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Accelerators, Incubators, Residencies and Other Programs for 2026 AI Startup Founders

January 2026 (Updated October 2026)

A no-nonsense list of the top 2026 founder opportunities — fellowships, accelerators, residencies, and early-stage programs, backed by VC firms and others and organized by stage and focus with key dates and deal terms.

How to Use This Resource

Start with programs matching your stage: pre-idea founders should look at fellowships and residency programs first, while founders with traction should target VC-backed accelerators. Apply broadly but prioritize programs offering the specific resources you need most (compute credits, network access, or capital). Most applications take 1-2 hours, so batch your applications and reuse content where possible.

Key Upcoming Deadlines

🟢 October 11, 2026 — a16z Speedrun SR008

🟢 November 4, 2026 — EIC Accelerator (full proposal cut-off)

🟢 November 8, 2026 — Startmate (2027 cohort)

🟢 Expected late Oct–Nov 2026 — Y Combinator Winter 2027 (not yet announced; Early Decision open now)

🟢 November 18, 2026 — Techstars Spring 2027 class (incl. Techstars Anywhere)

🟢 December 6, 2026 — Conception X (Spring 2027 cohorts)

🟢 January 4, 2027 — Pear Prime 2027

Founder Fellowships & Residency Programs

Best for: Pre-idea to very early stage, technical founders exploring ideas, researchers transitioning to startups

Ideal if: You need compute credits, technical mentorship, or co-founder matching more than capital

• EWOR Fellowship — EWOR — Rolling, no fixed batches — Two tiers: Traction Fellows (€500K on acceptance) and Ideation Fellows (pre-co-founder); virtual-first, Europe, unicorn-founder mentorship; up to €2M ARR or still ideating — equity terms not published; confirm directly

• HF0 Residency — HF0 — Rolling applications; next batch starts Jan 4, 2027 — SF residency for repeat founders, Demo Day at batch end — funding and equity terms not published on-site; confirm directly

• Forge Residency (Edge City India) — Edge City — Rolling, no deadline; this cycle runs Oct 11 – Nov 1, 2026 and fills as dates approach — 21-day residency for 30 founders inside Edge City's three-week popup village at Mandrem Beach, North Goa; "proximity, capital and resources," coworking at The Circle, talks and demo days, partners include Microsoft, Cursor and ElevenLabs — paid tickets; accommodation and most meals not included; the separate Inflection Fellowship (with Long Journey Ventures) fully covers housing, travel and tickets for builders under 25 — funding terms and any credit amounts not published; Edge City runs recurring villages, so watch for the next location

• ODF Founder Fellowship (formerly On Deck) — nZero Labs — Rolling — Rebranded from On Deck; beondeck.com/odf now redirects to joinodf.com — ODF28 begins Q1 2027, intense 1-week in-person SF experience with 80–100 participants, non-dilutive, no equity — program fee no longer published; confirm directly

• Upfront Founder Fellows — Upfront Ventures — Second cohort applications open; no deadline published — 8 weeks, $75K+ in seed funding once you incorporate a venture-backable startup, 1:1 mentorship with an Upfront investor, private sessions with Upfront partners and portfolio founders, access to the 2027 Upfront Summit (1,000+ attendees), events across LA, NYC, SF, Boston and Philadelphia; for recent hyper-growth-startup grads, builders leaving academia for AI research, and engineers considering founding — equity terms not published; confirm directly

• Anthropic Fellows Program — Anthropic — Rolling — Next cohort starts January 2027, 4 months, $3,850/week + ~$15K/month compute, Berkeley/London or remote (US/UK/Canada), no equity

• South Park Commons — SPC — Fall 2026 closed Aug 2, 2026; Spring 2027 expected ~Feb 2027 — Up to $1M ($400K upfront for 7%, $600K in next round) + up to $1M in credits, SF/NYC/Bangalore, -1 to 0 stage

AI & Deep Tech Accelerators

Best for: Technical founders building AI-first products, researchers commercializing novel AI research

Ideal if: You need cloud/compute credits, technical mentorship from AI experts, or access to cutting-edge tools

• Alchemist Chicago — Alchemist + UChicago — Applications closed August 20, 2026; bootcamp runs Oct 19–23, 2026 — Free bootcamp (up to 30 startups), ~15 advance to Jan–Jul 2027 program, $50K SAFE (~4% typical), deep tech/quantum/AI, $1M+ partner perks

