ODF (On Deck) 2027: Deadline, Funding and How to Apply

ODF is the founder program from On Deck, the community that began in San Francisco and grew into a network of fellowships for builders. ODF stands for On Deck Founders. It is not an accelerator in the YC sense. It does not invest money and it takes no equity. What it offers is a curated cohort, a short and intense onboarding, and lifetime access to a community of more than 3,000 members. The current format is a one-week, in-person sprint in San Francisco with a cohort of 80 to 100 builders, more than half of them technical. The goal is to help people meet co-founders, test ideas and decide whether to commit to a company. ODF uses a pay-what-you-can model with a suggested contribution of $1,000, which covers the venue, food and year-round community tools. Members also get more than $800,000 in partner perks, including Mercury, AWS and Stripe Atlas. On Deck reports that more than 1,000 startups have come out of the community and that alumni companies have raised over $2 billion from investors such as Khosla, Sequoia and a16z. Named alumni companies include Levels, Settle, Finch, Loyal and Grow Therapy. ODF is best for strong builders who are about to start something and do not yet have a team or a funded company.

ODF runs as a one-week onboarding sprint in San Francisco. Attendance is required for all five business days. During the week, 80 to 100 participants work through idea exploration, meet potential collaborators and get feedback from peers and experienced founders. The format is built around conviction: helping people decide what to build and who to build it with. After the week ends, participants keep lifetime access to the ODF community platform, which has more than 3,000 members, plus ongoing events and introductions. There is no demo day and no investment attached to the program. Members receive more than $800,000 in partner perks from companies such as Mercury, AWS and Stripe Atlas. International participants are welcome if they plan to sell to US customers, and ODF can issue visa letters for the onboarding week.

ODF looks for exceptional builders with an unfair advantage, such as prior startup wins, deep technical skill, unusual market insight or strong networks. It values trajectory over resume. Applicants should be fully committed, or about to be, to starting a company, and should enjoy helping other founders. It is not a fit for teams that have raised beyond pre-seed, found product-market fit, already have a full team, or are building something that cannot reach venture scale or mainly serves customers outside the US.