PearX for AI

We’re excited to roll out a new track of PearX, tailored for founders building Artificial Intelligence based companies.

Founders on our AI track will work with a dedicated team of AI experts to accelerate customer acquisition, business model refinement and technical product development. AI track founders can expect the small-batch, high quality benefits of PearX, along with added financial, technical and community access tailored to building a successful AI startup. We’re interested in investing in high-potential builders – and customize our expertise to help you transition from technology to business.

Our take on company building Apply to PearX for AI Winter 2024

$250k-5M

Leading pre-seed rounds

How we help AI Founders

Pear partners with you at every step of your journey.

Expert sponsors

Founders will receive exclusive 1:1 sponsorship from Pear’s AI experts, like Aparna, Arash, and Pedram tailored to the needs of their startup. Assistance will range from product development, customer engagement, to pricing and business model development.

AI engineering community

You will have special access to AI researchers and engineers from OpenAI, Google, and Stanford for in-person 1-on-1 and group training sessions on the latest technology releases and research.

Cloud credits

AI Founders will be fast tracked to receive $250,000 in Google Cloud credits to supercharge growth.

Hacker space

The AI Founders cohort will have dedicated co-location space at Pear’s Menlo Park office near Stanford University. We will also have the option to work out of Pear’s San Francisco office.

Technical Demo Day

All of this hard work culminates in a technical Demo Day to an engineering panel of potential customers and partners. AI founders will also have the opportunity to pitch to hundreds of AI investors from tier 1 firms as part of PearX. We take an all hands on deck approach to make sure you can raise capital.

Perspectives in AI workshop series

Our PearX for AI founders will receive priority access to workshops with industry thought leaders like Hussein Mehanna, SVP Engineering at Cruise.

Use our network

During the program and as an alumni, we help you get the introductions to the people that matter most for your business, whether it is a customer, a partner, an investor or another founder.

0.25%

ACCEPTANCE RATE

10

STARTUPS PER BATCH

14

WEEKS

How PearX for AI works

Phase 1: Idea Development

WEEKS 1-4

  • Customer development
  • Strategic market positioning – bulding a moat in AI
  • Product definition and technology review
  • Meet with experts from Google Cloud and Open AI
  • Conduct user studies
Pear Partner Arash talks to a Stanford student

Phase 2: Execution

WEEKS 5-10

  • Defining key team needs
  • Defining key KPIs for the program
  • Build initial MVP – Hackathon #1
  • Get early customer traction and data
  • Go-to-market experimentation and development
  • Iterate until you get it right
PearX Execution

Phase 3: Technical Demo Day prep

WEEKS 11-14

  • Demo day preparation – Hackathon #2
  • Develop the pitch and iterative on the Demo Day deck
  • Create fundraising strategy

Phase 4: Demo Day and fundraising

DEMO DAY

  • Pitch to AI engineering customer and partner panel
  • Pitch to VC investor panel
  • Help you vet term sheets, negotiate the best terms, and close your seed round

Every batch 80+% of companies raise from tier 1 institutional investors.

NEA logo
greycroft
seven seven six logo
Felicis Logo
a16z logo
forerunner logo
freestyle logo

The best in your corner.

Arpana Bio Photo

Aparna Sinha

Partner

link team
Arash Afrakhteh headshot

Arash Afrakhteh

Partner

link team
Pedram Keyani headshot

Pedram Keyani

Visiting Partner

link team

Dr. Megan Ma

Assistant Director, Stanford Center for Legal Informatics (CodeX)

link team
Dr. Chris Mansi

Dr. Chris Mansi

link team

Isaac Madan

Co-Founder of Nightfall AI

link team
William Ross

William Ross

CEO, Co-founder of Federato

link team
Pramod Sharma

Pramod Sharma

link team
Andrew Moore

Andrew Moore

General Manager, AI & Industry Solutions, Google Cloud

link team

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-$5M – 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 year 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.

80+% 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 15. 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 (link to team page) 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 encouraged 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.

We recognize that not everyone can be in the Bay Area at the same time so we stream most events and talks virtually as well.

What is the time commitment?

14 weeks.

Every week there’s a weekly check-in, a speaker event, and one hour spent with your industry mentor. 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?

Apply now