• NYC AI Nexus — C10 Labs + NYCEDC — Main deadline passed August 31, 2026; still accepting top-tier applications on a rolling basis — Fall cohort early Oct–Dec 2026, Demo Day Dec 2026, 2.5-month Core Accelerator (investment for 1–2% advisory shares) or Build Track (co-founder model, 15–50% founder stock), Manhattan office space, $200K+ partner perks; healthcare/biotech, climate/energy, robotics; one team member must be in or commuting weekly to NYC

• AI Grant — Nat Friedman & Daniel Gross — Batch 4 applications currently closed — $250K uncapped no-cap no-discount MFN SAFE, $600K+ in credits (incl. $350K Azure), AI-native pre-seed/seed, SF Summit + Demo Day

• AI House (formerly AI2 Incubator) — AI House — Rolling — Rebranded from AI2 Incubator, June 2026 — Up to $600K on a SAFE at $10M cap (typically $100K solo / $200K team, scaling to $600K on milestones), 7% in common stock, Seattle, applied AI

• Conviction Embed — Conviction — Rolling admissions, cohort-based — $250K uncapped no-discount MFN SAFE (or at a round price from the last 60 days), 10-12 companies per cohort, in-person SF retreat + Demo Day, $350K AWS + $350K Azure + $500K+ other credits, early access to Mistral models

• OpenAI Converge — OpenAI Startup Fund — Periodic cohorts; no Converge 3 announced — $1M equity investment, 5-6 weeks, early access to OpenAI models, 10-15 startups

• Boost VC — Boost VC — Rolling — Leads pre-seed rounds with $500K checks, ~70 startups/yr, deep tech (nuclear, space, robotics, biotech, crypto, VR/AR, AI); now presents as a pre-seed fund rather than a cohort accelerator — the older "15% + housing" accelerator terms are no longer stated on their site, so confirm directly

• Google for Startups: AI First (North America) — Google — Future cohorts still TBD (last ran Apr-Jun 2024) — 10 weeks, NO EQUITY, up to $350K credits, Seed-Series A

• Station F F/ai — Station F — The dedicated F/ai page now 404s and F/ai is no longer listed on Station F's programs index — status unclear, confirm directly — Was two 20-company cohorts/year, Paris, backed by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral AI, Sequoia, General Catalyst, Lightspeed; $1M+ in model and compute credits, 0% equity

• AWS Generative AI Accelerator — AWS — 2026 window closed (applications ran Jun 10–Jul 10, 2026); 2027 dates TBD — 8 weeks hybrid, NO EQUITY, up to $1M credits, global, pre-Series A and under 5 yrs old

• Antler Embark — Antler — Oct 2026 cohort closed August 31, 2026; next intake May 2027 — 4-6 weeks in San Francisco, Antler leads a $600K-$800K pre-seed with a $450K cheque, $2M+ in AI credits (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Cloud, Azure, AWS), 10-12 companies per cohort, for immigrant founders building AI-first companies for the US market, SF relocation required

VC-Backed Programs for Founders

Best for: Founders with MVP or early traction, established founding teams

Ideal if: You want top-tier VC access, are building enterprise AI, or need strategic guidance over capital

• a16z Speedrun (SR008) — a16z — Oct 11, 2026 (rolling year-round) — Program starts early 2027, up to $1M investment, $10M+ in credits across 250+ tool partners

• Alchemist Accelerator — Alchemist — Rolling — 6 months SF, $25K for 5%, B2B/enterprise focus

• Greylock Edge — Greylock — Rolling — 3 months, flexible funding (seed to uncapped SAFE), $500K+ credits

• Betaworks Camp — Betaworks — Applications typically open Jun–Jul (Fall) and Dec–Jan (Spring) — 12 weeks in-residence, NYC Meatpacking, 8-12 companies, thematic AI focus, free to participate (founders cover travel/housing) — site still lists a Fall 2025 theme; check for the current cycle

• Collaborative Fund AIR — Collaborative Fund — Status unclear — the AIR program page now returns 404; verify before listing — Was 10 weeks NYC, $500K for 10%, consumer AI focus

• Designer Fund — Designer Fund — Rolling, applications open — Early-stage design-led companies in health, sustainability and prosperity (portfolio incl. Stripe, Notion, Linear, Framer) — check size not published

• Afore Capital Founder-in-Residence — Afore Capital — Rolling year-round (reply in 1-2 weeks); Fall 2026 cohort kicked off Oct 1, 2026 — apply now for the next one — 8 weeks in-person at Afore's South Park SF office, 5-8 founders per cohort, free to participate, Afore commits at least $100K to lead your pre-seed afterward, -1 to 0 stage

