events. This dual-track approach—combining operational experience with educational programming—aims to accelerate fellows' technical skill development while building professional networks within the innovation ecosystem. Fellows contribute to real-product launches and development cycles, providing meaningful early-career exposure to how technology products are designed and commercialized.
The KP Fellows Program operates at scale, historically placing students across more than 50 portfolio companies annually. The program's track record includes placements at marquee companies such as Uber, Stripe, Brex, Robinhood, and Figma. With over 700 alumni across engineering, product, and design tracks, the program functions as a talent pipeline that has produced multiple generations of technologists and founders who have remained engaged with the Kleiner Perkins ecosystem. This 2027 cohort continues that model for the design discipline specifically.
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