The Bay Area has more startup accelerators than any other region, and the most selective ones. Y Combinator, a16z speedrun, PearX and South Park Commons all run in-person programs here, and most of the large seed funds hold their demo days in San Francisco.
Programs differ more than their reputations suggest. Some invest $500,000 or more on fixed terms, some take no equity at all, and some are built around a university such as Stanford or Berkeley. Compare the money, the equity and the time you must spend in the city before you apply.
| Program | Funding | Equity | Next deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| a16z speedrun | Up to $1M ($500K upfront + up to $500K in next round) | 10% for $500K (SAFE) | November 1, 2026 (5 days left) |
| Y Combinator | $500,000 | 7% (via $125K post-money SAFE) plus $375K uncapped MFN SAFE | November 2, 2026 (6 days left) |
| Entrepreneurs First | Up to $250K | 8% for $125K (post-money SAFE) plus optional $125K uncapped MFN SAFE | November 2, 2026 (6 days left) |
| PearX | $500K to $2M | Pear targets about 7% ownership | Rolling admissions |
| Village Global | Up to $1M | Not published (negotiated per round) | Rolling admissions |
| IndieBio (SOSV) | Up to about $525K pre-seed (reported) | Not published (reported single-digit to about 10%) | Rolling admissions |
| Alchemist Accelerator | $60K to $1M | Not published | Rolling admissions |
| ODF (On Deck) | No investment (non-dilutive, $800K+ in perks) | 0% (no equity taken) | Rolling admissions |
| Plug and Play | Equity-free program; optional investment from Plug and Play Ventures | 0% for participation (Ventures arm takes a stake only if it invests) | Rolling admissions |
| Founder Institute | No cash investment | 2.5% warrant (Equity Collective) | Rolling admissions |
| South Park Commons Founder Fellowship | $1M ($400K upfront + $600K in next round) | 7% for the $400K upfront (standard SAFE) | Next deadline not announced yet |
| Neo Accelerator (Neo Residency) | $750K uncapped SAFE | Uncapped SAFE; about 5% at a $15M round, 0.75% at $100M | Next deadline not announced yet |
| Founders Inc | $150K (Blueprint II); $100K to $250K first checks | Not published | Next deadline not announced yet |
| Berkeley SkyDeck | $210K | 7.25% for $210K (post-money SAFE or other) | Next deadline not announced yet |
| LAUNCH Accelerator | $125,000 | Not published | Next deadline not announced yet |
| 500 Global | Up to $50K upfront, up to $1M more later | Not published (program fee $35K for Phase 1) | Next deadline not announced yet |
| Google for Startups Accelerator | No cash; equity-free support and Google Cloud credits (by application) | 0% (equity-free) | Next deadline not announced yet |
| StartX | No cash from the accelerator; Stanford-StartX Fund invests separately | 0% (no equity) | Next deadline not announced yet |
San Francisco, CA (North Beach)
Andreessen Horowitz's 12-week in-person accelerator in San Francisco. Invests up to $1M: $500K upfront for 10%, and up to $500K in the next round.
Alumni include FLORA, Hedra, Runware.
a16z speedrun: terms, deadline and how to apply
San Francisco, CA
The best-known startup accelerator in the world. Invests $500K ($125K for 7% plus a $375K MFN SAFE) in a three-month program in San Francisco.
Alumni include Airbnb, Stripe, Dropbox, Coinbase.
Y Combinator: terms, deadline and how to apply
London, Bangalore, San Francisco
Talent investor you join before you have a company or co-founder. EF helps you find one and build from zero, and invests up to $250K.
Alumni include Cleo, Aztec, PolyAI, Gensyn.
Entrepreneurs First: terms, deadline and how to apply
San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco and Menlo Park)
Pear VC's 12-week in-person accelerator in the Bay Area for pre-seed and seed founders. Invests $500K to $2M in a small cohort of about 20 teams.
Alumni include Vals AI, Bobyard, Andera, Known.
PearX: terms, deadline and how to apply
San Francisco, CA
Pre-seed VC firm backed by Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg and others. Its Velocity program invests up to $1M, accepts founders worldwide, and reviews applications on a rolling basis.
Alumni include Applied Intuition, Etched, Sardine, Anomalo.
Village Global: terms, deadline and how to apply
San Francisco, CA
SOSV's deep tech pre-seed program with labs in San Francisco and New York, renamed SOSV SF and SOSV NY in 2026. Reported funding is up to about $525K.