• Drive Capital Seed Program — Drive Capital — Applications open, rolling — $500K per investment via SAFE from an $80M fund, pre-seed/seed; GMs in Columbus, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, Boulder and Toronto (applications welcome from anywhere) — equity not published

• Soma Capital — Soma Capital — Rolling — Early-stage fund (portfolio incl. OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks) plus a separate Soma Fellows/Scholars program — check sizes and terms not published; confirm directly

• Unshackled Ventures — Unshackled Ventures — Rolling — First checks at Day 0 (pre-product, pre-revenue) for immigrant and foreign founders regardless of visa status; handles your visa at zero cost — 300+ filings, 100% success rate; 400+ investor network — check size not published

• ForgeUp — ForgeUp Ventures — Rolling (application form / contact@forgeup.vc) — Site was unbuilt as of Aug 2026 and is now live — Growth program for already-funded AI, ML and advanced-tech startups with real traction and an established user base; five expert-led disciplines (sales, marketing, product strategy, IP/defensibility, corporate legal) plus a Chief of Staff component; B2B, B2C or dual-market — funding, equity, duration and location not published; confirm directly

• Village Global — Village Global — Rolling (contact form) — $500K-$3M checks at pre-seed and seed globally, network of 400+ founders and operator angels; not a cohort accelerator

• Day One Ventures — Day One Ventures — Rolling (inquiry form) — Pre-seed to seed — the "Catalyst" program is no longer mentioned anywhere on their site; treat it as discontinued and pitch the fund directly

• Sequoia Arc Intensive — Sequoia — Portfolio Only — 4-day intensive for Sequoia-backed founders

• Lightspeed Launch Program — Lightspeed — Portfolio Only

• Bain Founder's Studio — Bain & Company — Internal Only

Global Accelerators

Best for: First-time founders with a validated idea, teams seeking structure and accountability

Ideal if: You need hands-on guidance, brand credibility, or access to corporate partnerships

• Y Combinator Winter 2027 — Y Combinator — Deadline not yet announced (expected late Oct–Nov 2026) — 3 months Jan–Mar SF, $500K total ($125K for 7% + $375K MFN SAFE); students can apply now via Early Decision

• Startmate (2027) — Startmate — November 8, 2026 — 12 weeks ending Apr 29, 2027, AUD $120K, Australia/NZ

• Techstars — Techstars — Rolling by program — 3 months, $20K for 5% equity + $200K uncapped MFN SAFE

• Techstars Anywhere — Techstars — November 18, 2026 — Program runs March 8 – June 3, 2027, 3 months remote-first with no relocation required, three in-person offsites in VC hubs, standard Techstars terms, North American time zones, emphasis on robotics, energy, applied and physical AI, and materials science

• 500 Global Flagship — 500 Global — Rolling by batch (check site for current deadline) — 4 months Silicon Valley, $150K for 6%

• Antler — Antler — Rolling intake in the US; no fixed deadline — see cohort start dates — 6 weeks + investment phase, $100K-$190K for 10-12%, 30+ global locations, co-founder matching; see also Antler Embark under AI & Deep Tech Accelerators

• Entrepreneur First (EF Global) — Entrepreneur First — Rolling by location — 3-4 months, $80K-$100K for 8-10%, co-founder matching, technical talent only

• Seedcamp — Seedcamp — Rolling ("Pitch Us") — Europe's seed fund, invests from day one through later rounds; portfolio includes Wise, Revolut, UiPath — check size and equity not published; confirm directly

• Plug and Play — Plug and Play — Rolling by vertical — 12 weeks, 0% equity and no program fee (funded by corporate partners), Selection Day → program → Expo Day; 500+ corporate partners; separate PnP Ventures investment on standard SAFE/note terms if you take it

• MassChallenge — MassChallenge — No open programs listed — site says "check back for upcoming programming"; join the interest form to be notified — NO EQUITY; Early Stage (industry-agnostic) and Challenge Programs across healthcare, security, food systems, climate and financial systems

• Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) — CDL — 2026/27 program closed Jul 24, 2026; 2027/28 applications expected ~spring 2027 — 9 months, NO EQUITY, science/deep-tech focus, 15 global sites

• HAX — SOSV — Rolling — $550K initial investment, Newark HQ + Princeton (HAX Plasma Forge), pre-seed hard tech: energy, advanced compute, transportation, health tech, manufacturing

