US startup accelerator investment : $$ of %

You got accepted to an startup accelerator. Congrats! Now you need to read and the evaluated the actual terms before you accept the offer. Evaluation of the investment terms is going to be very subjective and nuanced. But let's compare the 'investment dollar to equity' exchange of a few of the well known (or at least we have recently heard mentioned). This information could help you get a sense of what the 'market' is.

*Keep in mind that each accelerator has their own conditions or milestone based investments that make it impossible to compare apples-to-apples. Also accelerators provide much more than just capital (*hopefully). So the actual deal you are entering into will NOT be purely '$$ for %', but rather '$$ for % + alpha'. So use the data below as a starting point of your evaluation.

Y Combinator : $500K ($125K + $350K) for X% (7% + x%) <source>

We invest $125,000 on a post-money safe in return for 7% of your company (the “$125k safe”)

We invest $375,000 on an uncapped safe with a Most Favored Nation (“MFN”) provision (the “MFN safe”)

The YC Agreement sets out some YC-specific guidelines and rights, including a participation right to invest in the company’s future financing rounds.

Techstars : $120K ($20K + $100K) for X% (6% + x%) <source>

$20,000 Equity Investment In Common Shares.

If the Company elects by the start of program to take our Convertible Note investment, we invest $100,000 USD in exchange for a Convertible Promissory Note (“Note”),...

Antler US : $250K for 9.09% <source>

At the end of our eight-week residency, all founders have an opportunity to pitch to our US Investment Committee to receive pre-seed funding for a $250K investment at a $2.75M post money valuation in the form of a SAFE (giving us 9.09% ownership of your new company).

500 Global : $112,500 ($150K - $37,500) for 6% <source>

500 Startup’s standard accelerator deal is a $150,000 investment in return for a 6% stake. We charge $37,500 to participate, but the fees can be deducted from our investment.

Berkeley SkyDeck : $200K for 7.5% <source>

Google Search from an indexed webpage shows 7.5% (below) but its no longer on their website. Could have changed

If you need help gathering the necessary data to evaluate your Accelerator Investment offer, please reach out!