Comparing accelerators

Three offers are on the table. One accelerator offers $500K, one offers $750K, and one offers $1M. Which offer costs you the least? The headline check does not tell you. This lesson gives you a method to compare accelerator deals, and then uses it on eight real deals from November 2026.

Two parts of every offer

Split each offer into two parts:

• The fixed part buys a fixed stake. Your next round does not change it. YC’s $125K for 7% is a fixed part.
• The market-priced part buys a stake that your next round sets. An uncapped SAFE is market-priced, and so is a follow-on investment at the price of your next round.

Three formulas then describe any offer. This lesson measures each stake when the SAFEs convert, before a priced round dilutes it.

Implied post-money (fixed part) = Fixed cash ÷ Fixed stake
Stake at your next cap C        = Fixed stake + Uncapped cash ÷ C
Blended valuation               = Cash at the start ÷ Stake at C

Before you use the formulas, subtract the fees from the cash. YC writes that “founders should deduct those fees” when they compare offers. YC and Techstars charge no fees, and Alliance calls its program “entirely free.”

The deals in November 2026

Two more programs publish different kinds of terms. PearX invests $500K to $2M and writes: “We target 7% ownership.” Z Fellows offers an optional $10K at a $1B cap, which is 0.001% of the company.

Look at the Techstars row, and make a guess.

Predict first

Techstars invests $20,000 for 5% of common stock. What post-money valuation does that part imply?

Type a guess before you continue. A guess first, even a wrong one, makes the answer easier to remember.

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The price of each fixed part

The implied post-money valuation of a fixed part tells you the price of the fixed stake. A higher number means that each dollar buys less of your company:

Y Combinator         $125,000 ÷ 0.07 = $1.79M
a16z speedrun        $500,000 ÷ 0.10 = $5.00M
South Park Commons   $400,000 ÷ 0.07 = $5.71M
Entrepreneurs First  $125,000 ÷ 0.08 = $1.56M
Techstars             $20,000 ÷ 0.05 = $0.40M
Alliance             $400,000 ÷ 0.10 = $4.00M

You can also give the same price as cash for each 1% of the company. YC’s fixed part pays $125K ÷ 7 = $17.9K for each 1%. Speedrun pays $500K ÷ 10 = $50K for each 1%. But the fixed part is only one half of the deal. The uncapped money changes the total, and your next cap sets its price.

The stake at your next cap

Uncapped money converts at the cap of your next SAFEs. Thus each program’s total stake changes with your next round. At a $20M cap, YC owns 7% + $375K ÷ $20M = 8.875%. Techstars owns 5% + $200K ÷ $20M = 6%. Neo owns $750K ÷ $20M = 3.75%.

The comparison starts at a $20M cap. Move the cap, and look at which programs move and which stay fixed.

Comparison

Eight accelerator deals at your next cap

Uncapped money converts at the cap of your next SAFEs. Move the cap to see what each program owns when the SAFEs convert.

Post-money cap of your next SAFEs

$20M

Stake when the SAFEs convert, at a $20M cap

Y Combinator

8.88%

a16z speedrun

10%

South Park Commons

7%

Techstars

6%

Entrepreneurs First (US)

8.63%

Neo Residency

3.75%

AI Grant

1.25%

Alliance

10%

Accelerator deals at a $20M cap

Program	Cash now	Fixed part	Stake	Blended valuation
Y Combinator	$500K	7% for $125K $1.79M post-money	8.88%	$5.63M
a16z speedrun Later: Up to $500K more in your next round, within 18 months	$500K	10% for $500K $5M post-money	10%	$5M
South Park Commons Later: $600K guaranteed in your next outside round	$400K	7% for $400K $5.71M post-money	7%	$5.71M
Techstars The 5% is common stock. The MFN SAFE is $100K in Asia-Pacific	$220K	5% for $20K $400K post-money	6%	$3.67M
Entrepreneurs First (US) The second $125K is optional, if you move to San Francisco as a Delaware C-corp	$250K	8% for $125K $1.56M post-money	8.63%	$2.9M
Neo Residency	$750K	None	3.75%	$20M
AI Grant	$250K	None	1.25%	$20M
Alliance Later: $400K more at your seed round A token side letter for crypto companies	$400K	10% for $400K $4M post-money	10%	$4M

At a $20M cap, the stakes go from 1.25% for AI Grant to 10% for a16z speedrun and Alliance. Uncapped money pays your cap, so Neo and AI Grant get a blended valuation of exactly $20M. A fixed stake pays a set price that does not grow with your company.

Above a $12.5M cap, YC's two SAFEs cost less equity than speedrun's fixed 10%, for the same $500K at the start.

Work it out

Entrepreneurs First (US) invests $125K for 8% and an optional $125K on an uncapped MFN SAFE. At a $20M next cap, what is EF's stake when the SAFEs convert?

