The Best Startup Accelerators and the Terms They Actually Publish

Fri, 06 Nov 2026 17:47:00 +0000

An accelerator is a financing first and a program second. The check arrives attached to a document, and that document decides how much of the company the program owns after the next round. Founders who compare programs on reputation alone skip the part that lasts longest.

This list covers seven programs that publish enough of their terms to compare. Where a program’s own site doesn’t state its equity figure, the entry says so instead of filling the gap with a number from a third-party roundup.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Method

Published terms. Check size and equity taken, as stated on the program’s own site. Aggregator summaries were not used for terms.
Still running. Evidence on the program’s site of an open application, a scheduled cohort or year-round intake.
Instrument. Whether the equity comes as a fixed percentage, a post-money SAFE, an uncapped MFN SAFE or a mix.
Stage and sector fit. Who the program says it backs, and who it turns away.

Checked against each provider’s own pages on November 5, 2026.

Terms at a Glance

Program	Published check	Equity on the program’s own site	Format
Y Combinator	$500,000	7% fixed, plus an uncapped MFN SAFE	Batch in San Francisco, Jan to Mar for Winter 2027
Techstars	$220,000	5% common via a CEA, plus an uncapped MFN SAFE	Three-month programs by city or theme
Entrepreneur First	Up to $250,000	8% on the first $125,000, plus an uncapped MFN SAFE	SF residency
Antler	$500K to $1M typical initial commitment	Not stated on the US page	Up to three months, NYC, SF or Austin
500 Global (500 Fellowship)	Up to $50K at the start, up to $1M more	Not stated on the Fellowship page	Four months in San Francisco
Alchemist	$60,000 to $1 million	Not stated on the current site	Enterprise focus, San Francisco base
SOSV	Up to $550,000	Must exceed 10% ownership	Four to six months in the US, deep tech

The Programs

Y Combinator

Included: $500,000 per company, delivered as two SAFEs plus a YC agreement.

Cost: A fixed 7%, plus whatever the $375,000 uncapped MFN SAFE converts into.

The catch: The second SAFE has no cap, so YC’s final stake depends on the price of the company’s next round.

The standard deal page lays it out: $125,000 on a post-money SAFE for 7%, and $375,000 on an uncapped SAFE with a most favored nation provision. The MFN clause lets that SAFE adopt the best terms the company gives later SAFE investors. YC’s own example uses a $15M post-money cap on the next SAFEs, at which point the $375,000 converts to 2.5%. YC also takes a pro rata right in later rounds.

On November 5, 2026, the apply page said YC was taking applications for the Winter 2027 batch, which runs January to March in San Francisco. The on-time deadline of November 2 had passed, but late applications were still being reviewed, and early decision was open for later batches.

Techstars

Included: $220,000 on day one, split into a $200,000 uncapped MFN SAFE and a $20,000 post-money Convertible Equity Agreement (CEA).

Cost: 5% common stock through the CEA, plus whatever the SAFE converts into.

The catch: A side letter adds pro rata, drag-along, digital-asset and reporting terms, and both instruments wait for a priced round of at least $1M before converting.

Per the investment terms page, the 5% includes the existing option pool and is measured after SAFEs and other convertibles convert. The company has to be a US corporation or a foreign equivalent. Companies from some countries must reorganize first. Asia-Pacific programs use a $100,000 SAFE instead, for $120,000 total. The accelerators page describes three months of mentorship-driven support and links out to open applications by program.

Entrepreneur First

Included: Up to $250,000 for US founders who are ready to start full time.

Cost: $125,000 on a post-money SAFE for 8% from EF, and a second $125,000 on an uncapped MFN SAFE from EF and its partner, Transpose Platform.

The catch: The deal assumes founders live and work in EF’s San Francisco residency during the build period.

EF’s US page also offers a second door: a Fellowship Residency with a $10,000 equity-free grant and three months of housing for people still deciding what to build. The general FAQ describes a 12-week FORM phase in a local hub followed by a 12-week LAUNCH phase in San Francisco. EF is designed for individuals who arrive without a cofounder, which makes it relevant to anyone working through how to find a technical cofounder.

