Creative Destruction Lab2027 deadline, funding, equity and how to apply

Creative Destruction Lab, or CDL, is a nonprofit program for seed stage science and technology companies. It was founded in 2012 at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. It now runs at 17 sites across Canada, the US, Europe, Australia and Asia, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Seattle, London, Paris and Berlin. CDL is not a typical accelerator. It takes no equity and charges no fee. The cost to founders is time. Instead of a fixed curriculum, CDL uses an objectives based model. Every eight weeks or so, founders meet a group of mentors for a full day session. The mentors set three short term objectives for the next eight weeks. At the following session, they review whether the company hit them. Mentors are experienced entrepreneurs and angel investors, called Fellows and Associates, plus partners from venture firms. Many of them invest in companies that meet their objectives, which is how CDL companies raise money. CDL is organized into streams, such as AI, quantum, health, climate, energy, space and neuro. Companies listed on its site include Ada, Atomwise, Deep Genomics, Eavor Technologies, Notch and XOcean.

The CDL program year is built around five full day sessions, held roughly every eight weeks starting in the fall. In each session, founders present progress to their stream's mentors. The mentors agree on three objectives for the next eight week sprint. Chief Scientists from academic institutions give feedback on technology roadmaps, and business school students help with financial models and market sizing. Missing an objective does not automatically remove a company, but it prompts a frank discussion with mentors. Founders do not need to relocate. They must send a founder to each session, and some sites offer fully virtual programming. Mentors often invest in companies that meet their objectives, so funding comes through the mentor network rather than from CDL itself.