8-Week Pre-Acceleration Program
The Beta Pre-acceleration program aims to help early-stage founders gain entry into North America's Top 30 incubators, including Y Combinator, Techstars, etc.
● Incubation Support: Within 8 weeks, we will assist participating teams in launching their MVP, finding their first customer, and establishing investor relations, among other things
● Financial Support: Invest in companies during each cohort with an average total investment of 150K USD per team.
Our next cohort will begin on June 22nd, 2024, and will offer 50 spots. The waitlist has opened! Prospective candidates are encouraged to submit their applications at the earliest opportunity. The selection process will be highly competitive.
Our Target Founders
Can I apply if...
my project has no revenue?
YES!
I don’t have a co-founder or a team?
YES!
my product is not fully developed yet?
YES!
my project already has funding and users?
YES!
Our program is suitable for all founders with great ideas at the Pre-seed to Seed stages.
Gain Skills — 8-Week Entrepreneurship Training
In 8 weeks, you will learn essential knowledge as a founder, including how to build and continuously iterate an MVP, design business models, find and validate markets, and enhance pitch skills, among other topics.
Every week, our advisors, including those who have participated in YC and other top-tier accelerator programs, will share their insights based on the weekly topics, providing comprehensive entrepreneurial analysis from the perspectives of investors and successful entrepreneurs.
Week 3
Week 2
Week 1
Week 4
Talk to 50 Customers
How to Build Teams
Validate Market
Build Your MVP
Week 8
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Business Model
Iterate on MVP
How to Pitch
Find Paying Customers
Find Advisors — Find the Best Entrepreneurial Advisors
Beta University is dedicated to providing comprehensive entrepreneurial guides and quality resources for early-stage entrepreneurs in North America. Beta's ecosystem contains over 80 experienced adviors from different sectors. Throughout the 8 weeks, participating founder teams will have the opportunity to schedule one-on-one office hours with Beta Advisors and participate in bi-weekly "Advisors Meet Founders" events. These sessions facilitate interactions with potential advisors, aiding businesses in refining their commercial logic and application scenarios.
Zack Kass
Head of GTM @OpenAI
Yaniv Markovski
Head of AI Specialist @OpenAI
Pieter Abbeel
Co-founder @Covariant AI / Director at UC Berkeley AI Lab
Bill Jia
Senior VP @Meta
Renne Yao
Ecosystem Business Development @NVIDIA
Wei Guo
Founder @Uphonest Capital
Jim McKelvey
Co-Founder @Square
Kenneth Stanley
Research Science Manager @OpenAI
Carmen Li
Head of GTM @Bloomberg
Eric Migicovsky
Partner @YC
Yevgen Chebotar
Senior Research Scientist @Google
Richard Socher
CEO & Founder @you.com
Sanchan S Saxena
ex-VP @Coinbase
And more...
80+ advisors at Beta
Investor Network
During the 8-week program, we will update over 200 Beta investors bi-weekly on the progress of all participating teams and assist in introducing potential investors to the teams. At the end of the program, Beta will provide angel investment to 10 top teams, offering the first check to each.
Ecosystem Partner
We've teamed up with top service providers in the startup ecosystem, empowering founders with essential resources for success. This alliance streamlines operations, allowing entrepreneurs to channel their energies towards innovation and growth.
Our Success So Far
To date, Beta has successfully assisted over 50 teams in entering top-tier incubators such as Y Combinator, Techstars, 500 Global, etc. Some outstanding projects include:
Members.Land
Backed by Y Combinator
Paces.ai
Backed by Resolute Ventures, Y Combinator
LF Intelligent
Backed by IMO Ventures, XVC Fund II, Hunter Ventures, Welight Capital
Suger.io
Backed by Y Combinator
Aspecta.ai
Backed by Zhenfund
Breef
Backed by Greycroft, BDMI, UTA VC, Touch Venture, The House Fund, Rackhouse Ventures
Epal
Backed by A16Z
Kokolu
Backed by Uphonest Capital, QF Capital
And more...
Cognition IP
Backed by Y Combinator
Safebase
Backed by NEA, Y Combinator
Q & A
Q1
Does the program charge any fees or take equity?
We only take 1% equity from each company accepted into the program.
Q3
How much time will I need to commit?
We require each team to participate in a 1-hour live session each week to share insights and receive feedback from other teams. In addition, teams are expected to submit a weekly project update report (which takes about 5-10 minutes to complete).
Throughout the 8 weeks, we will also host office hours, mock pitch events, investor meetups, and advisor sessions based on the weekly themes. Founders can choose to participate based on their schedule.
Q2
How should I issue the 1% if I have not incorporated my company?
You can join the cohort without an incorporated company, but since our goal is to help you secure your first investment, we require that all companies be incorporated by the end of the program.
Q4
What is the application process? When will I hear from you?
You can apply by clicking the button below. Successful applicants will be emailed an invitation to an interview, and if the interview goes well, you will be invited to join us. We will be accepting teams on a rolling basis until we reach a total of 50 teams. For those who did not get accepted, we still encourage you to connect with us on social media and apply again next time.
Q5
Do I have to attend in person?
In-person events are not required. However, we will host many in-person events in Silicon Valley and encourage teams to attend if possible.
Q6
Are there any fees for participation in this program?
Participation is completely free - we only charge you a tuition fee of $7500, payable only if you successfully raise over $100,000 (although most companies typically raise between $500,000 and $2 million).
We will donate your tuition to the Beta University Scholarship Fund to support the underrepresented founder community. The mission of this fund is to democratize Silicon Valley innovation for global entrepreneurs.