Top Startup Incubators of 2023

Hi, I'm Kieran. I worked in startups for five years at On Deck and Wefunder and contributed directly to incubator products such as On Deck Founders and Wefunder Workaway. I put this ranking together based on my knowledge of the space and feedback from founders, investors, and operators in the startup ecosystem who have insider knowledge of these incubators.

‍

Suppose you're interested in learning more about the differences between accelerators vs. incubators or other types of incubators, such as corporate incubators. In that case, I recommend you check out my article What is a Startup Incubator?

‍

1. On Deck Founders

‍

‍

Website: https://www.beondeck.com/

Apply here: https://apply.beondeck.com/founders

Number of alums: 2500+ people 

Number of companies created: 1,000+

Combined portfolio valuation: ~$10 billion

Industry focus: Agnostic but best suited for software startups.

Acceptance rate: < 2%

‍

Top On Deck companies:

‍

• Pave (USA, Fintech): The compensation platform recently raised a $100M Series C led by Index Ventures at a $1.6 billion valuation.

• Phantom (USA, Crypto): The friendly crypto wallet company closed a $109M funding round led by Paradigm at a $1.2 billion valuation.

• AtoB (USA, Fintech): AtoB, which calls itself Stripe for the transportation industry, raised a $155M Series B co-led by Elad Gil and General Catalyst, pushing its valuation to $800M.

• Secureframe (USA, Compliance): The company building automated compliance and security software raised a $56 million Series B led by Accomplice with participation from Kleiner Perkins.

• Settle (USA, Fintech): Settle, the all-in-one cash flow management platform, raised a $60M Series B led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Kleiner Perkins.

• Finch (USA, Fintech): The universal API for employment systems landed a $40M Series B co-led by General Catalyst and Menlo Park Ventures at an undisclosed valuation.

• Traba (USA, Marketplace): The on-demand staffing marketplace focused on industrial workers closed a $20M Series A led by Khosla Ventures at a $120M valuation.

• Slope (USA, Fintech): The buy-now-pay-later company raised a $24M Series A co-led by Union Square Ventures and Monashees at an undisclosed valuation.

‍

Trending On Deck companies:

‍

• Alloy Automation (USA, E-commerce): Sara Du, the Founder of Alloy Automation, was recently featured by Forbes on their Forbes 30 Under 30 List. 

• Capital (USA, Fintech): Capital, formerly called Party Round, made TechCrunch for its work as it rebranded.

• AbstractOps (USA, Compliance): Hari Raghavan, the Founder of AbstractOps, made waves on Twitter after announcing the release of their state compliance autopilot tools or businesses.

‍

Funding and cost:

‍

• $2,990 for a yearly membership. On Deck has a fund that invests in companies coming out of the community.

‍

Programming:

‍

• Location: On Deck starts with a weekend summit in San Francisco before moving its programming to remote-first.

• How Long: Yearly membership.

• Size: ~100-150 people per cohort.

• Frequency: 3-4 cohorts per year.

• Structure: On Deck designs its program to facilitate serendipity between talented cohort members by regularly hosting intimate dinners, throwing events at their pop-up space in San Francisco, and leading flagship remote sessions such as First Look Week, Memo Day, and more.

‍

Leadership:

‍

• Erik Torenberg: Founder of On Deck, Cofounder and Partner at Village Global, ex-Employee #1 at Product Hunt.

• David Booth: CEO at On Deck, ex-Product at Coinlist, AngelList, and Republic.

• Charles Cushing: Director of On Deck Founders, ex-Founder of Galleon.

‍

2. South Park Commons (SPC)

‍

‍

Important Note: I consider SPC's Founder Fellowship an accelerator (ranked #2 here) and SPC's Community as an incubator.

Website: https://www.southparkcommons.com/community

Apply here: https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply

Number of alums: 350+ alumni

Number of companies created: 130+

Combined portfolio valuation: ~$3.5 billion

Industry focus: Agnostic but best suited for software startups.

