Betaworks AI Camp Dec20D

Program Type: Hybrid (In-person & Online)
Location: New York City, NY
Investment: Up to $500,000
Equity Taken: 5% common stock
Program Duration: 13 weeks
Stage: Early Stage, Pre-seed, Seed
Industry of Focus: Betaworks’ AI Camp focuses on AI-driven solutions for productivity, workflows, vertical industries, and innovative human-AI interaction systems.

Key Highlights

Program Overview: Camp is a thematic investment and in-residence program for startups building in frontier technologies, sponsored by Betaworks. Founders receive a guaranteed investment of up to $500k, access to the Betaworks space in NYC, and support from a rich network. Betaworks has been investing in ML/AI since 2016, with notable portfolio companies like HuggingFace and Stability AI.

Investment Details: Founders receive a guaranteed investment of up to $500k. Betaworks Ventures will invest up to $250k on an uncapped SAFE note with a 25% discount and receive a 5% common stock stake. Syndicate partners will add up to $250k on uncapped SAFEs with the same 25% discount.

Benefits Details and Perks/Credits: Participants get access to the Betaworks shared workspace, located in NYC’s Meatpacking district, for the duration of the program. Support includes product development, platform strategy, data science, storytelling, and fundraising from the Betaworks team, dedicated mentors, and industry leaders.

Program Format: The program runs for 13 weeks in-residence at Betaworks, with mandatory in-person participation for the first and final two weeks. Programming includes optional sessions with guests, weekly required all-hands standups, speed dating with investors, visits from industry leaders, workshops, founder stories, and live demos. The program culminates in a Demo Day where each team presents to investors.

Location or Relocation Requirements: The program takes place in-person at the Betaworks offices in NYC's Meatpacking District. Teams are required to participate in-person for the first and final two weeks and are encouraged to stay in NYC for the entire session, though hybrid options are available.

Cohort Size and Program Frequency: The cohort typically consists of 8-12 companies.

Requirements Related to Users, Revenue, or LOIs: Having a demo, beta, or Figma is highly encouraged but not required.

Post-Program Engagement: Camp companies have gone on to raise follow-on financing from leading investors.

Company Types Requirements: The program seeks teams harnessing rapidly improving foundation layer capabilities with a custom architecture, building products that deliver value quickly to a well-defined user profile, especially in workflows and productivity for individuals, SMBs, and antiquated vertical industries.

Founding Team Preferences: Founders should be deeply familiar with the problems faced by their customers and have a combination of technical expertise and domain expertise/lived experience.