Hi, I'm Kieran. I worked in startups for five years at On Deck and Wefunder. I contributed directly to the accelerator products ODX (by On Deck) and XX (by Wefunder) at both places. I put this ranking together based on my knowledge of the space and feedback from founders, investors, and operators in the startup ecosystem.
1. Y Combinator (YC)
Is YC worth it?
Yes, Y Combinator (YC) meaningfully increases the chances of a startup’s success. Every time you ask a YC founder what makes it special, they talk about two things: the quality of their peers and how YC got them to move faster. I will add two more things — the positive-sum nature of the community (you can email a YC founder in another batch, and it’s likely they’ll respond) and the distribution advantage (many YC founders get their first customers by selling to other YC startups).
In recent years, some people on Twitter claim that YC’s network quality of cohorts and Partners is getting worse, alluding that they don’t believe YC is worth it. I don’t believe this is true. Yes, YC no longer has Paul Graham or Jessica Livingston. Yes, some of their best investments, like Airbnb, Stripe, and Dropbox, were in early batches. But, now they have Garry Tan at the helm, and recent cohorts have produced winners like Faire ($12.59 billion), Brex ($12.3 billion), and Rippling ($11.25 billion). Even more important, YC founders still recommend the program and even participate in the program for their second and third startups. For example, Justin Kan participated in YC with Twitch and Atrium, and Parker Conrad with Zenefits and Rippling.
Furthermore, part of joining an accelerator is that the best programs will help you raise your next round of funding. The investor ecosystem still views YC as a positive signal. An Andreessen Horowitz investor shared they are still seeing many great startups coming out of YC.
My view of an accelerator’s network quality is defined by the median quality of the founders, whether you get into winners, and whether those founders like you and recommend you to the next wave of entrepreneurs. As I outlined above, YC rates highly in all of these things, making it the best accelerator in the world, still.
Snapshot
Website: https://www.ycombinator.com/
Apply here: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply/
Number of startups funded: 4,000+ startups
Combined portfolio valuation: $600 billion
Industry-focus: YC invests in companies in all industries.
Acceptance rate: Typical between 1.5% - 2%. More than 10K startups apply each application cycle.
Funding and cost: YC invests $500K into every company, structured as a $125K SAFE for 7% and $375K on an uncapped MFN SAFE. For more details, read the deal here.
Programming
Location: YC's is an in-person program in San Francisco, California.
How long: YC's program is 3 months, with ongoing support afterward.
Size: YC's batch size is between 200-250 companies.
Frequency: YC hosts new batches twice a year (January - March, June - August).
Structure: Most of your time in YC is spent building your company. The light programming is intentional. In addition, they provide group office hours every two weeks, one-on-one office hours with your designated YC Partner as often as you want, and bring in notable founders, investors, and others to speak at cohort-wide dinners.
Notable outcomes
- Coinbase: The crypto marketplace went IPO at $250/share for an $85.7 billion valuation in April 2021.
- Airbnb: The short-term rental marketplace went IPO at $68/share for a $47 billion valuation in December 2020.
- DoorDash: The food delivery company went IPO at $102/share for a $72 billion valuation in December 2020.
- Twitch: The game streaming platform was acquired for $970 million in cash by Amazon in August 2014.
- Dropbox: The file hosting service went IPO at $21/share for a $9.2 billion valuation in March 2018.
Top YC companies
- Stripe: The payments company was last valued at $50 billion in March 2023.
- OpenSea: The NFT marketplace company was last valued at $13.3 billion in January 2022.
- Faire: The online wholesale marketplace was last valued at $12.4 billion in November 2021.
- Brex: The fintech spend platform was last valued at $12.3 billion in January 2022.
- Deel: The global payroll and compliance company was last valued at $12 billion in May 2022.
- Rippling: The workforce management platform was last valued at $11.25 billion in March 2023.
- Instacart: The grocery delivery company was last valued at $10 billion in December 2022.
- Gusto: The payroll solutions company was last valued at $10 billion in May 2022.
- Flexport: The global logistics company was last valued at $8 billion in February 2022.
- Razorpay: The payments company was last valued at $7.5 billion in December 2021.
Trending YC companies
- Whatnot: The live shopping platform recently was in the news for teaming up with Lil Yachty to give away the rapper's 2023 Rolling Loud sneakers.
- Retool: The internal tooling company recently was in the news for releasing backend workflows to complement its frontend workflows.
- Newfront: The modern insurance brokerage recently was in the news for hiring multiple top executives away from Marsh.
- Jeeves: The international banking company was recently in the news for doubling its client base to 3000 companies.
- Pave: The compensation platform was recently in the news for committing to have 50% of its client-facing roles be female or persons from underrepresented groups.
- Zip: The modern spend approvals company was recently in the news for being named a top startup employer by Forbes.
- AtoB: The payments company for the transportation industry was recently in the news for securing $75 million from General Catalyst.
Key YC alumni testimonials
- "The value of the peer group is surprisingly profound." - Patrick Collison, Founder of Stripe
- "YC is the Harvard of Silicon Valley, and it's not even close." - Justin Kan, Founder of Twitch
- "At YC, we were challenged to do things that don't scale -- to start with the perfect experience for one person, then work backwards and scale it to 100 people who love us. This was the best piece of advice we've ever received." - Brian Chesky, Founder of Airbnb
Significant ecosystem endorsements
- "It's fantastic to see the work Y Combinator is doing to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in the startup community and Hacker News is one of my favorite sources of pointers to hackers and their hacks!" - Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
- "Several of our best investments have come from Y Combinator. Y Combinator is the best program for creating top-end entrepreneurs that has ever existed." - Marc Andreessen, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
- "YC's home-brewed broth of hacking, camaraderie and experimentation is unmatched and has helped form many great companies with thriving businesses." - Alfred Lin, Partner at Sequoia Capital
Key platform elements
- YC Bookface (restricted to YC founders): A private social network for YC founders.
- YC Deals (restricted to YC founders): Access $500K in discounts, credits, and exclusive offers.
- YC Demo Day (restricted to YC founders): Pitch in front of an invite-only group of 1,500 investors and media members.
- Investor network (restricted to YC founders): Access an investor database with over 50K entries.
- Unpublished library of startup advice (restricted to YC founders): Essential startup advice for every step of your startup journey.
