Applications Open: SPC Founder Fellowship Fall 2026
$1M and deep support to build what only you can. Apply now.
You’ve never been able to build this fast. Prototypes in a weekend. Traction in a month. Models leapfrog each other mid-project and everyone you know is shipping.
In startups, speed is a virtue. But without direction it’s also a trap. When everyone can go from prompt to product, depth matters more than ever. The faster everything moves, the easier it is to look up and find yourself stuck in a local max, suddenly short on the most precious resource: time.
There are two ways to miss the moment: by not starting and by wasting your time on something small. The Founder Fellowship is your invitation to avoid both. We back you with $1M and the community that defined -1 to 0 while you build conviction and momentum. No fixed timeline, but acceleration when you need it. No pressure to stick with your first idea, only to find what’s worth your next decade.
Ambition in the age of AI means patience in service of speed. SPC is here to help you take your time, quickly. To surround you with the sharpest technologists around to test your thinking; to partner you with experts in the stage of company-building that affects everything else.
Find the maximally ambitious version of what only you can build.
What do Fellows get?
$1M in funding. $400K for 7% upfront on a standard SAFE, plus $600K guaranteed in your next external round.
Real partner support. Working sessions with SPC partners on customer discovery, product, storytelling, and pitching, several times a week from day one.
Open timelines. Validate and fundraise on your company’s schedule, with Demo Faire events and bespoke fundraising help when you’re ready.
The most talent-dense community in -1 to 0. By far the most valuable part, and the part you keep for life.
Up to $1M in credits from Anthropic, OpenAI, Baseten, Microsoft, GCP, AWS, Render, Figma, and more.
Dates and logistics
Application deadline: 11:59pm PT on Sunday, August 2nd.
Interviews: All applicants hear back about interview invitations by August 30th.
Program dates: The Fall 2026 bootcamp runs late September to late November.
Kickoff: Programming begins with a kickoff week at a private retreat in Northern California and at our San Francisco office.
Location: All Fellows work from one of our offices in San Francisco, New York City, or Bangalore for the duration of the bootcamp. Afterward, teams can relocate to wherever they plan to build, though we encourage staying in a city with an SPC location.
Is the Founder Fellowship the only way to join SPC?
No. SPC is a community of technologists first, with two ways in. The Fellowship is for founders who know they want to start a venture-scale company and are ready for early funding. If you’re not ready to fundraise yet, or haven’t decided a company is how you want to build the future, the Member Residency is built for exactly that: six months, no cost, no equity rights, full access to our offices, programming, and members. SPC also invests at the Seed stage, but almost always after getting to know founders first as members. All applications start from the same place.
For more answers—including program phases, founder and past company profiles, industries, compute credits details, and more—read the full FAQ.