Acceptance rate: < 1%

‍

Top SPC companies:

‍

• Airtable (USA, No-code): The low-code platform for building collaborative apps raised $735 million as part of a Series F round led by an investment firm XN which pushed the company's valuation up to $11 billion.
• Meesho (India, Shopping): The online shopping site to find affordable and fashionable western wear for women closed a $570 million Series F co-led by Fidelity and B Capital Group at a $4.9 billion valuation.
• Eightfold (USA, Artificial Intelligence): The AI-driven talent acquisition and recruiting platform raised a $220 million Series E led by Softbank at a $2.1 billion valuation.
• Pilot (USA, Fintech): The bookkeeping, tax, and CFO services company secured a $100 million Series C led by Sequoia, valued at $1.2 billion.
• Cult.Fit (India, Fitness): The fitness platform for workouts and gyms in India raised a $145 million round led by Zomato, which valued the company at over $1 billion.

‍

Trending SPC companies:

‍

• Titan (USA, Fintech): Titan, the auto-pilot investing platform, was recently reviewed by The Motley Fool.

• Vanta (USA, Cybersecurity): Christina Cacioppo, the Founder of Vanta, recently spoke with TechCrunch about the trends she sees in the cybersecurity industry.

‍

Funding and cost:

‍

• No membership fee, but by becoming a member of SPC, you grant the SPC Fund the option to invest up to $1M in the next fundraise of your existing company or a company you start while you're a member or for six months after graduating. The $1M is invested at the terms set by the lead investor.

‍

Programming:

‍

• Location: Most of the community is in San Francisco, New York, and remote.
• How Long: As long as you want.
• Size: ~150 active members at a time.
• Frequency: SPC is always recruiting and evaluating new talent for the community.
• Structure: SPC hosts events at its community hubs in San Francisco and New York to facilitate relationships between its talented members.

‍

Leadership:

‍

• Ruchi Sanghvi: Partner at South Park Commons, ex-VP Operations at Dropbox. 

• Aditya Agarwal: Partner at South Park Commons, ex-CTO at Dropbox.

• Mitra Lohrasbpour: Partner at South Park Commons, ex-Business Ops at Nava.

‍

3. EF

‍

‍

Website: https://www.joinef.com/

Apply here: https://www.joinef.com/apply-now/

Number of alums: 3,000+

Number of companies created: 600+

Combined portfolio valuation: ~$10 billion

Industry focus: Agnostic

Acceptance rate: < 3%

‍

Top EF companies:

‍

• Credit Kudos (Europe, Fintech): Apple acquired Credit Kudos, the open banking platform, for $150 million in March 2022.

• Magic Pony Technology (Europe, Media): Twitter acquired Magic Pony Technology. This company developed techniques to use neural networks and machine learning to expand data for images for $150 million in January 2016.

• Atlas ML (Europe, Developer Tools): Meta acquired Atlas ML, the free and open resource for machine learning and code platform, for an undisclosed amount in February 2020.

• Sonantic (Europe, Artificial Intelligence): Spotify acquired Sonantic, the AI voice startup, for 91 million euros in June 2022.

• Tractable (Europe, Automotive): The AI for accident and disaster recovery company was last valued at $1 billion in June 2021.

• Cleo (USA, Fintech): The Gen Z financial assistant app was last valued at $500 million in June 2022.

• PolyAI (Europe, Artificial Intelligence): The call center AI voice assistant was last valued at close to $300 million in September 2022.

‍

Trending EF companies:

‍

• Kheiron Medical Technologies (Europe, Healthcare): The cancer diagnostic company was recently featured in The New York Times.
• Green Li-ion (Asia, Energy): The lithium battery recycling company recently was in the news for securing $20.5 million in Series B funding.
• Chipiron (Europe, Healthcare): The next-gen MRI manufacturing company was recently profiled by Le Monde for its use of quantum properties.