- YC Job Board (restricted to YC founders): Surface your job applications to 150K job-seekers.
- Alumni events (restricted to YC founders): Workshops, conferences, retreats, and in-person events.
- YC Startup School (open to anyone): A free online course to learn the basics of starting a company.
- YC Cofounder Match (open to anyone): Find high-quality cofounders.
- Launch YC (restricted to YC founders): Drive awareness of your startup by announcing it to the world.
Leadership
- Garry Tan: President & CEO of YC, ex-Founder of Posterous and Posthaven, ex-Managing Partner at Initialized Capital.
- Michael Seibel: Managing Director of YC, ex-Founder and CEO of Twitch and Socialcam.
- Paul Graham: Founder of YC, ex-Founder of Viaweb – the first SaaS company.
2. Sequoia Arc
Is Sequoia Arc worth it?
Yes, Sequoia Arc meaningfully increases the chances of a startup’s success. Sequoia Arc has funded < 50 startups, but it’s my top-rated accelerator program out of the new ones (Sequoia Arc, a16z START, Hyper, Hacker Fellowship Zero) that have popped up in the last couple of years.
One reason Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz (ranked #4) launched their accelerator offerings was that they wanted to see if they could attract high-quality founders at accelerator terms, which are better than what they were seeing at Seed and Series A. It’s no secret that YC had the best deal ever (originally $120K for 7%) concerning acquiring a significant stake in startups for a relatively small amount of money. Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz are testing whether their brand equity can help them attract and get into winners at accelerator prices too.
It’s early, but clear that Sequoia Arc is attracting top founders, and they have the platform to accelerate these startups. Look for Sequoia Arc to ramp up resources supporting this program and eventually scale in size as they build a track record for this offering.
Snapshot
Website: https://www.sequoiacap.com/arc/
Apply here: https://www.sequoiacap.com/arc/
Number of startups funded: < 50 startups
Combined portfolio valuation: < $1 billion
Industry-focus: Sequoia Arc invests in companies in all industries.
Acceptance rate: Below 1%. More than 1,000 companies applied to the first cohort, and they only took 13.
Funding and cost: They invest $500K - $1M on flexible terms into companies in the program.
Programming
Location: The first cohort was for US companies and was in person at Sequoia's Menlo Park office in California. The second cohort was for European companies and rotated between London, Menlo Park, and remote where the companies were based.
How long: Sequoia Arc is 8 weeks, with ongoing support afterward.
Size: Sequoia Arc's cohort size is between 10-15 companies.
Frequency: Sequoia Arc ran 2 cohorts in 2022 and will run 3 cohorts in 2023.
Structure: Sequoia Arc's programming follows its bespoke company design curriculum, which spends one week on the following topics: Outliers, Customer, Product, Sales & Marketing, Culture & Hiring, Business, Bend the Arc.
Notable outcomes
- None yet. Sequoia Arc started in May 2022. It usually takes between 5-10 years before you begin seeing notable outcomes for accelerators in the form of acquisitions and IPOs.
Top Sequoia Arc companies
- Roon: The education platform for complex medical conditions raised $7.5 million in funding at an undisclosed valuation led by Firstmark Capital.
- Fides: The compliance company raised $4.3 million in funding at an undisclosed valuation led by La Famiglia.
- Zeet: The DevOps and deployment platform raised $4.3 million at an undisclosed valuation led by Sequoia Capital.
- Summer Health: The pediatric health company raised $7.5 million in funding at an undisclosed valuation co-led by Sequoia Capital and Lux Capital.
Trending Sequoia Arc companies
- Flagship: The marketplace that allows content creators to become the new retailers was recently in the news for raising a seed round at an undisclosed valuation co-led by Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.
- Bento: The personal page for creators' company was recently in the news to share how they came up with the idea for the company.
Key Sequoia Arc alumni testimonials
- "Arc raises your own expectations of what you can achieve, and gives you the tools to get there. From hiring your first engineer to building a scalable sales organization. All this, while being surrounded by people who truly believe you can change the world." - Mohamed Chahin, Founder of Twain
- "Arc was a step-function change in our company's trajectory. The emphasis on 'different, not merely better' helped us improve how we think about every aspect of the product and customer experience." - Doug Schuessler, Founder of Safara
- "Becoming part of the Arc family is a pivotal moment for any founder. It's not just access to the collective wisdom of the Sequoia team, but it's kinship, support and one of a kind friendships from an exceptional peer group as well." - Madeleine Debney, Founder of Otto
Significant ecosystem testimonials
- "Arc is great and deserves attention" - Ali Partovi, CEO of Neo
- "I think Sequoia Arc is an amazing concept." Pat Phelan, Founder of Sisu Clinic
- "A lot of talented founders around me applying to Sequoia Arc. YC is shaking." - Sunwoo Lee, Founder of Stealth Startup
Key platform elements
- Sequoia Capital Job Board (restricted to Sequoia Arc founders): Surface your job application to thousands of job-seekers.
- Sequoia Capital Connections (restricted to Sequoia Arc founders): Sequoia Capital Partners help Sequoia Arc companies with relevant customer introductions, recruiting, and more.
Leadership
- Roelof Botha - Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital, ex-CFO of PayPal.
- Alfred Lin - Partner at Sequoia Capital, ex-COO of Zappos.
- Jess Lee - Partner at Sequoia Capital, ex-CEO of Polyvore.
3. South Park Commons
Is South Park Commons worth it?
Yes, South Park Commons’ accelerator program meaningfully increases the chances of a startup’s success. The community is filled to the brim with ambitious and talented founders; the team understands how to help founders and has the relationships and experience building startups to do so; and investors see joining the community as a positive signal.
While South Park Commons runs its Founder Fellowship, the accelerator, it also operates a fund and community. For founders considering the accelerator program, it’s important to note that many of the investments they list on their website did not participate in the accelerator program. Rather, South Park Commons deployed capital into that company, similar to a venture capital fund, including some at high valuations. This a typical strategy by new investors who logo-hunt early to build their reputation. It’s not necessarily a bad thing cause, on the other hand, it shows the team has the network and reputation to earn allocation alongside top venture capital funds in competitive deals. I call this out because as you consider which accelerator to apply to, it’s essential to understand whether South Park Commons helped them at its earliest stages through the accelerator program or was just a tiny investor in a late round.
