Peter Thiel's Breakout Labs funds first 6 startups, including 3 in Bay Area

Breakout Labs, a new program from the Thiel Foundation that aims to fund very early-stage science startups, announced its first six grantees Tuesday.
The companies, which are from across the country, range from one that’s trying to develop 3-D digital reconstruction of brain tissue to another that’s developing handheld devices to monitor the air for pathogens, toxins and allergens.
The companies receive only small amounts of funding — up to $350,000. Breakout Labs leaders say it’s enough to get the companies to their first milestones and begin to prove their concepts work.
(Read more about Breakout Labs here.)