• SOSV SF / SOSV NY (formerly IndieBio) — SOSV — Rolling — Rebranded from IndieBio in early 2026, scope widened beyond biotech — SF and NYC, deep tech: bio, chemistry, physics, AI, food/ag, industrial decarbonization; on-site labs — current check size not published; confirm directly

• APX — Axel Springer + Porsche — Rolling (pitch by email/form) — Berlin, earliest-stage/pre-seed, often first institutional check — investment amount and equity not published; confirm directly

• Startup Wise Guys — Startup Wise Guys — Rolling — €100K initial ticket in flagship programs, Europe, vertical tracks (SaaS, fintech, cybersecurity and more) across Building/Growing/Scaling stages

• Project Europe — Project Europe (20VC, Point Nine, Adjacent) — Rolling — €200K for 6.66% from a €10M fund, 10-20 founders per year, idea stage onwards; founders must be under 25 and have started the company in Europe (no restriction on relocating later), each paired with a European founder as mentor — terms are from TechCrunch, tech.eu and Sifted; the official site does not publish them, so confirm directly

• Conception X — Conception X — December 6, 2026 (Spring 2027 cohorts) — Venture creation for academic researchers across Europe: Venture Scientist 100 is a 9-month fellowship for ~100 PhD founders designed to run alongside the PhD, with investment and expert coaching for top teams; Raise is a 10-week investment-readiness programme for science teams — investment amounts and equity not published; confirm directly

• Founders Factory — Founders Factory — Rolling by program — Venture studio (co-found with their team) plus corporate-sponsored accelerators: Aviva Fintech (London & global), Rio Tinto Mining Tech, WA Government Nature Tech, MSWA Neurological Care (Perth & global) and Blue Action Climate (global); pre-seed and seed investment, operational support and corporate partner access — funding amounts, equity and deadlines vary by program and are not published centrally

• Wayra — Telefónica — Rolling (contact form) — Telefónica's corporate venture arm in Spain, Germany, the UK and Brazil; venture-client model connecting startups to Telefónica business units and customers rather than a fixed cohort program — per-startup investment amount, equity and application deadlines not published; confirm directly

Non-Dilutive Grants & Public Funding

Best for: Deep tech and hardware founders who need capital without giving up ownership

Ideal if: You have a working prototype and can absorb a long, paperwork-heavy application cycle

• EIC Accelerator — European Innovation Council — Next full-proposal cut-off November 4, 2026 (short proposals accepted anytime, batched the first Tuesday monthly; 2027 dates not yet published) — Grant of up to €2.5M, 0% equity, for TRL 6-8 innovation activities completed within 24 months; optionally blended with a €1M-€10M equity or quasi-equity investment component, so the grant-only route is the non-dilutive one. Open to single startups and SMEs including spin-outs, and small mid-caps up to 499 employees for TRL 9 scaling; non-EU applicants must relocate the company to become eligible before the full application, and UK applicants are restricted to grant-only

Traditional Accelerators & Incubators

Best for: Founders seeking capital + mentorship without top-tier VC pressure

Ideal if: You're optimizing for ownership percentage or prefer remote/flexible programs

• LAUNCH Accelerator — LAUNCH — Rolling (Cohort 35 accepting) — Decisions in ~8-12 weeks; commonly cited at $125K for ~7% but terms have shifted between cohorts — confirm in your own offer; expects product in market with early traction

• AngelPad — AngelPad — Applications currently closed; no next cohort announced — email signup only — 12 weeks in NYC and SF, $120K investment + $300K+ in cloud credits (AWS, Google, DigitalOcean), founders hold the same class of shares — equity percentage not published

• Pear VC (PearX) — Pear VC — W27 applications closed October 4, 2026 — 12 weeks, $500K-$2M, 20-25 teams per cohort, two cohorts/yr (Jan–Apr and Jul–Oct)

• Neo Residency — Neo — Rolling, no published deadline — Replaced Neo Accelerator in Feb 2026 — 3 months SF + 2-week Oregon bootcamp, $750K uncapped SAFE + $450K+ compute credits for 12–15 startups per cohort; also $40K grants for 5–8 student teams; no fixed equity %

• Founder Institute — Founder Institute — Rolling, applications open — 10-session curriculum, 200+ cities across 95+ countries, programs scheduled through Spring 2027; equity-based (warrants) — fee and warrant terms not published on the main site

• IDEO CoLab Ventures — IDEO — Creative Residency status unclear — most recent resident posts are from 2023–2024 and no current application path is published; contact fundteam@ideo.com