One reason someone may apply to South Park Commons over Y Combinator is that the cohorts are much smaller, and each Partner only works with two companies at a time. On the other hand, Y Combinator has ~250 startups per batch, and each Partner works with 12-15 startups at a time. In addition, South Park Commons attracts a slightly different crowd than Y Combinator. Most founders accepted into South Park Commons are executives who scaled the last wave of great startups (think VP of Product at Series C startup) and are now building a startup from zero. While Y Combinator also attracts this crowd, they also attract a younger demographic -- the highly ambitious hacker types who built multiple startups (maybe they had some moderate success or failed but learned a lot). If I were to sum it up, I think credentials and what you’ve done in the past matter more to South Park Commons than Y Combinator during the vetting process. To be fair, Y Combinator has more shots on goal with each cohort (250 vs. <20), a stronger brand that they can take more risk to find an outlier, and are more willing to bet on the slope of the founder.
Snapshot
Website: https://www.southparkcommons.com/founder-fellowship
Apply here: https://www.southparkcommons.com/founder-fellowship
Number of startups funded: 130+ startups
Combined portfolio valuation: < $10 billion
Industry-focus: The South Park Commons Founder Fellowship invests in companies in all industries.
Acceptance rate: < 1%
Funding and cost: South Park Commons invests $400K for 7% equity via SAFE into companies accepted into the founder fellowship.
Programming
Location: South Park Commons offers in-person and remote options.
How long: South Park Commons' program is 10 weeks, with ongoing support afterward.
Size: Small, one partner for every two companies.
Frequency: Undisclosed. There have been five confirmed fellowships.
Structure: The program focuses on building your company, milestone-based workshops with fund partners and peers, and intimate discussions with notable luminaires such as Nathan Blecharczyk (Airbnb), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), and more.
Notable outcomes
- None yet. The inaugural cohort of the South Park Commons Founder Fellowship started in February 2021. It usually takes between 5-10 years before you begin seeing notable outcomes from accelerators in the form of acquisitions and IPOs.
Top South Park Commons companies
- Pulley: The cap table solution raised a $40 million Series B led by Keith Rabois at Founders Fund.
- Ascend: The modern insurance payments platform raised a $30 million Series A led by Index Ventures.
- Column Tax: The federal and state tax filing software company raised a $21.7 million Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures.
- Starlight Money: The financial operating system for web3 teams raised $5 million at an undisclosed valuation co-led by Abstract Ventures and A* Capital.
- Durable: The AI website builder raised $6.25 million at an undisclosed valuation from Altman Capital, Soma Capital, and others.
- Comun: The banking app for Latinos in the US raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Castanoa Ventures.
- Orb: The modern pricing platform raised a $19.1 million Series A led by Menlo Ventures.
Trending South Park Commons companies
- Ethos Wallet: The web3 onboarding company recently was profiled by Fortune for securing $4.2 million at an undisclosed valuation led by Boldstart ventures.
- Sesame Labs: The web3 marketing platform recently was featured in TechCrunch for raising $4.5 million at an undisclosed valuation co-led by Wing Venture Capital and Patron, cofounders Vinay Jain and Aman Jain
Key South Park Commons alumni testimonials
- "[I] met the most incredible group of humans I will be friends with for life." - James Clift, Founder of Durable
- "This year is going to be massive for AI, and South Park Commons is the best community for AI startups!" - Arnaud Benard, Founder of Galileo AI
- "Post Stripe, I spent nearly 2 years tinkering at South Park Commons before starting Render. SPC gave me the time and space to determine what I wanted to work on for the next several decades; the Founder Fellowship productizes my experience. Check it out!" - Anurag Goel, Founder of Render
Significant ecosystem endorsements
- "Got the chance to speak to the last [South Park Commons] Founder Fellowship cohort and was really impressed. If you're looking for a high talent community to accelerate progress, this is one of the best out there!" - Henrique Dubugras, CEO and Founder of Brex
- "Working with Aditya Agarwal and Ruchi Sanghvi at SPC is an unfair advantage for any founder who wants to go from pre-idea to venture-scale." - Darius Contractor, CGO at Otter.ai, ex-VP of Growth at Airtable
- "I helped get the first couple cohorts of the Founder Fellowship started and can't recommend the program more." - Avichal Garg, Managing Partner at Electric Capital
Key platform elements
- Alumni forum: A private online forum for South Park Commons' founders.
- Domain experts: Connect with domain experts in artificial intelligence, machine learning, self-driving vehicles, blockchain, fintech, social networks, energy, developer tools, and more.
- Fundraising support: Guidance on crafting your pitch deck and introductions to top angel investors, seed firms, and venture capitalists.
- Founders network: Access to a network of founders and executives, including OpenAI, Google, SpaceX, Figma, Notion, Airtable, Pilot, Compound, and more.
- Startup credits: $200k in credits from AWS, Google Cloud, Brex, Pulley, and other companies.
Leadership
- Ruchi Sanghvi: Partner at South Park Commons, ex-VP Operations at Dropbox.
- Aditya Agarwal: Partner at South Park Commons, ex-CTO at Dropbox.
- Mitra Lohrasbpour: Partner at South Park Commons, ex-Business Ops at Nava.
4. Hacker Fellowship Zero (HF0)
Is HF0 worth it?
Yes, Hacker Fellowship Zero (HF0) meaningfully increases the chances that a startup will be successful. From my conversation with Parker Edwards, a founder in the Summer 2023 HF0 batch, it’s clear that HF0 is designing everything regarding its accelerator with quality in mind:
- Keeping batch sizes small with only 10 teams from thousands of applications
- Inviting only the 55 best GPs from Sequoia Capital, a16z, Benchmark to Demo Day instead of 100s or 1000s of investors
- The A-List of tech and AI entrepreneurs are working with the batches — Sergey Brin (Google), Guillermo Rauch (Vercel), Max Mullen (Instacart), Matt Schulman (Pave), etc.
One thing to note is that HF0 skews very young because the program is designed like a hacker house — everyone lives in a mansion together in SF. Many older founders, or founders with families and kids, may not be excited to live there.
