SPC Founder Fellowship Fall 2026
$1M and deep support to build what only you can.
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. Apply by August 2nd.
FAQ
What is the SPC Founder Fellowship?
The Founder Fellowship is the funded way to join SPC. Fellows get:
- $1M in funding. $400K for 7% upfront and $600K guaranteed in your next external round, so you pitch investors from a position of strength.
- SPC partner support. Not office hours—working sessions with SPC partners on customer discovery, product, storytelling, and pitching.
- Open timelines. Validate ideas and fundraise on your company's schedule, with Demo Faire events and bespoke fundraising support on your timeline.
- The most talent-dense community in -1 to 0. By far the most valuable part of the Fellowship, and the part you keep for life.
Is the Fellowship the only way to join SPC?
No. SPC is a community of technologists first—researchers, engineers, and founders working out what's next—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 to get started.
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, with full access to all of our offices, programming, and members. Residents explore, find collaborators, and reach conviction, and many go on to join the Founder Fellowship.
SPC also invests beyond the Fellowship, including larger checks at seed. But we almost always prefer to get to know founders as members before we invest at the seed stage.
All applications start from the same place. Tell us where you are and we'll figure out the path together.
How is the Founder Fellowship different from the Member Residency?
Capital and partnership. Fellows start funded and work directly with SPC partners several times a week from day one. The Residency is for people who aren't ready for funding yet or haven't decided a company is how they want to build the future.
Both fellows and residents are full members of the same community. You're welcome to apply to either.
How long does the Fellowship last?
Upon acceptance, Fellows immediately become part of SPC with full access to our community, partners, offices, and programming.
The Fellowship has no fixed end date, but has two distinct phases: bootcamp and residency.
- Immediate funding and membership. You become a fellow the day you sign investment terms. We fund teams immediately, you don't have to wait for the bootcamp.
- Bootcamp. Eight weeks, in person, in a small cohort. Each company works with SPC partners on everything from customer discovery and product development to branding, storytelling, and pitching, alongside regular demo practice and exclusive events.
- Fellow Residency. We want you to work on the right idea, not necessarily the first idea. That can take time, so the residency phase lasts as long as you need. When you're ready to raise your seed round, SPC partners help you prepare the pitch and make white-glove introductions to the right investors.
Do I need an idea to apply?
No, but you do need to show us how you generate ideas. Be prepared to discuss technical approaches, relevant research, markets you find interesting, ideas you've considered and discarded, and the insights you find compelling.
If you already know what you want to build, apply too. We'll help make sure it's worth the next decade of your life.
Is the Fellowship limited to specific industries or founder profiles?
No. Our only strict requirement is the ambition to build at the frontier. In our most recent fellowships we backed foundation model labs, novel chip hardware, space tech, quantum computing, robotics, consumer hardware, biotech, enterprise security, fintech, and a range of agent and software companies. Recent fellows include Stanford and Yale professors, college dropouts, repeat founders with 9 figure exits, early engineers making the jump to founder, and researchers turning papers into product.
Can I apply as a solo founder?
Yes. If you're solo, we have a strong bias for applicants who can build and prototype. If you'd benefit from a co-founder, we can help in the search—previous Fellows have found co-founders inside the SPC community.
What are the Fellowship funding terms?
- Terms: $400K upfront for 7% on a standard SAFE, plus $600K guaranteed in your next external funding round.
- Credits: Up to $1M in credits and perks from companies including Anthropic, OpenAI, Baseten, Microsoft, GCP, AWS, Render, Figma, and many more.
What are the application deadlines, program dates, and location 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.
Who runs the Founder Fellowship?
The Founder Fellowship is organized by South Park Commons and run by SPC investors Ruchi Sanghvi, Aditya Agarwal, Finn Meeks, Evan Tana, Jonathan Brebner, Prateek Mehta, Mark Jacobstein, Dylan Itzikowitz, Gopal Raman, and Ankit Chowdhary. We are builders, entrepreneurs, technologists, and investors who love helping founders pull the future forward.
What are other South Park Commons companies?
We have partnered with breakout companies at the earliest stages of their journeys. We are sector-agnostic and focus on exceptional people. SPC companies include Baseten, Luma AI, Gamma, Render, Goodfire, Profound, Doppel, Orb, Comun, Nuance Labs, Noble Machines, and many more.
Ready to build what only you can? Apply to the Founder Fellowship by August 2nd.