• AlleyCorp Startup Studio — AlleyCorp — Internal Only

Pre-Idea & Very Early Stage Programs

Best for: Technical talent exploring ideas, researchers, side-project founders

Ideal if: You want low-commitment exploration before going full-time

• Founders Inc — Founders Inc — Rolling, no fixed deadlines — Two-week campus experience in SF with funding consideration; emerging tech — current check size and equity not published; the "up to $250K for 4-7%" figure comes from the older Artifact program

• Z Fellows — Z Fellows — Rolling — 1 week, $10K at $1B cap

• Pear Prime 2027 — Pear VC — January 4, 2027 — Annual program for CS students, recent grads and early-career engineers; founder meetings and career opportunities at Pear portfolio companies (Cerebras, Perplexity, HeyGen and others), career coaching from Pear's Talent team, lifelong engineer/founder network, and priority consideration for PearX — talent program, not an investment: no funding or equity; program length and location not published

• Founder University — LAUNCH — Cohort 13 starts Fall 2026 (Cohort 12 in progress) — 12 weeks, $500 tuition, refunded if you attend all live sessions; $25K or $125K awarded to top graduates; weekly live sessions + pod syncs, 5-10 hrs/week async

• Pioneer — Pioneer — No longer accepting applications — Was $20K for 1%, remote accelerator for ambitious outsiders

• Gold House Ventures Accelerator — Gold House — Cohort dates TBD — check site — 14-week program, seed funding eligibility, masterclasses + Demo Day; note: renamed from the Founder Fellowship and now open to founders from all underrepresented communities, not only API founders

Sector-Specific Programs

Best for: Founders in niche verticals like fintech, climate, food tech, or specialized industries

Ideal if: You need industry-specific expertise, pilots, or corporate connections

• AI BioHub Accelerator — C10 Labs + LabCentral — Next cohort dates TBD (Spring 2026 closed Mar 9, ran from Mar 19) — Cambridge MA, AI-for-biotech, lab ecosystem access via LabCentral

• Forum Ventures — Forum Ventures — Rolling — Three arms: AI venture studio, accelerator, and pre-seed fund; B2B software only, zero-to-one stage, 430 companies funded — check size and equity not published; confirm directly

• Third Derivative (D3) — RMI + New Energy Nexus — Accepts startups multiple times a year — 18 months virtual, no exclusivity required, hardtech climate; requires 2+ full-time employees and a working prototype (TRL 4+) — funding terms not published; confirm directly

• Bethnal Green Ventures — BGV — Dates conflict on their own site: the homepage says applications reopen May 2026 while a later post announces the Autumn 2026 cohort — check the apply page — UK early-stage "tech for good" VC and the first UK VC certified as a B Corp; programme is the entry point with follow-on support to Series A; climate, inequality and health; no warm introduction needed — investment amount and equity not published; confirm directly

• Google for Startups: Climate Change — Google — Future cohorts TBD — 10 weeks, NO EQUITY, up to $350K credits, Seed-Series A

• Greentown Labs — Greentown Labs — Rolling startup membership — Moved to greentown.org — Somerville MA + Houston TX, climatetech incubator with lab/prototyping space, plus themed programs (Go Build, Go Energize, Go Grow, Carbon to Value) — membership pricing not published

• The Mint — Better Tomorrow Ventures — No longer accepting applications; the program page has been removed from BTV's site — Was 10 weeks NYC/SF, $500K for 10%, fintech-focused, pre-seed

Compute and GPU Programs for Founders

Best for: All AI founders, especially those building LLM-based applications or training models

Ideal if: Compute costs are your primary burn or you need specialized GPU access

• Claude for Startups — Anthropic — $1,000 in Claude API credits (expire six months after grant) + 1 year of Claude Team (up to 5 Premium seats for new members) + up to $45K in partner offers via the Claude Startup Stack (Build, Design, Analyze and Grow categories — ElevenLabs, Firecrawl, Gamma and others), plus automatically higher API rate limits; open to bootstrapped, pre-seed and venture-backed startups founded within the last 5 years or funded within the last 2, with a Claude Console account and a company email matching your domain; credits work on the first-party Claude API via Claude Console only — not Bedrock, Vertex AI, or other third-party platforms

• Google Cloud for Startups — Google — Three tiers: Bootstrapped (~$2K), Standard (up to $200K), AI-First (up to $350K); credits valid ~2 years; AI-First tier generally requires accelerator/VC association and building on Vertex AI or Gemini