I think a large part of HF0’s early success is because Dave Fontenot, the Founder of HF0, is well-connected and has built a strong reputation from years of helping founders by starting MHacks, the largest hackathon in the world, creating HackMatch, introducing early engineers to startups, and investing as a General Partner in Ramp, Pave, and Fabric.
HF0 sells speed, and I think they are delivering on helping startups move faster. It’s still very early, but HF0 is in strong consideration to move up on this list if startups in recent batches start to break out and we can point to winners.
Snapshot
Important note for applicants: HF0 is only for technical founders.
Website: https://www.hf0.com/
Apply here: https://www.hf0.com/
Number of startups funded: < 50 startups
Combined portfolio valuation: < $1 billion
Industry-focus: HF0 invests in companies in all industries.
Acceptance rate: Undisclosed.
Funding and cost: HF0 charges 2.5% for the residency and invests $500K on an uncapped MFN SAFE into every company.
Programming
Location: HF0 is an in-person program in San Francisco, California.
How long: HF0 is 12 weeks, with ongoing support afterward.
Size: The HF0 batch size is 10 startups.
Frequency: Undisclosed. Only two cohorts have been confirmed.
Structure: Most of your time at HF0 is spent building. They surround you with world-class mentorship. The founders of YouTube, Twitch, Instacart, Pinterest, React, GraphQL, Opensea, Ramp, Quora, and more have visited past batches.
Notable outcomes
- None yet. HF0 started in 2021. It usually takes between 5-10 years before you start seeing notable outcomes for accelerators in the form of acquisitions and IPOs.
Top HF0 companies
- Dispatch: A priority inbox for Slack.
- OneSafe: Crypto banking for Web3 Startups.
- Delv AI: AI-Powered Search Platform for Enterprise R&D.
- Fileread AI: AI storytelling tools for legal professionals.
- Proxy: AI to recommend energy-efficient upgrades for homeowners.
- Smartroof: Manage your home services online, 10x smarter with AI.
- Listening.io: Listen to academic papers on the go.
- Coframe: AI-powered copywriter, frontend dev, and UX researcher.
Trending HF0 companies
- Crossmint: The NFT minting platform recently was in the news for becoming the largest minter of Solana NFTs with over 1 million assets created in just 3 months.
Key HF0 alumni testimonials
- "The advices you get from Lucy & Dave are literally life changing, not to mention the connections and intros they'd give you when you decide to raise." - Brian Ko, CEO of OneSafe
- "Dave and team have created an incredibly focused environment, free of distractions, that make starting something up almost feel like a game" - Alfonso Gómez-Jordana, Founder of Crossmint
- "Seriously such a life changing experience, got to meet & work alongside literally hundreds of smart kind entrepreneurial spirits in just ten weeks through this amazing house. I know for sure my startup iterated so much faster from being in this environment, so grateful to be part of the last batch" - Christine Hong, Investor at Techstars
Significant ecosystem endorsements
- "Dave pitches the HF0 residency as "the 12 most productive weeks of an engineer's life"... and I believe it." - Meagan Loyst, Founder of Gen Z VCs
- "It was really impressive to visit your last batch Dave Fontenot, I was sad to leave as it was so high energy, smart and fun to be a part of." - Walter Roth, Founder of Moment Sales
- "Dave may be the best in the world at creating hacker communities. Excited to visit and hack with this batch of HF0." - Basil Siddiqui, Head of Engineering, Flow at Hadrian
Key platform elements
- HF0 mansion (restricted to HF0 founders): HF0 provides housing, food, laundry services, and more to founders in the program.
Leadership
- Dave Fontenot: Founder of HF0, ex-General Partner at Backend Capital.
- Lucy Guo: Visiting Partner at HF0, CEO of Passes, ex-Founder of Scale AI
- James Taplin: Visiting Partner at HF0, ex-Founder of Firebase.
5. a16z START
Is a16z START worth it?
Yes, a16z START meaningfully increases the chances of a startup’s success. Similar to Sequoia Arc, a16z START is a relatively new offering. Only two startups from a16z START’s first cohort have been made public — Yuno and Morado. Both are LATAM-based startups with founders with backgrounds many VCs would “blindly fund” — meaning they would invest regardless of what they are working on or how far along they are.
I rated Sequoia Arc higher than a16z START because they have a better reputation with founders, and they have supported more startups through their accelerator offering, so there is more data and a track record to build a case that Sequoia Arc is outperforming a16z START at the moment. I think Andreessen Horowitz burned some of its credibility with its frenetic pace of crypto investments, aligning its reputation with polarizing founders like Adam Neumann, and hiring too many Partners (some who wouldn’t pass the hiring bar at Sequoia Capital). I’m nitpicking here, and this is not a unanimous sentiment amongst founders and investors. Any founder would be lucky to partner with them.
Snapshot
Website: https://a16z.com/programs-a16z-start/
Apply here: https://a16z.com/programs-a16z-start/ or through a warm introduction to an a16z Partner.
Number of startups funded: < 50 startups
Combined portfolio valuation: < $1 billion
Industry-focus: a16z START is industry agnostic but focuses on American dynamism, consumer, enterprise, fintech, and games.
Acceptance rate: Below 1%. More than 1,000 companies applied to the first cohort, and they only took 11.
Funding and cost: They invest up to $1M on flexible terms into companies in the program.
Programming
Location: Remote.
How long: Undisclosed.
Size: a16z START's cohort size is between 10-15 companies.
Frequency: Undisclosed. There has only been one cohort confirmed.
Structure: Undisclosed.
Notable outcomes
- None yet. a16z START started in the Fall of 2021. It usually takes between 5-10 years before you start seeing notable outcomes for accelerators in the form of acquisitions and IPOs.
Top a16z START companies
- Yuno: The LATAM payment company raised $10 million at an undisclosed valuation from a16z and Nazca.
- Morado: The Columbia-based startup aiming to digitize beauty salons raised $5 million at an undisclosed valuation from a16z and Village Global.
Trending a16z START companies
- None yet. Only 2 companies in a16z START have been made public. The rest of the a16z START portfolio is in stealth or has yet to be made public.
Key a16z START alumni testimonials
- Alumni have yet to share any public testimonials.