‍

Funding and cost:

‍

• EF pays you as an individual to start – £2,000 per month in London / S$4,500 per month in Bangalore / €2,000 per month in Berlin or Paris during Form.

• To receive company funding, you need to pass their investment committee and will invest £80,000 in London, € 90,000 in Paris and Berlin, and US$75,000 in Bangalore for 10% of your startup.

‍

Programming:

‍

• Location: EF Core (the flagship program) runs in London and Paris. EF Graduate (for recent students and graduates) runs in Bangalore, Berlin, London, New York, and Paris. EF Web3 and EF Climate run in London.
• How Long: EF Core is a 3-month program, with ongoing support afterward.
• Size: EF's cohort size is between 50-100 individuals.
• Frequency: EF runs twice a year in six cities across the world.
• Structure: The program has two main stages "Form" and "Launch." EF Form helps you find a cofounder and an idea to work on. EF Launch is structured to help you accelerate and grow your business. There are different pathways for each of these stages based on your stage, location, and specialty. 

‍

Leadership:

‍

• Matt Clifford: Cofounder and CEO of EF, ex-Co-founder of Code First: Girls

• Alice Bentinck: Cofounder and CPO of EF, ex-Co-founder of Code First: Girls

• Tom Shinner: COO of EF, ex-Director of Strategy at the London Department for Education

‍

4. Antler Fellowship

‍

‍

Website: https://www.antler.co/

Apply here: https://www.antler.co/

Number of alums: 5,000+

Number of companies created: 750+

Combined portfolio valuation: $3.1 billion

Industry focus: Agnostic

Acceptance rate: 3% - 5%

‍

Top Antler companies: 

‍

• Xanpool (Asia, Crypto): The fiat-to-crypto platform raised $41 million in 2022 to bring its valuation to $400 million.
• Volopay (Asia, Fintech): The spend management platform secured a $29 million Series A at an undisclosed valuation to scale its platform to APAC and MENA.
• Treyd (Europe, Fintech): The buy-now-pay-later company closed a $10.5 million Series A led by Nineyards Equity at an undisclosed valuation.
• Reebelo (Asia, Marketplace): The refurbished tech marketplace raised a $20 million Series A co-led by Cathay Innovation and June Fund.
• PowerX (USA, Energy): PowerX, the home energy monitoring company, secured a $4 million capital infusion in 2021 to build out its suite of products to help consumers save on utility bills.
• Pathzero (Australia, Climate Tech): The corporate and financial emissions platform raised a $5.3 million Series A+ round to bring its total funding to $15.6 million in December 2022.
• Nhost (Europe, DevOps): The open-source backend development platform raised a $3 million seed round led by Nauta Capital.

‍

Trending Antler companies:

‍

• Linguix (USA, Artificial Intelligence): The AI-powered writing assistant was recently featured in Refresh Miami for closing its 1 million pre-seed raise by firms like Grishin Robotics and surpassing 170,000 users.

• Astrid Wild (Europe, Retail): The female outdoor wear company was recently featured in Outside as part of their holiday gifts campaign.

‍

Funding and cost:

‍

• Antler pays you $500 in two monthly installments and lets you pitch their investment committee for $70K in funding at the end of the program for a 12% stake in your company. The amount of funding and terms of the investment may change based on the Antler location.

‍

Programming:

‍

• Location: Antler has 19 in-person locations for its program.

• How Long: 10 weeks with ongoing support afterward.

• Size: ~100 founders.

• Frequency: Depends on the location, but many sites run multiple cohorts per year.

• Structure: Antler structures its program in two phases. Phase 1 is dedicated to finding a cofounder and validating an idea. Phase 2 is an acceleration track to help you find customers, build products, and raise your initial round of funding.

‍

Leadership:

‍

• Magnus Grimeland: Cofounder and CEO of Antler, ex-Managing Director at Rocket Internet.
• Fridtjof Berge: Cofounder and CBO of Antler, ex-Consultant at McKinsey.
• Dilan Mizrakli Landgraff: Cofounder and CSO of Antler, ex-Associate at JP Morgan.
• Vegard Medbo: Cofounder and COO of Antler, ex-Engagement Manager at McKinsey.

