Fellowships & Investor Programs to join an accelerator
Fellowships, grants-for-founders and investor-run programs with a public application. Every listing below helps you join an accelerator. Ranked by editor score with what you get and who qualifies.
Updated October 2026 · 6 listings
How to choose fellowships & investor programs to join an accelerator
Compare accelerators on the deal (cash in exchange for what percentage of equity), the strength of the alumni and investor network, the stage and sectors they back, whether the programme is remote or in person, and their batch dates. A good accelerator is a fundraising shortcut; a weak one costs you equity for a coworking desk.
South Park Commons Founder Fellowship 🚀 AcceleratorFree
$400K for 7% on a SAFE plus $600K guaranteed in your next round, for founders still finding their idea.
Thiel Fellowship 🚀 AcceleratorFree
$250,000 grant over two years, no equity, for builders aged 22 or under who skip or leave college.
Sequoia Arc 🚀 AcceleratorFree
Sequoia's twice-yearly open call for pre-seed and seed founders, with a four-day Arc Intensive.
Emergent Ventures 🚀 AcceleratorFree
Fast grants and fellowships from the Mercatus Center for people with scalable "zero to one" ideas.
Z Fellows 🚀 AcceleratorFree
One-week fellowship with an optional $10,000 investment at a $1B cap; rolling applications.
ODF Founder Fellowship (formerly On Deck) 🚀 AcceleratorPaid
One-week, in-person founder sprint in San Francisco; non-dilutive, pay-what-you-can (suggested $1,000).
More for this step
🎁 Join an accelerator programs (1) Join an accelerator: the step