Significant ecosystem endorsements
- "I do think folks should look into the A16Z start program, looks really good for those in the early days of company building" - Joshua Ogundu, CEO of Campfire
- "If you're an entrepreneur with a great idea then [a16z START] may be a solid fit for you." - Jay Serpens, ex-Snapchat
Key platform elements
- a16z Job Board (restricted to a16z START founders): Surface your job application to thousands of job-seekers.
- a16z Connections (restricted to a16z START founders): a16z Partners help a16z START companies with connections to entrepreneurs, investors, executives, engineers, academics, industry experts, and more.
Leadership
- Anne Lee Skates: Partner at a16z and Co-Lead of a16z START, ex-Investor at Floodgate.
- Bryan Kim: Partner at a16z and Co-Lead of a16z START, ex-CFO of Bungalow.
- Marc Andreessen: Founder and General Partner at a16z, ex-Founder of Netscape.
6. Hyper
Is Hyper worth it?
Yes, Hyper meaningfully increases the chances that a startup will be successful. It’s early, but Hyper has produced a couple of promising startups like Impulse (backed by Lux Capital), Equi (backed by Hustle Fund), and Pogo (backed by Slow Ventures), and founders and investors see the accelerator as a positive signal since it’s a highly competitive program with less than 25 startups per batch. However, it’s important to observe if Hyper can continue producing promising startups at a high rate and whether the startups I mentioned above hit significant milestones and raise subsequent rounds.
When I first drafted this piece in April, I actually had Hyper ranked 3rd, above Sequoia Arc and a16z START. But, after talking with more founders and investors and seeing that Shahed Khan, Founder of Loom and an early Partner at Hyper, left the accelerator in March 2023, according to his LinkedIn, I dropped Hyper behind them.
One reason a founder may want to apply to Hyper over Sequoia Arc and a16z START is that you get a similar level of network — Hyper pairs you with a founder who has built a billion-dollar startup — but don’t have to worry about the potential adverse signaling that VC first accelerators have. Suppose you take money from a VC-first accelerator like Sequoia Arc, a16z START, or Pear X. In that case, you have to consider the potential adverse signaling if the VC firm behind the accelerator doesn’t lead your next round since other investors know they have the most information and will try to lead follow-on rounds into the best startups from the batch.
Snapshot
Website: https://www.hyper.com/
Apply here: https://www.hyper.com/
Number of startups funded: < 100 startups
Combined portfolio valuation: < $2 billion
Industry-focus: Hyper invests in companies in all industries.
Acceptance rate: Undisclosed.
Funding and cost: Hyper invests $300K for 5% in your startup.
Programming
Location: Hyper is a fully remote program with an optional kickoff in San Francisco.
How long: Hyper's program is 4 weeks, with ongoing support afterward.
Size: Hyper works will less than 25 companies at a time.
Frequency: Undisclosed. There have been 3 seasons confirmed.
Structure: Hyper tailors its support and programming specific to each company. You also work alongside a Hyper Host—a unicorn founder—every week. They focus on three critical junctures of a startup's journey: initial customer acquisition and validation, first product/company launch and hiring, and scaling customer acquisition and fundraising.
Notable outcomes
- None yet. Hyper started in 2021. It usually takes between 5-10 years before you begin seeing notable outcomes for accelerators in the form of acquisitions and IPOs.
Top Hyper companies
- Impulse: The next-gen home appliances company raised $20 million in funding at an undisclosed valuation led by Lux Capital.
- Equi: The alternative investments platform raised $15 million in funding at an undisclosed valuation led by Smash Capital.
- Pogo: The company that helps earn and save money by unlocking the power of their data raised $14.8 million at an undisclosed valuation led by Josh Buckley.
- Mighty Health: The all-in-one daily health program for adults 50 and up raised $7.6 million in funding at an undisclosed valuation co-led by Will Ventures and GFT Ventures.
- Actual: The ESG transformation platform raised $5 million in funding at an undisclosed valuation from Buckley Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and more.
Trending Hyper companies
- Villa Homes: The accessory dwelling units (ADU) company was recently featured by Business Insider.
- Spellbound: Akshaya Dinesh, the founder of Spellbound, the interactive email platform, was recently featured in the news for her acceptance into the Thiel Fellowship.
- Thirdweb: The web3 development framework company was recently featured in the news for its partnership with Shopify.
Key Hyper alumni testimonials
- "As part of the Hyper program, I received great advice from the team on recruiting. I also learned a lot from the Hyper Community on how to approach my sales strategy." - Akshaya Dinesh, Founder of Spellbound
- "The Hyper team helped us in key areas including growth, press, and fundraising for our Series A." - Tory Reiss, Founder of Equi
- "They helped me scale the hardware company from having no team, to forming a founding team." - Sam D'Amico, Founder of Impulse
- "Hyper helped us bring our customer obsession and go-to-market strategy to the next level." - Kenneth O'Friel, Founder of Toku
- "We focused on increasing experimentation velocity as part of the program. They helped us discover levers to rapidly scale users, increase LTV, and reduce CAC by 50%." - Dom Wong, Founder of Pogo
- "The Hyper team helped us articulate our value proposition to our customers. They helped us build a category roadmap for the first time and completely revamp our messaging." Karthik Balakrishnan, Founder of Actual
Significant ecosystem endorsements
- "Awesome initiative from Hyper. Highly recommend checking it out and applying, even if you're on the fence." - Turner Novak, Investor at Banana Capital
- "For founders or would-be founders, I think this experiment is awesome -- get funding and then work alongside unicorn founder mentors. "- Julie Zhou, Founder of Sundial, ex-VP of Design at Facebook
- "I'm a huge fan of what the team at Hyper is building." - Sahil Bloom, Managing Partner at SRB Ventures
Key platform elements
- Product Hunt (open to anyone): Hyper is Product Hunt's sister company. Drive awareness of your startup by announcing it to the world on Product Hunt.
- Hyper Connections (restricted to Hyper founders): Hyper helps their companies with relevant customer introductions, recruiting, and more.
Leadership
- Josh Buckley: General Partner at Hyper, ex-Founder of Mino Games
- Malika Cantor: Founding Partner at Hyper, ex-community & programs at Sequoia Capital
7. Pear X
Is Pear X worth it?
