South Park Commons

Program Type: Hybrid (In-person & Online)

Location: San Francisco, New York City

Investment: $400,000 upfront, $600,000 guaranteed in the next venture round

Equity Taken: 7%

Program Duration: 8 weeks

Stage: Pre-seed

Industry of Focus: Sector-agnostic (open to any venture-scale opportunity)

Key Highlights

Program Overview

The SPC Founder Fellowship, organized by South Park Commons, supports entrepreneurs in the early stages of building venture-scale companies. The program offers $1M in funding and bespoke support for founders in the -1 to 0 phase, helping them ideate, iterate, and raise funding from top VCs.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Exclusion

We do not restrict applications to a particular market or industry, and solo founders are welcome.

Investment Details

• $400,000 upfront for 7% equity via SAFE
• Guaranteed $600,000 in the next outside-led venture round

Benefits Details and Perks/Credits

• Over $1M in credits and perks from companies including Baseten, OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure, GCP, AWS, Render, RunwayML, Figma, and more
• Access to SPC community spaces, partners, and programming
• Luminary chats with tech luminaries
• Milestone-based workshops
• Alumni forum
• Domain experts in various fields
• Founders network
• Fundraising support

Program Format

• No fixed timelines or required demo day
• Residency phase with no defined end-date
• Weekly demos, pitch practice, skills workshops, and exclusive events
• Immediate membership and access to SPC offices, events, and online community upon acceptance

Location or Relocation Requirements

• Bootcamp requires in-person work in San Francisco or New York City
• Post-bootcamp relocation is flexible, but staying in a city with an SPC location (SF, NYC, or Bangalore) is encouraged

Cohort Size and Program Frequency

• Small cohort sizes with one investor for every two companies
• Fellowship cohorts run every spring and fall

Company Types Requirements

• Open to founders exploring any venture-scale opportunity

Founding Team Preferences

• Solo founders are welcome, with a preference for those with skills to build and prototype
• Assistance in finding co-founders if needed

SPC Founder Fellowship Fall 2025 Application

The Founder Fellowship helps entrepreneurs start a high growth, venture-backable startup with targeted support in the -1 to 0 idea phase. Applications close on August 3rd, 2025 at 11:59pm PT. Applicants will hear back about interview invitations no later than August 29th.

💰 Fellowship teams receive $400k for 7% on a SAFE, along with $600k guaranteed in your next venture round.

🤝 Fellows become members of the SPC community, go through a proprietary program refined to help you validate ideas, and receive 1:1 mentorship from SPC partners in a small cohort.

🚀 You do not need an idea to apply. We do not restrict applications to a particular market or industry.
"Program Type: Hybrid (In-person & Online)

Location: San Francisco, New York City

Investment: $400,000 upfront, $600,000 guaranteed in the next venture round

Equity Taken: 7%

Program Duration: 8 weeks (Bootcamp from March 31st to May 23rd, 2025)

Stage: -1 to 0 phase, Pre-seed

Industry of Focus: Sector-agnostic (open to any venture-scale opportunity)

Key Highlights

Program Overview

The SPC Founder Fellowship Spring 2025, organized by South Park Commons, supports entrepreneurs in the early stages of building venture-scale companies. The program offers $1M in funding and bespoke support for founders in the -1 to 0 phase, helping them ideate, iterate, and raise funding from top VCs. Applications are open until February 2nd, 2025.

Investment Details

• $400,000 upfront for 7% equity via SAFE
• Guaranteed $600,000 in the next outside-led venture round

Benefits Details and Perks/Credits

• Over $900,000 in credits and perks from companies including Baseten, OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure, GCP, AWS, Render, RunwayML, Figma, and more
• Access to SPC community spaces, partners, and programming
• Luminary chats with tech luminaries
• Milestone-based workshops
• Alumni forum
• Domain experts in various fields
• Founders network
• Fundraising support

Program Format

• No fixed timelines or required demo day
• Bootcamp from March 31st to May 23rd, 2025
• Residency phase with no defined end-date
• Weekly demos, pitch practice, skills workshops, and exclusive events
• Immediate membership and access to SPC offices, events, and online community upon acceptance

Location or Relocation Requirements

• Bootcamp requires in-person work in San Francisco or New York City
• Post-bootcamp relocation is flexible, but staying in a city with an SPC location (SF, NYC, or Bangalore) is encouraged

Cohort Size and Program Frequency

• Small cohort sizes with one investor for every two companies

Company Types Requirements

• Open to founders exploring any venture-scale opportunity

Founding Team Preferences

• Solo founders are welcome, with a preference for those with skills to build and prototype
• Assistance in finding co-founders if needed

"
What is the SPC Founder Fellowship?
SPC’s Founder Fellowship is a different way for entrepreneurs to start a high growth, venture-scale startup. We give founders their first outside investment, help them ideate and iterate to a viable product, and assist them in raising from the best VCs in the world. As a founder fellow, you become a lifetime member of the South Park Commons community.

We take a boutique approach to helping founders. Our cohort sizes are small, with one partner for every two companies. We do not have a demo day, and when the time is right for you to raise, we’ll make introductions to the best investors. We do not force strict timelines.

We offer $400,000 in exchange for 7% equity via a SAFE, plus $600,000 guaranteed in your next venture round. We help you identify the right market, support you as you build your first product, find your first customers and teammates, and help you raise follow-on funding.

We group Fellows into two cohorts a year, with applications deadlines ahead of the cohort start date. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis while the application is open. We fund teams immediately on acceptance to the program, even if the official start date isn't for a while.