Antler

Included: An in-person residency of up to three months in New York, San Francisco or Austin, followed by a chance to pitch Antler’s investment committee.

Cost: Antler’s US page states a typical initial commitment of $500K to $1M plus $650K in partner credits. We couldn’t confirm the equity percentage on that page.

The catch: Antler doesn’t sponsor visas. At least one cofounder needs existing US work authorization.

There is no fee to join the residency. Antler says it reviews applications year-round and invites a group each month. Founders should ask for the current US term sheet before comparing Antler’s dilution with the fixed-percentage deals above.

500 Global (500 Fellowship)

Included: The flagship program now runs as the 500 Fellowship, four months in person in San Francisco.

Cost: “Up to $50K right away,” with up to $1M more as companies progress, per the Fellowship page. We couldn’t confirm the equity taken on that page.

The catch: The older $150,000-for-6% deal still circulates in third-party lists, but it doesn’t appear on the current Fellowship page. Treat it as history until a term sheet says otherwise.

The page lists dates of November 30, 2026 to April 9, 2027, and says the program takes founders from day zero through first users, revenue or pilots.

Alchemist

Included: An enterprise-focused program with San Francisco offices, a founder retreat and investor showcases in Silicon Valley.

Cost: The How We Invest page lists check sizes of $60,000 to $1 million at pre-seed and seed. We couldn’t confirm a current equity figure on the site.

The catch: The thesis is companies that sell to enterprises. A consumer app sits outside it.

The flagship page pitches support that lasts as long as the company is building, set against a 9 to 12 month enterprise sale. The program has moved from alchemistaccelerator.com to alchemist.vc, and old links redirect.

SOSV

Included: Pre-seed investment in deep tech through HAX (hard tech) and the SOSV SF and SOSV NY programs.

Cost: SOSV’s investment FAQ says its pre-seed check is up to $550,000 and that it needs to get above 10% ownership for its $550k average check.

The catch: Programs require four to six months in the US, and companies that have already raised a VC-backed seed or Series A are too late.

The same FAQ says SOSV reviews thousands of pitches a year and funds about 60. Its programs are geared to teams under 10 people with under $1M in annual revenue and, usually, under $1M in prior equity raised. Most SaaS, e-commerce and fintech companies fall outside its focus.

What the Fixed-Plus-MFN Deals Do to Ownership

Three programs publish enough to model. The MFN SAFEs are the moving part.

Assumptions
- Each program's day-one deal, exactly as published.
- The company's next financing is a SAFE round at a $15M post-money cap
 (the figure YC uses in its own example). MFN SAFEs adopt that cap.
- Ignores option pool changes and the interaction between instruments
 at conversion. Treat results as approximations.

Program Fixed MFN SAFE conversion Approx. total
Y Combinator 7.00% $375,000 / $15,000,000 = 2.50% 9.50%
Techstars 5.00% $200,000 / $15,000,000 = 1.33% 6.33%
EF 8.00% $125,000 / $15,000,000 = 0.83% 8.83%

Cash per 1% owned (cash / total %)
Y Combinator $500,000 / 9.50 = about $52,600
Techstars $220,000 / 6.33 = about $34,800
EF $250,000 / 8.83 = about $28,300

Drop the next cap to $10M and every MFN line grows by half. Raise it to $25M and the MFN lines shrink. The fixed percentage never moves. That’s the trade founders are actually signing.

Two Shortlisted Programs Left Off

MassChallenge and Plug and Play were on the original shortlist. We couldn’t confirm current program terms and intake on either program’s own site, so neither appears above. A program that can’t be checked doesn’t get a guessed number.

Before Sending an Application

Get the entity right first. Techstars requires a US corporation or equivalent, and most of these instruments assume a Delaware C corp. The tradeoffs are in Delaware C corp vs LLC.
Put the founder split and vesting in writing. A co-founder agreement signed before the check arrives avoids renegotiating with an investor watching.
Model the MFN at three different next-round caps, not one.
Read the side letter as closely as the SAFE. Reporting and pro rata obligations last longer than the program.
Ask for the current term sheet in writing. Several programs above changed structure in the past two years.

For the wider sequence of setup steps around an accelerator application, see how to start a startup company.

Pre-Seed on Stack & Scale Journal