PearX: join our ranks of elite founders

PearX is our accelerator for early stage companies. Our exclusive, small batch, 14 week program produces the highest chance of startup success. 90% of our companies go on to raise a successful round from top tier investors.

When you join PearX you get services that actually make a difference in your company. We hire your early team, help you find your first customers, and give you free office space.

Applications for PearX W25 are currently closed. Applications for PearX S25 will open in the spring.

$250K – $2M

CHECK SIZES

Unparalleled resources lead to unrivaled results

Capital to build your company, your way

  • We invest between $250K and $2M.
  • All companies are unique so we’ll work with you.
PearX

Founder to founder

  • Work 1:1 with a partner who has been in your shoes and knows your industry.
  • Our team has started and sold 13 companies to the likes of Dropbox, Cisco, Instacart, Plaid, and Zynga.

Join the best community

  • Entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be a lonely journey.
  • Joining PearX means joining a community of like-minded founders.
  • We kick off each cohort with Camp Pear: a 3-day retreat for the entire cohort to come together, learn key company building tactics, and get to know one another.
  • Not only will you work alongside your PearX batch for 14+ weeks, but you’ll also have the wider PearX alumni network to lean on.

Access Pear Studio

  • 30,000 square foot state-of-the-art office space.
  • 240+ standing desks
  • 20+ conference rooms, phone booths, and more.
  • This space is completely free to you for the first 12 months.

Build a scalable sales motion

  • Nailing ICP
  • Prospecting
  • Customer discovery
  • Messaging

Recruit the best talent

  • Our dedicated PearX Recruiter, Nate, will find your founding engineer, co-founder, or whatever critical hire your team needs.
  • Hired 25 people for our PearX companies in last cohort.
  • Nate leads the full cycle of recruiting for your team – from sourcing to closing candidates.

Fundraise strategically

  • We help you raise additional capital when you’re ready.
  • From perfecting the story and creating a pitch deck to creating a target investor list and negotiating and closing your round.
  • 90% of companies that go through PearX raise capital from institutional investors.

Grow your startup with access to unique perks

  • We provide up to $650k in credits from top providers like Azure, OpenAI, AWS, Google, Anthropic, and many more.
  • Discounted legal formation packages
  • Payroll, benefits, HR discounts through Gusto

160

ALUMNI COMPANIES

15

WORTH $100M+

$2B

RAISED BY PEARX COMPANIES

Camp Pear

We kick off each cohort with Camp Pear, a 3-day immersive retreat for founders.

Hear from PearX alums

Watch this short video to hear from a few founders about their experience with PearX.