Yes, Pear X meaningfully increases the chances of a startup’s success. Since 2013, Pear X has funded 88 startups, 12 are worth $100 million+, and 1 is worth $1 billion. As some of the startups funded through Pear X mature, I expect their portfolio to return more than 500 Startups, Techstars, and other names later on in this list.
Similar to South Park Commons, many of the best investments Pear lists on its website did not participate in Pear X. For example, Pear funded DoorDash as part of a VC round, but DoorDash did not participate in Pear X. Again, not a bad thing, but just something to be aware of as you’re looking at Pear X’s track record and considering whether to apply.
A founder may want to apply to Pear X over Sequoia Arc and a16z START because of their relationship with the Partners. Not every Partner at a VC firm is as valuable to founders as the next. A founder who values a particular expertise or has a prior relationship with a specific Partner may want to work with someone they trust and already have a rapport with instead of a Partner and firm they are meeting with for the first time during the application process.
Snapshot
Website: https://pear.vc/pearx/
Apply here: https://pear.vc/pearx-application/
Number of startups funded: 88 startups
Combined portfolio valuation: < $5 billion
Industry-focus: Pear X is industry agnostic - they invest in companies in all industries.
Acceptance rate: < 1%. They selected 13 startups from 4,500 applications (~0.25% acceptance rate) for the W23 cohort.
Funding and cost: Pear X invests $250K-$2M into startups in the cohort based on stage.
Programming
Location: Pear X takes place in San Francisco, California.
How long: The program is 14 weeks, with ongoing support afterward.
Size: 15 companies per cohort
Frequency: They have two cohorts per year. One in the Summer that kicks off around July and one in the Winter that starts around January.
Structure: Pear X structures its program around four themes: idea development, execution, Demo Day prep, Demo Day and fundraising. With weekly meetings, each company gets hands-on support from at least two Pear VC Partners.
Notable outcomes
- None yet. Pear X started in 2013. Since it usually takes 5-10 years to see notable outcomes for accelerators in the form of acquisitions and IPOs, we should start seeing some in the next couple of years.
Top Pear X companies
- Viz.ai: The AI-powered care coordination platform was last valued at $1.2 billion in April 2022.
- Affinity: The relationship intelligence platform raised an $80 million Series C at an undisclosed valuation in September 2021.
- Nova Credit: The consumer business credit bureau raised $50 million at an undisclosed valuation in February 2020.
Trending Pear X companies
- Kale Card: The influencer marketing company that connects brands with their super fans was recently featured in the news for raising from Forerunner ventures.
Key Pear X alumni testimonials
- "Pear Accelerator is the best and most founder friendly program out there. Trust me, I've gone through it twice" - Andrew Tan, CEO at Nova
- "We recruited our third cofounder through the Pear summer accelerator. We also really leaned on Pear to evaluate his technical abilities." - Sami Tellatin, COO at Farmraise
- "Pear has been with us the entire way there, introducing us to over 60 different investors and coaching us through the decision points those investors are interested in." - Will Van Treuren, Founder at Interface Bio
- "We had so much support from the Partners early on and throughout the journey." - Akshaya Dinesh, Founder at Ladder
Significant ecosystem testimonials
- "If you don't know Pear you should! Every year, when the Pear Summer Accelerator program starts a lot of great memories come to my mind" - Marta Fonda, Director of Engineering at Handshake
- "Pear Accelerator is an amazing opp for early founders *AND* people love working with the Pear team." - Jess Mulvihill, Principal at VoLo Earth Ventures
- "Determined to build an industry-defining company? You should take a look at the Pear Accelerator." - Nils Bunger, Founder at Home3
Key platform elements
- Pear Connections: The Pear team helps with introductions to customers, cofounders, potential hires, and more.
Leadership
- Jo Zhu: Head of Pear X at Pear VC, ex-Investment Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
- Pejman Nozad: Founding Managing Partner at Pear VC, ranked number one in the US on the Forbes Midas Seed List in 2022.
- Mar Hershenson: Managing Partner at Pear VC, ex-VP of Product Development at Revel Touch
8. 500 Global
Is 500 Global worth it?
It depends. Based on my conversation with Henry LeGard, a founder who participated in the 500 Global Flagship Accelerator program, 500 Global is valuable to first-time, international, and founders looking to better understand the startup ecosystem and fundraising landscape. 500 Global is now in Israel, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and elsewhere. While this is an excellent opportunity for founders in places with less access to capital and high-quality mentorship, it is somewhat telling that 500 Global decided to look international to get applicants than compete head-on with Y Combinator in the best market for startup investing, the US. Additionally, while Y Combinator is known for its product and engineering focus, 500 Global is known for its growth and marketing focus. It’s a different philosophy and style of support, which is highlighted in its programming.
Startup investments fall on a power curve. 2-3 companies may return more money for the accelerator than the next 1,000. That’s why I ranked 500 Global over Techstars. The Canva investment will likely return more for 500 Startups than Techstars’ entire portfolio.
Snapshot
Website: https://500.co/
Apply here: https://500.co/accelerators
Number of startups funded: 2700+ startups
Combined portfolio valuation: $250 billion+
Industry-focus: 500 Startups invests in companies in all industries.
Acceptance rate: < 3 %
Funding and cost: 500 Startups invests $150,000 for around 6% of your startup. However, you end up with $112,500 since 500 Startups charges you from the investment amount of $37,500 per company for the accelerator program.
Programming
Location: The 500 Global flagship accelerator takes place in San Francisco, but they also have accelerator programs in 10 other locations – Alberta, Taiwan, Egypt, etc.
How long: The 500 Global flagship accelerator is 4 months long.
Size: 25-35 startups per cohort.
Frequency: The flagship accelerator program runs twice a year. The other locations vary in frequency.
Structure: The 500 Global accelerator curriculum focuses on bringing in various experts to help you with marketing, culture, startup accounting, product design, sales, finance, and more.
Notable outcomes
- The Real Real: The marketplace for buying designer clothes and accessories IPO'd for $20/share at a ~$1.6 billion valuation in June 2019.
- Grove Collaborative: The e-commerce retailer for household products IPO'd for $10/share at a $1.5 billion valuation on June 17th, 2022.
- MakerBot: The 3D printing manufacturer was acquired in an estimated deal worth $640 million ($403M in cash and the rest based on performance-based incentives) by Stratasys Ltd.