• NVIDIA Inception Program — NVIDIA — Free, no equity, no deadlines or cohorts; preferred hardware pricing, free cloud credits from NVIDIA and partners, technical training, VC introductions; must be incorporated, under 10 yrs old, 1+ developer

• Microsoft for Startups — Microsoft — Up to $150K in Azure credits across eligible services, plus AI model access, GitHub and Microsoft 365 tools, technical guidance and GTM support

• Nebius for Startups — Nebius — Credits available only through partner VC firms; requires $5M+ raised from an approved VC, incorporated under 5 yrs, AI product focus; applications currently waitlisted, though open community access remains available

• Together AI — Together AI — Tiered startup credits up to $50K (roughly $15K Build / $30K Scale / $50K Grow), no equity, seed–Series B, usable across serverless inference, dedicated endpoints, fine-tuning and clusters

• Replicate — Replicate — $1K-$10K inference credits, no equity, serverless GPU deployment on open-weight models; pre-Series B, production product (not research)

• CoreWeave — CoreWeave — Rolling Startup Accelerator, no fixed deadline — cloud credits + compute discounts across 10+ NVIDIA GPU SKUs (A100/H100 and up), support engineers, VC introductions; AI/ML and other compute-intensive fields

• Lambda GPU Cloud — Lambda — Now at lambda.ai; lambdalabs.com redirects — Competitive GPU pricing and H100 clusters; startup credits (reported up to ~$7.5K) and a separate research grant (up to $5K cloud credits + mentoring) — amounts vary, confirm directly

• AWS Activate — Amazon — Up to $200K in Activate credits (additional credits for AI startups scaling up), first prototype through Series A and beyond

• Oracle for Startups — Oracle — The dedicated startup page now redirects to Oracle Cloud — Free tier plus steep ongoing OCI discounts; larger credit allocations routed through approved VC and accelerator partners rather than a public portal, so amounts vary — confirm directly

• Cohere Startup Program — Cohere — The startup program page has been removed and now redirects to Cohere's homepage — status unclear, confirm directly — Was a 25% discount on all models for up to 12 months + technical support and co-marketing, Series B and earlier

• Trinity Builders Program — Arcee AI — Free Trinity API credits allocated by token band (under 50M up to 1B+ tokens), valid 90 days; open source projects, research, production apps, and dev tools; allocation subject to available capacity

• Databricks for Startups — Databricks — Up to $200K credits across Databricks + Neon, technical guidance + GTM support, Solution Accelerators; separate invitation-only Databricks AI Accelerator

• Startup with IBM — IBM — Up to $120K IBM Cloud credits over 12 months (watsonx.ai/.data/.governance), no equity; Builder tier $1K/mo, Premium tier $10K/mo; under 5 yrs, under $1M revenue, max $5M raised

• Hugging Face for Startups — Hugging Face — Pro-tier perk rather than a large credit grant: ~20x free-tier inference credits via Inference Providers, expanded storage and rate limits, higher ZeroGPU quota; often claimed through partner perk marketplaces

• Cursor for Startups — Cursor — Free Cursor Pro for eligible early-stage startups (commonly ~12 months); usually routed via accelerator/VC partnerships — terms are not published on a stable public page, so confirm directly with Cursor

• OpenAI for Startups — OpenAI — Up to $5K API credits ($2,500 typical via partner VC or Ramp); no broad self-serve program — access is via partner accelerators and funds; credits expire 12 months after issuance

• RunPod Startup Program — RunPod — Rolling — Starter Tier: $1K credits, no commit (pre-Series A); Growth Tier: $50K commit + $25K bonus ($75K total, 12-month term), Seed–Series B+ spending $5K–$25K+/mo

• DigitalOcean Hatch — DigitalOcean — Rolling — 12 months of credits (amount set by your partner accelerator/VC, not a fixed figure) + 15 months free Standard support; GPU credits are a separate application and not guaranteed; AI-native startups only, must have raised $10M or less

• Cloudflare for Startups — Cloudflare — Rolling (review in ~48 hours) — Tiered credits for one year: $10K (bootstrapped/self-funded, under $1M raised), $100K (under $5M raised, funded by an affiliated partner), $350K ($5M+ raised, funded by an affiliated partner); incorporated within 10 years, funded up to Series B with funding in the last 12 months, live public website and a public presence on LinkedIn, X or GitHub, never previously approved; agencies, consultancies, MSPs, resellers and educational institutions excluded

