Centre for Enabling EA Learning & Research
ZviCEEALAR (Centre for Enabling EA Learning & Research), formerly known as the EA Hotel, is a cost-effective residential incubator in Blackpool, UK that supports approximately 20 EA researchers and entrepreneurs at a time. Founded in 2018 by Greg Colbourn, it provides grantees with free or subsidized accommodation, catered meals, a stipend, coworking space, and community so they can focus full-time on EA work without financial pressure. The organization particularly targets individuals earlier in their impact journeys who show potential for excellence but are new to their cause area, with a growing emphasis on AI safety and alignment research.
CEEALAR (Centre for Enabling EA Learning & Research), formerly known as the EA Hotel, is a cost-effective residential incubator in Blackpool, UK that supports approximately 20 EA researchers and entrepreneurs at a time. Founded in 2018 by Greg Colbourn, it provides grantees with free or subsidized accommodation, catered meals, a stipend, coworking space, and community so they can focus full-time on EA work without financial pressure. The organization particularly targets individuals earlier in their impact journeys who show potential for excellence but are new to their cause area, with a growing emphasis on AI safety and alignment research.
Funding Details
- Annual Budget
- $355,000
- Monthly Burn Rate
- $29,583
- Current Runway
- 4 months
- Funding Goal
- $430,000
- Funding Raised to Date
- -
- Fiscal Sponsor
- -
Theory of Change
CEEALAR's theory of change centers on the premise that talented people are blocked from working on reducing global catastrophic risks because they lack the resources and opportunities to do so. By providing a residential fellowship with financial support (accommodation, meals, stipends), productive workspace, and community connections (averaging 12 new meaningful connections per grantee), CEEALAR removes practical barriers such as funding gaps, isolation, and lack of track records. This enables high-potential individuals, especially those earlier in their impact journeys, to rapidly upskill, conduct research, and launch projects in AI safety and other EA cause areas. Residents report an average 106% productivity increase versus the counterfactual, and 80% of surveyed alumni were working in EA after their stays, with the majority focused on AI safety work.
Grants Received
from Survival and Flourishing Fund
from Survival and Flourishing Fund
from Survival and Flourishing Fund
Projects– no linked projects
People– no linked people
Discussion
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Key risk: By broadening into a general EA UK community infrastructure with a small team mid-pivot, selection and targeting may remain weak, making the counterfactual impact on existential risk—relative to more competitive, focused AI safety programs—too low to justify scarce safety dollars.
Details
- Last Updated
- Apr 2, 2026, 9:49 PM UTC
- Created
- Mar 18, 2026, 11:18 PM UTC
Case for funding: CEEALAR provides a uniquely cost-effective residential incubator (roughly half the cost of major cities) that has already supported 66 grantees in 2025 and helped launch AI safety orgs like Convergence Analysis and AI Standards Lab, and under new leadership is formalizing a 3-month AI safety fellowship—converting marginal funding into more AI safety talent and projects.