PearX for AI

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.

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.

$250k-$5M – It depends on the stage of your company.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!