- Wildfire: Google acquired Wildfire, the marketing software company, for $350 million in July 2012.
- Viki: Rakuten acquired Viki, the global streaming platform, for $200 million in September 2013.
Top 500 Global companies
- Canva: The graphic design tool was last valued at $40 billion in September 2021.
- Talkdesk: The cloud-based contact center solution was last valued at $10 billion in August 2021.
- Cars24: The used-vehicle sales platform was last valued at $3.3 billion in December 2021.
- Lucid: The intelligent diagramming application was last valued at $3 billion in June 2021.
Trending 500 Global companies
- Algolia: The AI-assisted search engine was recently in the news for its new Merchandising Studio product.
- Chipper Cash: The platform to securely send and receive money in Africa was recently in the news for searching for a buyer.
Key 500 Global alumni testimonials
- "Undoubtedly, 500 Global is one of the best VCs. 500 rallied with us to build Fintor, not just with strategic funding, but also with a powerfully supportive community and an arsenal of resources" - Farshad Yousefi, Founder of Fintor
- "My cofounder and I were part of the last on-site batch at 500 Startups, right before the pandemic hit. The time spent there was one of the best investments we did in our company." - Meow Shka, Founder of Stealth Startup
- "I'm proud to be part of the 500 family." - Sean Bovell, Founder of Invidica
Significant ecosystem testimonials
- "Was amazed at the 500 Startups Demo Day Digital Platform. Fundraising in real time!" - Francisco Guerrero, Founder of The Caradise
- "Finally, many VCs like 500 Startups don't subscribe to "the power law" - of chasing after unicorns. 500 has diverged from this for more than a decade. Their "moneyball for startups" seeks doubles or triples, rather than home runs, as they are acquired faster than unicorns IPO." - Robyn Vidra, Associate Dean at King's Business School
Key platform elements
- 500 Global Network: Access to 1,000 founders, 200+ mentors, and the 500 Startups team.
- 500 Global Demo Day: Pitch in front of a group of investors at a virtual or in-person 500 Startups demo day.
Leadership
- Christine Tsai: CEO and Founding Partner of 500 Global, ex-PMM at Google
- Courtney Powell: COO and Managing Partner at 500 Global, ex-Head of Corporate Development at Keller Williams Realty
- Paul Yoo: CFO and Managing Partner at 500 Global, ex-CFO at Wizeline
9. Techstars
Is Techstars worth it?
It depends. I’m generalizing, but based on my conversation with Brooke Yoakam, a founder who participated in the Techstars Boulder fintech program, I think Techstars is valuable to:
- First-time founders
- Founders that want a diverse cohort
- Founders that are craving mentorship
- Founders that don’t live in a major US hub (SF, LA, NY, MA)
- Founders that don’t have existing networks to help them fundraise, find customers, etc.
I think Techstars falls short in several areas. The first is the programming. The best founders in the world want to focus on building their startup (talking to customers, building product, writing code, etc.). The Techstars program lines you up to meet with several advisor types -- successful people, but many have no startup exposure and don’t always know how to or can meaningfully help you. This detracts from a startups’ experience because these mentors distract them from building and accelerating their startup. The other main reason why I wouldn’t blanket recommend Techstars to everyone is that I think it’s a neutral signal to take money from them.
Snapshot
Website: https://www.techstars.com/
Apply here: https://www.techstars.com/
Number of startups funded: 3,330+ startups
Combined portfolio valuation: $96.6 billion
Industry-focus: Techstars invests in companies in all industries.
Acceptance rate: 1-10% (varies based on the location and industry of the accelerator program)
Funding and cost: Techstars' first investment is up to $120,000 in each company during the accelerator program: a $20,000 equity investment for the right to 6% in common shares and an optional $100,000 convertible note. Techstars also receives 6% of the Token Reserve if a company conducts a Network Launch using distributed ledger technology (an ICO, SAFT, token event, etc).
Programming
Location: Techstars currently hosts in-person accelerator programs in 38 locations – New York, Paris, Sydney, etc. They also offer hybrid and remote options.
How long: The Techstars accelerator program is 3 months long, with ongoing support afterward.
Size: 10-12 companies per accelerator cohort.
Frequency: It varies based on the accelerator program location.
Structure: Unliked other accelerators, which structure most of the programming around giving you space to build your company, Techstars focuses on introducing you to other founders, investors, and domain experts to build relationships with and receive mentorship from.
Notable outcomes
- Sendgrid: The email marketing company was acquired by Twilio for $3 billion in an all-stock transaction in October 2018.
- Classpass: Mindbody acquired Classpass, the subscription membership company that gives you credits to fitness centers, salons, and more, for an undisclosed amount in an all-stock deal.
- Owlet Care: The predictive sleep monitoring company for babies IPO'd at $8.95/share for a $1.074 billion valuation in July 2021.
Top Techstars companies
- Chainalysis: The blockchain data platform was last valued at $8.6 billion in May 2022.
- DataRobot: The leader in augmented intelligence was last valued at $6.3 billion in July 2021.
- Degreed: The learning and upskilling platform was last valued at $1.4 billion in April 2021.
- Alloy: The identity operating system for banks and fintech companies was last valued at $1.35 billion in September 2021.
- Newsela: The online education platform for content was last valued at $1 billion in February 2021.
Trending Techstars companies
- Latch: The full-building operating system company was recently in the news for reaching 100 million unlocks with the Latch app.
- Outreach: The sales execution platform was recently in the news for its expanded partnership with Snowflake.
- Self: The credit builder platform recently was in the news for expanding its list of credit building products.
Key Techstars alumni testimonials
- "The network we built with Techstars was incredibly valuable during and after the program." - Raj Aggarwal, Founder of Localytics
- "Having the Techstars badge creates a lot of confidence in the market that you're a real company, a real entrepreneur." - Jilliene Helman, Founder of Realty Mogul
- "At critical moments throughout our history, somehow someone in the Techstars network pointed us in a direction that led us to where we are today." - Adam Wilson, Founder of Sphero
Significant ecosystem testimonials
- "Super excited to mentor for Techstars NYC cohort this spring! Incredible cos. in the batch!" - Ashwini Anburajan, Founding Partner at 22xFund
- "I really do love helping startups and if I can talk analytics and metrics I am ecstatic! I also appreciate the Techstars motto #givefirst" - Colin Gardiner, Founder at Karta Labs
- "Thank you Techstars Startup Weekend Women Dublin for inviting me to share my entrepreneurship journey! I am totally blown away by the quality of the projects pitched yesterday !" - Furkan Karayel, Best Selling Author of Inclusive Intelligence
Key platform elements
- Techstars Mentors (restricted to Techstars founders): A database of founders, investors, and domain experts to help you on your founder journey.
