No Ideas? No Problem: 5 Funding Sources for Pre-Idea Founders

Not ready for Y-Combinator, yet? Here's a list of funding sources and start-up resources that are open to founders with technical or domain-specific expertise who are tinkering with an idea.

“Are there any funding sources for early-stage start-ups that aren’t Y-Combinator?”

During a recent conversation with a founder in one of my start-up growth and fundraising consultation sessions, I was asked about resources and funding opportunities for founders who have been working on an idea but are still in the market exploration stage and have yet to nail down all the exact details.

Similarly, I’ve met many founders who shared that they aren’t at the stage where they could best utilize a $500,000 investment but instead wanted to see if there were any opportunities for founders at an earlier stage that still provided some funding and resources. Here’s a list of funding opportunities and resources for all entrepreneurs in the pre-idea or earliest stages of their start-ups:

1. Y Combinator’s Summer Fellows Grant

Since we’ve already mentioned Y-Combinator, it’s only fair to highlight its Summer Fellows Grant program. This program provides aspiring founders with the space to experiment and work on projects over the Summer. The program offers a $20,000 grant and $90,000 in compute credits from Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google GCP.

All programmers working on interesting tech-enabled projects are welcome to apply, however, they are most interested in AI projects. Accepted grantees are also invited to join a slate of in-person programming, including a kick-off dinner on June 15th, Y-Combinator’s inaugural AI Start-Up School on June 16th - 17th, and a final demo day on August 22nd when grantees showcase their projects.

Eligibility: Individual Undergraduate Computer Science or Engineering College Student

Important Dates: Interviews from the applicant pool will be held at the end of March. The grant period runs from June 15th (kick-off dinner) to August 22nd (demo day), with several co-working days in between.

2. Telora Fellowship

With their mission of helping “hackers start start-ups”, Telora seeks technical builders who have actively been exploring interesting problems and/or technologies. Their fellowship provides $40,000 in funding to teams, weekly dinners with like-minded founders and an ongoing speaker series for recipients with established entrepreneurs and VCs.

The fellowship funding is expected to cover six months of living expenses for your team. An initial $10,000 will be disbursed upon acceptance, and the remaining funds will be provided in monthly installments throughout the fellowship. Founders are expected to commit themselves fully during the program's duration.

Eligibility: Upon acceptance, founders must be under 24 and ready to commit full time to pursuing their ideas.

Important Dates: The application deadline for their next cohort is April 18th, with the fellowship expected to begin on June 2nd.

3. Founder University

Founder University is a 12-week pre-accelerator that runs founders through iterating on their idea, developing an MVP, onboarding early users and sharpening their fundraising pitch. Top start-ups in the program receive a $25,000 - $125,000 investment into their start-up. They accept people in the "pre-idea" stage, too. The program requires a $500 deposit that will be returned to founders if you are able to attend all their live sessions.

The program begins with an in-person kick-off event and runs virtually through weekly Zoom sessions. In addition to the required one-hour weekly live session, founders are encouraged to attend Founder University’s weekly check-in session and are complete 5-10 hours of weekly course material.

Eligibility: Individuals without a start-up idea are eligible to apply, but will need to decide on an idea quickly.

Important Dates: The next cohort is set to begin on March 28th

4. SPC Founder Fellowship

Founded by engineers from leading tech companies such as Meta, Dropbox, Stripe, and others, South Park Commons (SPC) exemplifies its ethos of supporting technologists, builders, and domain experts through its Founder Fellowship.

The fellowship provides $400,000 SAFE in initial funding in exchange for 7% equity, with an additional $600,000 committed for future venture investment rounds. SPC’s fellowship also blends structured and flexible learning, with an 8-week curriculum and milestone-based workshops that depend on the student’s growth stage. Additionally, founders can attend sessions featuring founders and chief executives from companies such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Front, and more.

Eligibility: Founders in the pre-idea, pre-product or pre-revenue stage committed to building a venture-scale company.

Important Dates: Applicants for the next cohort will open in the Fall.

5. Founders, Inc. Fellowship

The Founders, Inc. Fellowship is structured with a simple goal: turning builders into entrepreneurs. It is explicitly looking for brilliant engineers who have shown some success and innovative spirit through the pursuit of side projects, demonstrating their ability to build, scale, and iterate quickly. The fellowship is focused on AI/ML, AR/VR, Web3, Robotics, Dev Tools, and more, but it is willing to consider anything in the emerging tech sphere.

The fellowship includes a $100,000 investment, a desk at their San Francisco space, and tailored office hours sessions with experienced entrepreneurs in their network.

Eligibility: They emphasize investing heavily in "builders" and helping them innovate before their ideas are perfected.

Important Dates: Applications are considered on a rolling basis

Bonus! Here are some additional resources that are also open to founders still at the pre-idea phase:

• Company Ventures - They have a Founder Residency program that provides pre-idea founders with one year of access to office space in NYC!

• ODF—This is a one-week intensive program in SF for pre-idea founders. Acceptance includes $800k in perks (AWS, Stripe Atlas, Mercury, etc. credits).

• Beta University - They are a 501(c)3 non-profit that offers a six-week fundraising program for “pre-YC” founders.

Have more questions about the fundraising process?

Need help getting ready to pitch your start-up or raise an investment round?

I also provide consultancy services to help start-ups prepare for pitching or investment, based on my experiences as a founder and VC scout.

This article was actually inspired by one of my consultation calls. If you need tailored support or have specific questions, I’d love to help.

Book a free fundraising consultation session with me here to get feedback on your venture (I’ve opened up five slots for March).

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