Alumni include Upside Foods (Memphis Meats), Perfect Day, NotCo, Geltor.
IndieBio (SOSV): terms, deadline and how to apply
San Francisco, CA (plus Chicago, Doha and Japan partner programs)
Accelerator for startups selling to enterprises (B2B only). Writes $60K to $1M checks on a rolling basis and runs two Investor Showcases a year.
Alumni include LaunchDarkly, Rigetti Computing, MoEngage, MightyHive.
Alchemist Accelerator: terms, deadline and how to apply
San Francisco, CA
The founder program formerly known as On Deck Founders. A short in-person program in San Francisco with $800K+ in partner perks. Takes no equity.
Alumni include Levels, Settle, Finch, Loyal.
ODF (On Deck): terms, deadline and how to apply
Sunnyvale, CA (HQ) plus 60+ locations worldwide
Silicon Valley innovation platform with 500+ corporate partners. Its accelerator programs take no equity and focus on corporate pilots and partnerships.
Alumni include PayPal, Dropbox, LendingClub, Honey.
Plug and Play: terms, deadline and how to apply
Palo Alto, CA
Part-time, pre-seed program in 200+ cities. Ten sessions plus Funding Day, a chapter fee (e.g. $1,099 Silicon Valley), and a 2.5% equity warrant pledge.
Alumni include Udemy, Esusu.
Founder Institute: terms, deadline and how to apply
San Francisco, New York City or Bangalore
South Park Commons' fellowship for founders at the earliest stage, even before an idea. Invests $400K upfront for 7% and $600K in the next round.
Alumni include Baseten, Luma AI, Gamma, Render.
South Park Commons Founder Fellowship: terms, deadline and how to apply
San Francisco, CA
Ali Partovi's San Francisco accelerator. Invests $750K on an uncapped SAFE, so Neo's stake ranges from about 5% to 0.75% depending on the next round.
Alumni include Anterior, Moment, Caldera.
Neo Accelerator (Neo Residency): terms, deadline and how to apply
San Francisco
San Francisco campus and first-check fund at Fort Mason. Its Blueprint II program invests $150K upfront in each of 30 frontier-tech teams, with $1M+ in credits and hardware lab access.
Alumni include LiveKit, thirdweb, Paraform, Sync Labs.
Founders Inc: terms, deadline and how to apply
Berkeley, CA
UC Berkeley's accelerator, with access to Berkeley research, talent and alumni. Invests $210K for 7.25% through its Berkeley SkyDeck Fund.
Alumni include Lime, DeepScribe.
Berkeley SkyDeck: terms, deadline and how to apply
San Francisco Bay Area
Jason Calacanis's 14-week accelerator invests $125K in early-stage startups, with 7 to 12 companies per cohort and 11 investor pitch sessions. Cohort 37 started September 2026.
San Francisco, CA
500 Global's flagship program, now called The 500 Fellowship. Up to $50K upfront with up to $1M more later, and a four-month program in San Francisco.
Alumni include Talkdesk, Udemy, Credit Karma, Twilio.
500 Global: terms, deadline and how to apply
Mountain View, CA
Equity-free, ten-week Google program for Seed to Series A tech startups. The North America edition now targets AI startups, most recently AI for energy.
Palo Alto, CA
Nonprofit accelerator for Stanford-affiliated founders. Takes no equity and charges no fees. Runs summer, fall, and spring cohorts with a selective application.
Alumni include Patreon, OpenSea, Life360, Branch.
StartX: terms, deadline and how to applyGet your pitch deck scored with our free AI Pitch Review, and track every deadline in one place from your SaaSOffers dashboard. Once you are accepted, claim the free startup credits most programs qualify you for.
The programs founders apply to most in San Francisco and the Bay Area are a16z speedrun, Y Combinator, Entrepreneurs First, PearX, Village Global. Each one differs in funding, equity and format, so compare them in the table above before applying.
ODF (On Deck), Plug and Play, Google for Startups Accelerator, StartX take no equity, based on each program's published terms.
a16z speedrun (deadline November 1, 2026), Y Combinator (deadline November 2, 2026), Entrepreneurs First (deadline November 2, 2026). Programs with rolling admissions accept applications at any time.
PearX offers the largest investment on this list: $500K to $2M, for Pear targets about 7% ownership.