Your answerCheck

Uncapped deals: Neo and AI Grant

Neo announced its residency deal in February 2026: $750K on an uncapped SAFE. TechCrunch gave two examples. “If a startup raises its next round at a $15 million valuation, Neo’s stake will be 5%.” At $100M, the stake “drops to just 0.75%.” Neo has no fixed stake, so its money always buys at your next price. AI Grant works the same way, with $250K on an uncapped MFN SAFE.

Uncapped money costs more equity than a fixed deal only at a very low cap. One equation for each pair gives the cap where the two deals cost the same:

Neo = YC         $750K ÷ C = 7% + $375K ÷ C
                 C         = $375K ÷ 0.07 = $5.36M

Neo = speedrun   $750K ÷ C = 10%
                 C         = $750K ÷ 0.10 = $7.5M

Thus at a next cap of $10M, $25M, or $60M, Neo costs less equity than YC and speedrun. At $10M, Neo costs 7.5%, YC costs 10.75%, and speedrun costs 10%. But the cash is different too. Neo gives $750K at the start, and YC gives $500K. Speedrun gives $500K at the start and up to $500K more in your next round. Neo is also new. In February 2026, TechCrunch reported that Neo planned a cohort of 12 to 15 startups for summer 2026.

What the program must do for you

A program is a trade. You give a fixed stake, and you get a network, advice, and a signal to investors. The trade is good only if those things raise your price, your speed, or your odds of success. The break-even cap puts a number on the trade. It is the cap that you must get with the program to sell the same part of the company as without it.

Worked example · step 1 of 5

The break-even cap for YC and for speedrun

1. 1

   The plan without a program

   Northwind needs $2.5M. Without a program, it can raise the full amount on SAFEs at a $15M post-money cap.

   Sold = $2.5M ÷ $15M = 16.67%

Show step 2Show all steps

Pick a program, and set your own numbers. Look at what happens when your cap without a program is very high, and when the program has no fixed stake.

Calculator

The cap a program must help you get

Compare two plans that raise the same money. Without a program, you raise it all on SAFEs. With one, the program supplies part of it.

Program

YCspeedrunTechstarsNeo

Money you need in total

$2.5M

Cap without a program

$15M

You sell

16.67%

Without a program: $2.5M ÷ $15M

Break-even cap

$24.57M

With YC

Increase

+64%

Over $15M

Fixed stake price

$925K

7% × $15M − $125K

Without a program, you sell 16.67%. With YC, you get $500K from YC and raise $2M more. To sell the same 16.67% in total, your cap must be $24.57M, which is 64% more than $15M.

The fixed 7% is the price. At your $15M cap, it is worth $1.05M, and YC pays $125K for it, so the price is $925K. The program is a good trade if its network, advice, and signal add more value than that.

A second way to price a fixed stake is to value it at the cap that you can get without the program. The price is the stake at that cap, minus the cash that the program pays for it:

Price = Fixed stake × Cap without the program − Fixed cash

YC at a $10M cap = 7% × $10M − $125K = $575K
YC at a $20M cap = 7% × $20M − $125K = $1.275M
YC at a $40M cap = 7% × $40M − $125K = $2.675M

Thus a stronger company pays a higher price for the same 7%. These numbers do not include the network, the advice, or a better chance of success. Those things are the real reasons to join an accelerator. But the numbers show what you trade for them.

Read the terms, not only the check

The stake and the valuation do not show every cost. Read these terms in each offer:

• The class of stock. The Techstars 5% converts into common stock, through a convertible equity agreement. Common stock has no liquidation preference, so in a sale it gets paid with the founders, not before them.
• Token rights. Alliance gets a “1:1” token side letter, a right to tokens if the company issues them.
• Money that is not certain. Antler residents can “be considered for funding of $500K–$1M,” so the residency itself does not include an investment. 500 Global offers “up to $50K right away” and writes that an application “does not guarantee an investment.” Outside the US, EF invests only in teams that “pass our Investment Committee.”
• Conditions. EF’s optional $125K is only for founders who move to San Francisco and incorporate as a Delaware C-corp.
• Rights and duties. YC, Techstars, and speedrun each get a pro rata right. The Techstars side letter also gives pro rata, digital-asset, and drag-along rights. It also requires the company to send Techstars its key metrics at regular times.

YC, South Park Commons, speedrun, and EF in the US invest when they accept you. The sources for this lesson do not confirm the current terms of some programs. These are HF0, the current Antler US split, and the equity of 500 Global and Berkeley SkyDeck. Read each program’s own page before you sign, because programs change their deals.

Quiz · question 1 of 6

Test what you learned

a16z speedrun invests $500K for 10% at the start. What post-money valuation does that imply?

• A$500K
• B$5M
• C$50M
• D$10M