• GitHub for Startups — GitHub — Rolling via partners (approval in 2-3 business days) — $10K in GitHub credits across Enterprise, Copilot, Advanced Security and Actions, valid up to 12 months; requires affiliation with a GitHub for Startups partner investor, incubator or accelerator, outside funding at Series B or earlier (non-equity credits don't count), and that you be new to GitHub Enterprise — GitHub.com Enterprise Cloud only, not Enterprise Server or Data Residency

• National Compute Grid — National Compute Labs PBC — Not open to founders yet — worth watching — Pooled compute infrastructure for the frontier research ecosystem, currently in preview under "Public Sector Access": sign-in requires a .edu, .mil or .gov email and everyone else joins a waitlist. Includes an Evaluate option (Marshall environment), a published capacity forecast and a downloadable paper; AMP is listed as a frontier systems partner — no founder or startup access path, pricing or credits announced; the site warns of extreme demand surges

Recently Closed Founder Programs (For Reference)

These programs have closed for their current cohorts but typically run annually. Check their websites for future application cycles.

• Founders, Inc. Blueprint II — Founders, Inc. — CLOSED (September 14, 2026) — Program runs Sep 30–Dec 11, 2026, 3 months SF, 30 teams, hardware and frontier tech, $1M+ in credits plus up to a year of access to their hardware facility and prototyping labs — investment terms (reported as $150K for 5%) appear only in third-party roundups; the official Blueprint page is not publicly readable, so confirm directly

• NYC AI Nexus Fall 2026 — C10 Labs + NYCEDC — MAIN DEADLINE PASSED (August 31, 2026) — still reviewing top-tier applications on a rolling basis — Core program early Oct–Dec 2026, Demo Day Dec 2026, Manhattan

• Antler Embark (Oct 2026 cohort) — Antler — CLOSED (August 31, 2026) — 4-6 weeks SF, $600K-$800K pre-seed led by Antler with a $450K cheque, $2M+ in AI credits; runs twice yearly, next intake May 2027

• The Bridge Residency (Fall 26) — Entrepreneur First — CLOSED (August 30, 2026 — late applications may not be reviewed) — Starts Oct 2026, 8 weeks Bay Area, up to $250K for 8%, young European founders, no idea or co-founder required

• Berkeley SkyDeck Batch 23 — UC Berkeley — CLOSED (August 21, 2026) — Program runs Nov 2, 2026 – Apr 15, 2027, $210K from the SkyDeck Fund for 20–25 cohort teams (plus 60–80 Pad-13 teams without guaranteed funding), 900+ advisors, Demo Day Apr 2027; Batch 24 applications expected ~Feb 2027

• Alchemist Chicago — Alchemist + UChicago — CLOSED (August 20, 2026) — Free bootcamp Oct 19–23, 2026, ~15 startups advance to the Jan–Jul 2027 program, $50K SAFE (~4% typical)

• South Park Commons Fall 2026 — SPC — CLOSED (August 2, 2026) — Bootcamp late Sep–late Nov 2026; Spring 2027 applications expected ~Feb 2027

• Y Combinator F26 — Y Combinator — CLOSED (July 27, 2026 — late apps still reviewed) — Decisions by Aug 28, 3 months Oct–Dec SF, $500K total ($125K for 7% + $375K MFN SAFE)

• Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) 2026/27 — CDL — CLOSED (July 24, 2026) — 9 months, NO EQUITY, science/deep-tech focus, 15 global sites

• Google Xoogler AI Startup Incubator — Xoogler.co + Google AI Futures Fund — CLOSED (July 15, 2026) — 12 weeks, 10-20 startups, up to $100K access to capital + up to $350K Google Cloud and AI credits, early access to Google AI models, Google/DeepMind alumni focus

• AWS Generative AI Accelerator 2026 — AWS — CLOSED (July 10, 2026) — 8 weeks hybrid, NO EQUITY, up to $1M AWS credits, global

• Lux Fellowship — Lux — CLOSED (May 26, 2026) — $15,000 non-dilutive grants, deep mentorship, and a world-class network to the boldest undergrads pushing the boundaries of physical, computational, and life sciences

• a16z Speedrun SR007 — a16z — CLOSED (May 17, 2026) — Cohort ran late Jul–Oct 2026; SR008 applications are open through Oct 11, 2026

• Y Combinator S26 — Y Combinator — CLOSED (May 4, 2026) — 3 months Jul–Sep SF, $500K total ($125K for 7% + $375K MFN SAFE)

• The House Fund AI Accelerator — The House Fund — CLOSED (May 1, 2026) — The accelerator page has been removed from their site — June-Aug 2026, 10 weeks in-person Berkeley, SAFE for 7-10%, UC Berkeley-affiliated founders, AI-first focus