- Techstars Demo Day (restricted to Techstars founders): Pitch in front of an invite-only group of investors at a virtual or in-person Techstars demo day.
- Techstars Perks (restricted to Techstars founders): Over 300 perks worth $4 million from Stripe, Legalpad, AWS, and more.
- Techstars Entrepreneur's Toolkit (open to anyone): An online educational resource to learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship.
Leadership
- Maëlle Gavet: CEO at Techstars, ex-COO at Compass
- David Prael: CFO at Techstars, ex-CFO at Fortress Investment Group
- Beata Puncevic: CTO at Techstars, ex-VP of Engineering at Healthgrades
- Ryan Spillane: CRO at Techstars, ex-VP of Sales at Compass
10. Pioneer
Is Pioneer worth it?
It depends. Sacha Schermerhorn, a founder who participated in Pioneer, shared with me that Pioneer is a good fit for people who are "riveted by ... being around smart people who are super passionate and weird Internet nerds." The program leans technical because Pioneer indexes on how fast you can ship and iterate.
A founder may apply to Pioneer over a Pear X or Techstars because the program is remote, so it’s more accessible to international founders, and it’s less dilutive than other accelerators ($20K for 1%, and it’s optional). In many ways, Pioneer is positioned as a pre-YC. It’s smaller, less dilutive, targets pre-incorporation founders, and the best Pioneer startups often apply to YC afterward. Daniel Gross, Pioneer’s founder, actually started a company funded by YC and was a Partner there.
Snapshot
Website: https://pioneer.app/
Apply here: https://pioneer.app/apply
Number of startups funded: 276
Combined portfolio valuation: < $5 billion
Industry-focus: Pioneer is industry agnostic - they invest in companies in all industries.
Acceptance rate: < 1%
Notable outcomes: None yet. Pioneer started in August 2018. It usually takes between 5-10 years before you begin seeing notable outcomes for accelerators in the form of acquisitions and IPOs.
Funding and cost: 1% to join the program and an optional $20,000 investment.
Programming
Location: Pioneer runs a remote program
How long: Pioneer is a 3-month accelerator.
Size: 5 companies per cohort.
Frequency: Pioneer starts new cohorts each month.
Structure: The program is structured to have the companies in the cohort meet with the Pioneer team, external advisors, and fellow Pioneer founders through 1:1 formats and group sessions. While most of the program is remote, Pioneer invites all founders to a 1-month trip to San Francisco with other Pioneers.
Top Pioneer companies
- Roboflow: The computer vision development platform closed a $20 million Series A led by Craft Ventures in September 2021.
- Iron Fish: The privacy platform for web3 raised $27.7 million in a Series A round led by a16z in November 2021.
- Railway: The software development platform raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Redpoint Ventures in May 2022.
Trending Pioneer companies
- Verihubs: The AI-powered verification platform for Indonesia made TechCrunch for securing $2.8 million in seed funding from Insignia Venture Partners.
Key Pioneer alumni testimonials
- “Pioneer is one of the most high-leverage things I’ve done in my life. And my favorite community.” - Julia Wu, ex-Engineering Manager at Brex
- “I’ve been dying for a community like this forever. This company is taking off and I attribute it 100% to Pioneer.” - Sacha Schermerhorn, Founder of Lolly
- "It’s basically my favorite thing on the internet.” - Everett Berry, Founder of PRCV
Significant ecosystem endorsements
- “Pioneer live demos + chatting with founders, very well done” - Jeff Weinstein, Product at Stripe
Key platform elements
- Pioneer Network: Access to 250+ founders, world-class investors, and the Pioneer team.
Leadership
- Daniel Gross: Cofounder of Pioneer, ex-Cofounder of Cue (search engine acquired by Apple).
- Rishi Narang: Cofounder and CEO of Pioneer, ex-Product & Engineering at AngelList.
Ranking Criteria
While this is a subjective list because ranking accelerators based on one data point (such as combined portfolio valuation) would lead to a terrible list, I asked myself, "Which accelerators are attracting the best founders in 2023?"
Here are just some of the things that I considered:
- Must meet my definition of an accelerator: A startup accelerator selects companies in cohorts or batches and invests capital in exchange for equity. I omitted the On Deck Founder Fellowship from this list because I worked there (personal bias) and do not consider it an accelerator. It is a paid community with a venture capital fund on the backend.
- Notable Outcomes: Startup investments fall on a power curve. 2-3 companies may return more money for the accelerator than the next 1,000. That's why I ranked 500 Startups over Techstars. The Canva investment will likely return more for 500 Startups than Techstars' entire portfolio.
- Timeline: You need to consider the timeline when you look at things like the combined valuation of an accelerator's portfolio. Although Techstars has a larger combined portfolio valuation than Pear X, they've also been around much longer. Techstars started in 2006, while Pear X began in 2013. As Pear X's companies mature, I expect their portfolio to surpass Techstars in combined valuation.
- Leadership: Sequoia Arc and a16z START, both very new programs, are ranked high on this mainly because of their leadership. You get access to tier-one venture capital partners and their networks. These connections provide a more significant value add than others listed below them.
- Selectiveness: The medium founder quality of a cohort is very important with accelerators since most of the value you get from joining is from the relationships you build with your peers. That's why selectiveness matters a lot. While YC scaled and has 200+ startups in each batch, they also get 10,000 applications. This number stands out compared to other accelerators towards the bottom of the list, which I know get less than 5,000 applications and are still taking a similar number of startups.
- Alumni Feedback: Not all feedback is created equal. I want to know what the best founders that went through the program are saying about the accelerator.
- Ecosystem Feedback: What signal do investors and others get when a founder tells them they went through a specific accelerator program? Which accelerators are they recommending to their friends?