The best in your corner

Stan Tang headshot

Stan Tang

Co-Founder & CPO Doordash

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Padmasree Warrior

Padmasree Warrior

Founder & CEO Fable, Former CTO Cisco, Board Spotify & Microsoft

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dennis woodside

Dennis Woodside

President Freshworks, Former President Impossible Foods

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tomer london

Tomer London

Co-founder & CPO Gusto

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Cathy Polinski

Cathy Polinsky

CTO Data Grail, Board of Aetion

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armando mann

Armando Mann

President Hopin

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arash ferdowsi

Arash Ferdowsi

Pear Visiting Partner, Co-founder DropBox

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matthew prince

Matthew Prince

Co-founder & CTO Cloudflare

link team
Monishika Gupta headshot

Monishika Gupta

Senior PM at WellBeam

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Mada Seghete headshot

Mada Seghete

Co-founder and VP Marketing at Branch

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Doug Levin headshot

Doug Levin

Lecturer at Harvard Business School

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Yasi Baiani headshot

Yasi Baiani

Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at Raya

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Hongxia Zhong headshot

Hongxia Zhong

Director of Engineering at Flex

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Anand Lyer headshot

Anand Iyer

Managing General Partner at Canonical Ventures

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Ash Rust headshot

Ash Rust

Managing Partner at Sterling Road

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Aunkur Arya headshot

Aunkur Arya

Venture Partner at Menlo Ventures

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bryan solar headshot

Bryan Solar

General Manager at Square

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George John headshot

George John

Visiting Lecturer at Stanford

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Saumil Mehta headshot

Saumil Mehta

General Manager at Square

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Susan Ho headshot

Susan Ho

Head of Hopper Homes at Hopper

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Lauren Chan Lee headshot

Lauren Chan Lee

Founder & CEO of productLivity

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Kintan Brahmbhatt headshot

Kintan Brahmbhatt

Co-Founder at Stealth

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Sriram Krishnan headshot

Sriram Krishnan

Investor at Kearny Jackson

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Placeholder headshot

Anirudh Pandit

VP of Products at Yugabyte

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david stasie headshot

David Stasie

Co-Founder of Young Alfred

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Roger Gu headshot

Roger Gu

Head of BD at Stilt

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david adams headshot

David Adams

Founder & CEO of Sniffspot

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Frequently asked questions

Who is eligible for this program?

Any founder who is starting a company is eligible to apply to PearX. Most companies have not raised any money prior to PearX, but in some cases companies have raised up to $2M at the time when we make our investment.

How does Pear choose teams for PearX?

We have an open application process and each company is reviewed by an investor on our team. If you are selected, there is one interview followed by a partner meeting where you will pitch to our team.

How much do you invest?

$250k-$2M – It depends on the stage of your company.

What if it’s just me and I don’t yet have a co-founder? Can I still apply?

Yes, we welcome solo founders and if needed, we can assist with Co-Founder search and match.

How do I know if I’m right for PearX? What if I’ve already raised capital?

We accept companies that have already raised capital but typically they have not raised more than $2M in total prior to joining PearX. Frequently, companies will raise additional capital along with the PearX investment.

Can I raise funding alongside PearX?

Companies typically decide to wait until Pear’s Demo Day to raise a large seed round, but many companies do raise additional capital alongside the PearX investment.

Is PearX an accelerator?

Most accelerators have dozens or hundreds of companies per batch with minimal individual attention. Pear has always made 10-20 pre-seed investments per batch and we realized that companies have the most success when we work closely with them on a tight timeline. Every company gets two investment partners working closely with them to answer the toughest questions up front and help lay down the infrastructure for a long-lasting company.

90+% of our PearX companies raise successful seed rounds from institutional investors.

How large are your PearX cohorts?

We keep our cohorts intentionally small so we can really dive in with our founders. The maximum number of teams we’ll accept is 25. Each company gets hands-on support from at least two partners on Pear’s team meeting several times a week. Our cohorts are intimate enough for founders to build a true community, but small enough for a lot of tailored, personalized attention.

Who will I work with on the Pear team?

The PearX team includes all members of the Pear partnership. You will work with at least two of our partners along with many members of our ops and support staff. The specific partners you will work with depends on your vertical and the person on the team with the most experience in that space.

What are the dates of the program? Can I get support beforehand?

We run a Summer cohort that kicks off each year around July and a Winter cohort that kicks off around January.

We fund companies year-round on an ongoing basis, and will start working with teams right away, even before their formal cohort begins.

Does PearX happen in person or virtually? What if I’m not based in SF?

All companies are required to relocate to the SF Bay Area for the duration of the program. We have found that companies have the best outcomes when they are in person with the Pear team and the other teams in the cohort.

What is the time commitment?

14 weeks.

Every week there’s a weekly check-in, a speaker event, and one hour spent with your Pear Partner. So a total of three hours of dedicated time, plus additional interactions with partners.

Will you fund multiple startups working in the same space?

While we’ll work with multiple companies in the same general area e.g. climate tech companies, we will never have competitors in the same class. Our goal is to build community and not competition!

Interested in applying
to PearX?

Applications are currently closed and will reopen in Spring 2025.