SPC Founder Fellowship Spring 2025 Applications Open

You don’t go through -1 to 0 to build something merely good or marginally better. You do it to build something generational and iconic. You do it in pursuit of your life’s work—to build AGI (and understand it), to build new clouds (for engineers and ML), to rethink language learning, to create the next generation of engineers, to fight global fraud, to build foundations for upward mobility, to usher in new business models.

We don’t want to help you raise money for a mediocre idea. Our north star is helping you find your global maximum. Too many investors just want to accelerate you to the next funding round without caring about what you actually build. We help you pick the right idea.

The SPC Founder Fellowship is the most talent-dense early-stage environment for starting venture-scale companies, designed specifically to help you go from -1 to 0 by the people who defined -1 to 0. You may find the idea that will become your life’s work in a few weeks. Or maybe it’ll take a year. Maybe you have something in mind already and have started building it, but still need to reach conviction that it's worth the next 5-10 years of your life. We don't believe there’s a linear path to build a generational business.

Apply here by February 2nd, 2025.

FAQ

What is the Founder Fellowship?

SPC’s Founder Fellowship helps entrepreneurs start a venture-scale company by targeting support at the “-1 to 0” idea stage. We give founders their first outside investment, help them ideate and iterate to a viable product, find early customers, and assist in raising funding from the best VCs in the world.

We take a boutique approach with our founders. Our cohort sizes are small, with one investor for every two companies. We do not have a required demo day or fixed timelines. We offer $400,000 to generate and pursue an idea in exchange for 7% equity via a SAFE. We also guarantee $600,000 in your next outside-led venture round.

How is the Founder Fellowship different from other accelerators or incubators?

We help in the -1 to 0 phase, even before founders have a set idea (though we also welcome founders already working on one).

• More money and a higher valuation for your company. Most accelerators offer smaller checks for more equity. We offer $400K for 7% up front, while also guaranteeing $600K in your next outside-led round so you can pitch investors from a strong position. We believe great ideas may take more than a few months to materialize and founders should avoid moving too quickly because they are cash-constrained.
• Small cohorts with direct partner mentorship. Each company works directly with partners several times per week.
• No idea necessary. We run the only truly pre-idea pre-seed program. We can help you find a great market and idea for which you are well suited. We help you reach Founder-Market Fit so you can get to Product-Market Fit.
• No fixed timelines. Work on validating ideas and fundraising on a timeline that makes the most sense for your company.

What are the Fellowship terms and funding?

• Terms: $400k upfront for 7% on a standard SAFE, plus an additional $600k guaranteed in your next external funding round.
• Credits: We offer over $900k in credits and perks from companies including Baseten, OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure, GCP, AWS, Render, RunwayML, Figma, and many more.

How long does the Fellowship last?

You become a Founder Fellow as soon as you are accepted into the program, with immediate access to SPC community spaces, partners, and programming. The Fellowship itself has no defined end-date, but does have two distinct phases: 1) bootcamp, and 2) residency. During the bootcamp, teams work closely in-person in San Francisco or New York City to build, demo, and share feedback alongside each other. After the initial bootcamp, teams enter residency, which lasts as long as you need to reach conviction and get ready to raise your next round.

• Immediate Membership. You become Fellows and members of SPC as soon as you are accepted and sign investment terms. We fund teams immediately—you don’t have to wait for the official fellowship kickoff.You gain immediate access to all SPC offices, events & programming, and our online community.
• Bootcamp. Small cohorts with direct partner mentorship. Each company works directly with SPC partners several times per week on customer discovery, product development, technical scoping, branding, storytelling, product launches, pitch practice, and more. Fellows attend weekly demos and pitch practice with the cohort, along with skills workshops and exclusive events.
• Residency. We want you to work on the right idea, not necessarily the first idea. This can take time. The Residency period lasts as long as you need. Fellows remain full members of SPC, with access to all offices and programming, and continue working closely with SPC partners. Once you are ready to raise your seed round, SPC partners will help you prepare your pitch and make white-glove introductions to investors.

Do I need an idea to apply?

You do not need an idea to apply.

That said, a great idea is critical to long term success. If you do not have an idea, we still need to assess your ability to generate them. Be prepared to discuss markets you find interesting, previous ideas you have considered and discarded, and the insights you find compelling and why.

If you already have an idea or product, you are also welcome to apply. We’ll help you build conviction that it’s worth betting the next decade of your life on.

Is the Founder Fellowship limited to specific industries or domains?

No. Our Spring ‘25 fellowship is open to founders exploring any venture-scale opportunity.

Can I apply as a solo founder?

Yes. If you apply as a solo founder, we have a strong bias for applicants who have the skills to build and prototype. If you are accepted as a solo founder, you may benefit from a co-founder, and we can help in the search process — previous fellows have found co-founders in the SPC community.

What are the upcoming cohort application deadlines, program dates, & location logistics?

• Application Deadline: 11:59pm PT on Sunday, February 2nd.
• Interviews: Start immediately. All applicants will hear back about whether they have received an interview invitation by February 21st.
• Program Dates: The Spring 2025 Fellowship Bootcamp (FF S25) runs from March 31st to May 23rd.
• Kickoff: We host a kickoff week starting with a private retreat in Sonoma and in our San Francisco office.
• Location: All fellows are required to work for the duration of the bootcamp from either our San Francisco or New York City offices. After the bootcamp, teams can relocate to where they plan to build their company, though we encourage teams to remain in a city with an SPC location (SF, NYC, or Bangalore).

Who is behind the Founder Fellowship?

The Founder Fellowship is organized by South Park Commons and run by SPC partners Ruchi Sanghvi, Aditya Agarwal, Finn Meeks, Evan Tana, Arian Agrawal, Prateek Mehta & Jonathan Brebner. We are builders, entrepreneurs, technologists, and investors who love helping founders win.

Former Fellowship Companies

We have partnered with a number of breakout companies at the earliest stages of their journeys. We are sector-agnostic and focus on exceptional people. Previous Founder Fellowship companies include Doppel,  Orb, New Computer, Column Tax, Profound, Comun, Ascend, Pulley, Keplar, Durable and many more.