If you want to Apply to Female Founders Circle (FFC) accelerator for Winter 2026, the most efficient move is to start on XRaise first, so you can reuse your founder profile, keep materials organized, and track everything in one dashboard.
TL;DR
This guide shows you how to apply to Female Founders Circle (FFC) and use the 8-week SF cohort to ship faster and sharpen your AI fundraising story
- FFC is a free, in-person community program for technical female + nonbinary AI founders, built around workshops, fireside chats, and curated events.
- The deadline is February 6, 2026 (11:59 PM PST), and the cohort starts mid-February 2026 (~8 weeks).
- Apply on XRaise first (create a founder account → find FFC → click Apply Now), then use the official site only for extra context.
Overview of Female Founders Circle Accelerator
FFC is positioned as “8 weeks in San Francisco” with a community-for-life angle: the goal is durable founder relationships plus practical learning that helps you ship product and sharpen your story. Applications for Winter 2026 are open until February 6, 2026 (11:59 PM PST), and programming starts in mid-February 2026.
It’s also not a classic equity-for-cash accelerator. Pear states FFC programming is free, asks participants to be active community members, and requests the opportunity to hear your pitch if you fundraise, without guaranteeing investment.
For broader Pear context (and what the team tends to value in early founders), see the XRaise guide to PearX Accelerator.
Program Structure & Focus at Female Founders Circle (FFC) Accelerator
FFC is in-person in Mission Bay, San Francisco, and Pear expects participants to attend as many sessions as possible, typically Wednesday evenings. As a result, it’s best for founders who can reliably show up and want community as an execution multiplier.
Sector-Specific Focus
FFC is explicitly for founders building in AI. Pear describes engagement across AI infrastructure and applications in areas like B2B, healthcare, consumer, climate, fintech, legal, robotics, and deep tech, so long as AI is core to the product, not a superficial feature.
Pre-Seed Stage Fit to Apply
FFC is best for founders who are pre-product-market fit and have not fundraised at scale, and who are actively working on a startup part-time or full-time. In other words, you don’t need perfect traction, but you do need forward motion and a credible next milestone you can produce during the cohort.
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Program Format of the Female Founders Circle (FFC) Accelerator Platform
Expect a blend of:
- Workshops on 0-to-1 AI building, GTM, and fundraising
- Fireside chats with AI leaders and Pear’s AI team
- Curated social events designed to create repeatable founder relationships
Funding, Equity Terms & Perks of Female Founders Circle (FFC) Accelerator
FFC programming is free, and Pear does not disclose any fixed equity requirement, SAFE, or membership fee on the program page.
It also does not publicly disclose a standard investment check for participants. Investment is not guaranteed, so treat the upside as community + learning + momentum, not a promised term sheet.
Perks: Pear states each cohort is supported by credits and technical workshops from leading foundational model companies, but exact amounts are not publicly disclosed.
To sanity-check fundraising timing in a fast-moving AI market, reference: AI Startup Investment 2025 – Funding Boom and AI Investment Bubble 2025 – XRaise Analysis.
Who Should Apply to Female Founders Circle (FFC) Accelerator
Founder profile fit
Apply if you’re a technical female or nonbinary founder (engineer, PM, or adjacent builder) actively building an AI startup, and you want in-person community in San Francisco.
Stage fit
Apply if you’re early: pre-PMF, not heavily financed, and you can use eight weeks to produce proof (demo, pilots, early usage, or a tighter fundraising narrative).
Geography fit
Apply if you can be in SF consistently. FFC is in-person in Mission Bay, and the weekly cadence matters.
If you’re unsure about readiness, use When You Should Apply to an Accelerator as a quick timing checklist.
How to Apply to Female Founders Circle (FFC) Accelerator
This is the XRaise-first flow founders should follow.
- Create your profile on the XRaise startup platform (deck, demo link, traction snapshot, founder bios).
- Open the Female Founders Circle (FFC) listing on XRaise and click Apply Now (search “Female Founders Circle”). This keeps your application structured and reusable across other programs in the XRaise Accelerator Directory.
- Submit a clean package:
- a crisp one-line wedge,
- a proof artifact (demo/video),
- AI specifics (what you’re building, why it works, what’s defensible),
- and why you’ll use the cohort well.
- Submit on XRaise and track status in your dashboard.
- Optionally do deeper diligence on the official program materials after you’ve applied on XRaise.
Application Timeline & Key Dates to Apply to Female Founders Circle (FFC) Accelerator (2025–2026)
Public dates for Winter 2026:
- Deadline: February 6, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST
- Start: mid-February 2026
- Duration: ~8 weeks (approximately February to April 2026)
A simple planning cadence that usually improves odds:
- 3–5 weeks before the deadline: record a demo and collect concrete proof (quotes, pilots, usage, benchmarks).
- 1–2 weeks before: polish narrative + materials and submit with buffer.
- After submission: be ready for a short interview (Pear describes ~10 minutes for some applicants).
Female Founders Circle (FFC) Accelerator Alumni, Outcomes & Success Stats
FFC publishes a few helpful signals, even if it doesn’t publish a full alumni roster:
- Community size: 350+ technical female engineers and founders
- Selectivity: Pear states it accepts ~30 founders per cohort and receives many applications
Notable alumni examples are not publicly disclosed on the program page. However, FFC lists examples of fireside-chat guests (e.g., Lisa Su, Niki Parmar, May Habib, Ami Vora), which hints at the caliber of conversation and network proximity.
Should You Apply to Female Founders Circle (FFC) Accelerator?
Apply if you want an in-person AI builder community in San Francisco and you can use eight weeks to ship proof.
Skip it (for now) if you can’t reliably be in SF during the cohort window, or if your primary goal is a guaranteed check or formal Demo Day outcome (FFC doesn’t publicly promise either).
Next Steps to Apply to Female Founders Circle (FFC) Accelerator
- Build your reusable profile on the XRaise startup platform.
- Apply through the XRaise Accelerator Directory so you can track status and benchmark similar programs.
- For extra context only (after applying on XRaise), review the official Female Founders Circle website.
