MADE•CEO™ provides seed funding for startups. Seed funding is the earliest stage of venture funding. It pays your expenses while you’re getting started.

MORE THAN MONEY

We make small investments in return for small stakes in the companies we fund. The most important thing we do is work with startups on their ideas. The second most important thing we do is help founders deal with investors and acquirers.

FORMAT

Once a year, we invest a small amount of money in a few number of startups. We have one summer session per year – from May through July.

PHILOSOPHY

We think founders are most productive when they can spend most of their time building. Our goal is to create an environment where you can focus exclusively on building product and talking to users.

What does MADE•CEO look for in a startup?

MADE•CEO judges look for high-impact startups, with a viable path to success and some traction/progress in their plans.

Do you fund companies that are competitive with each other?

MADE•CEO is an industry agnostic accelerator that supports early-stage startups. We rely on our community of expert judges to select the highest-potential solutions – regardless of whether startups are in direct or indirect competition with each other. 

Do I have to be in the MADE•CEO location for the entire 10 weeks period?

MADE•CEO may require startups to work full time out of our campus. In 2021, we may remain virtual until world events allow at which point, we will consider hybrid opportunities.

How do you choose which companies to accept into the program?

Acceptance is determined by our diverse community of expert judges who have been recruited to identify the highest-impact startups across industries.

Do I need to send in a business plan?

While a formal business plan is not required to apply, many elements will be incorporated into the application, including the problem, solution, and impact of your venture. Should a startup advance into further judging rounds, a slide deck will be required for the 20-minute in-person pitch. 

What is your policy on intellectual property protection?

Protection of intellectual property rights (ex. patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, etc.) of your concept is your responsibility and your responsibility alone. If you have an idea or product that you might want to patent, we strongly recommend speaking to a lawyer before submitting information about this idea to MADE•CEO.

Information you include in your application will be shared with the set of expert judges that review your application. Please note that these judges do NOT sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs). Therefore, you should not include any information in your application that you feel could be harmful to your company should that information be disclosed.

Note that applying to MADE•CEO is very similar to presenting your idea to potential investors. Very few investors will agree to sign an NDA before even hearing your initial pitch. It is up to you to determine the right balance between sharing enough information to get people interested and to give you credibility - and sharing information that could potentially be damaging to your company if it were to be disclosed.