‍

5. Founders, Inc

‍

‍

Website: https://f.inc/

Apply here: https://community.f.inc/

Number of alums: 200+

Number of companies created: 67

Combined portfolio valuation: < $1 billion

Industry focus: Crypto, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Robots, Dev Tools, and Computer Vision.

Acceptance rate: Not stated.

‍

Top Founders, Inc. companies:

‍

• Gather (USA, Consumer): Gather, the video calling space for teams, raised a $50 million Series B co-led by Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures in November 2021.
• Buildspace (USA, Education): The school for builders recently raised a $10 million Series A led by a16z at an undisclosed valuation.
• LiveKit (USA, Developer Tools): The open-source platform for real-time communication closed on a $7 million round of funding from Redpoint Ventures and notable individual angel investors such as Justin Kan.
• Lexica (USA, Artificial Intelligence): The stable fusion search engine company raised a $5 million seed round co-led by Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman via AI Grant.
• Circle Labs (USA, Artificial Intelligence): The generative AI friends company secured a $4.2 million seed round led by Lightspeed Ventures.

‍

Trending Founders, Inc. companies:

‍

• Wombo (USA, Artificial Intelligence): The AI-powered lip sync app was recently featured in The New York Post.

• Joon (USA, Consumer): The to-do app for kids with ADHD was recently featured by ADDitude as a new app to help treat ADHD symptoms.

• Ready Player Me (USA, Web3): Ready Player Me, the Metaverse 3D avatar company, recently was featured in Venture Beat for its strong showing at SWSX in Austin, Texas.

‍

Funding and cost:

‍

• None stated. They mention $500 worth of ETH giveaways based on which company in the community ships the best thing every week.

‍

Programming:

‍

• Location: Remote over Discord and an in-person area in San Francisco.

• How Long: As long as you want.

• Size: Not disclosed.

• Frequency: Founders, Inc. is always recruiting and evaluating new talent for the community.

• Structure: Founders, Inc. focuses on running events and inviting members to their SF space, which features a hardware lab, podcast studio, gym, gaming room, event space, and an open workspace.

‍

Leadership:

‍

• Furqan Rydhan: Founder and CEO of Founders, Inc., Founder of thirdweb.
• Joher Khan: COO at Founders, Inc., VP of Operations at thirdweb.
• Hubert Thieblot: General Partner at Founders, Inc., VP of Emerging Markets at Twitch.

‍

Ranking Criteria

‍

This is a subjective list because ranking incubators based on one data point (such as combined portfolio valuation) would lead to a poorly put-together list. So instead, I asked myself, "Which incubators will attract the best founders in 2023?"

‍

Here are just some of the things that I considered:

‍

• Must meet my definition of an incubator: Accelerator and incubator are terms used interchangeably, but they have significant differences, including company stage, investment, time frame, structure, and support. You can learn about the differences between startup accelerators and incubators here and find my top-rated accelerators here.

• Timeline: Considering the timeline when considering the combined portfolio valuation is essential. For example, $10 billion in 2.5 years is more impressive than $12 billion in 10 years.

• Ecosystem Feedback: What signal does an investor get when they see a founder/company coming out of one of these incubators?

• The Number of Quality Bets: It's hard to tell who the winners are right now since most top companies are Series A - Series B range, so the more bets you have with markups, the better. For example, an incubator with 100 companies who have raised 50 million is better off than an incubator with 50 companies who have raised $50 million. It means you have a higher chance of getting that one breakout that will return.

• The Trajectory of Bets: Everyone could raise money before the pandemic – now that markets have cooled, which companies are stagnant (not able to raise their next rounds and are default dead) vs. which ones have secured more runway in the last 1-2 years from good growth and unit economic metrics?

‍