• Google Summer of Code (GSoC) — Google — CLOSED (Apply Mar 24-Apr 8, 2026) — 12+ weeks, stipend, open source development

• a16z Speedrun Alpha — a16z — CLOSED (Mar 6, 2026) — places top early-career engineers into full-time roles at fast-growing a16z portfolio companies; future founders are provided capital before a team or idea even exists

• Vercel AI Accelerator — Vercel — CLOSED (Feb 16, 2026 for 2026 cohort) — Ran Mar 2–Apr 16, 2026, 6 weeks virtual-first, 40 teams, NO EQUITY, $6M+ in credits (Vercel, AWS, Anthropic, OpenAI, and 20+ others), Demo Day SF; runs annually — expect 2027 applications around Jan–Feb 2027

• The Bridge Residency (Summer 26) — Entrepreneur First — CLOSED (Feb 16, 2026) — July 2026, 8 weeks Bay Area, up to $250K for 8%, European grads 2023+; the Fall 26 cohort has also now closed

• Berkeley SkyDeck Batch 22 — UC Berkeley — CLOSED (Feb 13, 2026) — 6 months, 900+ advisors, Demo Day to 600+ investors; Batch 23 has also now closed

• Presight AI Accelerator — Presight/G42 — CLOSED (Jan 31, 2026) — 6 months hybrid (Abu Dhabi), $150K compute credits + $50K cash (UAE ops), G42 ecosystem access

• Accel Atoms AI Cohort 2026 — Accel + Google AI Futures Fund — CLOSED (Jan 26, 2026) — Feb-May 2026, 3 months, up to $2M, Indian/Indian-origin founders, $350K Google Cloud credits; Atoms is open year-round for non-cohort applications

• OpenAI Grove Cohort 2 — OpenAI — CLOSED (Jan 12, 2026) — Jan 22-Feb 27, 2026, 5 weeks SF, $50K API credits, ~15 participants, no equity

• Flagship Pioneering Fellowship — Flagship Pioneering — CLOSED (Jan 12, 2026) — Jun-Aug 2026, 12 weeks paid (stipend), scientists/AI builders, health/sustainability focus, Cambridge MA

• CrowdStrike/AWS/NVIDIA Cybersecurity Accelerator — CrowdStrike — CLOSED — Announcement press release has been taken down — 2026 cohort ran Jan-Mar, 8 weeks free, AI security focus, Demo Day Mar 24 SF

• Founders, Inc. Artifact Program — Founders, Inc. — CLOSED (Dec 31, 2025) — foundersinc.co no longer resolves; the company is now at f.inc — Jan 12-Feb 13, 2026, 5 weeks SF, up to $250K + $500K credits for 4-7%

• Thrive Capital Summer Fellowship — Thrive Capital — CLOSED (Dec 1, 2025) — June-Aug 2026 NYC, 10 weeks, $40K grant, college students only (not founders)

• The R[3]sidency x Construct — Fabric Ventures — CLOSED (September 15 — year not stated on their site) — 12 weeks Oct–Jan, capped at 8 teams, $300K investment + $100K+ in credits and ecosystem perks, UK-based, web3/AI/frontier tech — equity terms not published; runs recurring cohorts, so check for the next cycle

• Robinhood Catalyst — Blue Ridge Labs — CLOSED (Nov 21, 2025) — Catalyst program page has been removed — Feb-Jun 2026, 4 months Brooklyn, $100K for 5.5%, social impact/economic mobility focus

Removed — Verified Defunct or Unreachable (Oct 2026)

These were re-checked on October 10, 2026 and their sites are dead, parked, or unbuilt.

• Backdrop Build — backdrop.build now redirects to a domain-sale listing

• AIX Ventures Studio — aix.ventures no longer resolves (DNS failure)

• FoodSeed — foodseed.eu no longer resolves (DNS failure)

• Founders Fellowship — foundersfellowship.com is a parked domain that redirects to a lander page

• Seed Club — seedclub.xyz SSL certificate expired; site unreachable

• 1752vc (formerly Pegasus) — server returning 522 errors; unreachable

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⇒ HOME ⇒ ABOUT	Joy Larkin is a technologist in Silicon Valley. She likes robots and is excited for Superintelligence. LinkedIn: /in/joylarkin ◦◦◦ Twitter: @joy	Frontier AI Lab Tracker The Great Frontier AI Lab Product War Is Just Beginning