
THE FUNDING
BREAKTHROUGH LAB
Startup Funding Pre-Accelerator
COHORT BETA
Program Dates
Starts August 23, 2025
Ends October 26, 2025
Weekends on
Saturday and Sundays 9am-1pm
Early Applications July 31, 2025$1297
$797
if you apply by July 31
Program Value
70+ hrs mentorship = $1297
2 In-Person Retreats with Founders, Investors, Mentors = $500
1-on-1 Founder Mindset Coaching = $1000
Find Your Board Members: The Fourth Effect = $147
Mentorship = $1000
Mastermind = $300
Access to Next Year's Cohort = $500
1-Year Access to Video Content
(All Cohorts) = $500
No-equity Taken = $5,000 (priceless)
Equivalent Value $12,244
Join our next events & info sessions
Jumpstart Your Fundraising,
Build a Network of Investors,
Be Mentored by Successful Founders
Can't make our next cohort?
Be informed when the next one opens
Program Details
Designed for transformation of your mindset,
inspiring breakthrough business ideas, and setting you on a successful path to launch your business.
The Funding Breakthrough Lab fall cohort will start and end with a camping retreat at robotics founder's lab, Rancho San Gregorio, on Saturday, August 23 and end Saturday, Oct 26.
Funding Strategy
Opening Retreat
Bond with fellow cohort members & speakers at Rancho San Gregorio. Create a time capsule, set your intentions for this cohort and where you want to be by the end. Overnight camping optional.
How To Fund Your startup and achieve Product Market Fit before Taking VC (2hrs, Daniel Theobald)
Breen Sullivan will give you access to learning about advisory boards from The Fourth Effect, so you can secure fundraising going forward
Product Market Fit Before Taking VC
Find Your Team (Anthony Rose)
Angel & Angel Syndicates Investors (Jason Nyeh)
Capital School - Founder Fundraising and Capital Strategy (Alison Paz)
Getting a Business Loan (Alexa Baranov)
Start to perfect your storytelling with Renee Lynn Frojo
Preparing Your Exit Strategy: Top Down Funding Strategies (Rayna Sparkes & Marc Ernaga)
SPVs, Crowdfunding and P2P (Charletta Jean-Louis)
Pitch Practice
(Shawn Flynn)
Term Sheets & Data Rooms
Investor Relations
Corporate Structures and Tax Considerations (45min, Crysta Tyus)
R&D & Startup Tax Credits and Savings (45min, Anh Quynh Nguyen & Paige Burbank)
Group Mentoring with 2x founder Neelam Chakrabarty
Deciphering Term Sheets (Carol Nguyen)
Panel: Term Sheets, Valuations and Cap Tables (Tyler Crown Karl Eshwer)
Market Research Mastery: Tools and Techniques (Nuné Zadoyan)
The Legal Side of Branding: Protecting Your Creative Assets (Whitney Miner)
Group Mentoring with Sajjad Musad, Co-Founder & Co-President of Harvard Business School Alumni Angels Global
Being sold or being acquired? A M&A story (Klaus-M. Schremser)
How to Talk To Investors at Different Funding Stages (Annija Eizenarma)
Investor Hunt: How to Find the Right One (Kate Bunina)
Deal Flow Dashboard:Tracking Your VCs (Vera Maslova)
Deal Champion 101: Speaking Their Language (Sarah Romanko)
Group Mentoring with Keith Lam
13 Ways to Scam Founders Raising Funds (Stephane Nasser)
Panel: Closing the Deal & Getting Your Money
Demo Day Pitch Competition
Oct 25-26, 2025
Closing Retreat
Come full circle and celebrate your achievements. Open your time capsules and reflect on the growth and transformation you’ve experienced.
Who Should Join?
If you’re a B2B AI based startup consider joining Cohort Beta. Our VC speakers & judges will be actively investing in that vertical
You’re ideating, bootstrapping, or a pre-seed, seed based startup and you want to understand the funding landscape
You've been mulling on an idea and want to understand what it takes to raise funds
You want to grow your network, our experts have worked for TechCrunch, Berkeley SkyDeck, Stanford, MassRobotics & Harvard
You’re considering to fundraise in the next 6 months
You want polish your pitch & get lots of practice


THIS FUNDRAISING PRE-ACCELERATOR IS ABOUT:
Know your funding options
Build a supportive network of investors, founders and tech communities in the bay area
Build meaningful relationships through coaching, mentorship, socials and retreats
Be inspired by your peers, top founders and mentors in the industry
Get one-on-one coaching from mentors and accredited coach
Experience breakthrough moments
Clarify your story and vision and prepare an investor ready deck, validated by investors, mentors, peers and coach
IT'S ABOUT THE STORIES AND THE NETWORK.
A 10-week program designed for early-stage founders to master fundraising. Learn from diverse industry experts, receive group mentoring, and join a mastermind group.
You won't find another program that connects you the stories and experiences of this many Silicon Valley experts while teaching you about fundraising. We also take no equity.




Take Aways
Practical actionable advice from speakers who have real world experience (VC's, founders, lawyers, tax strategist, business bankers)
Live Q&As to help answer questions specific to your startup
Mentors with various expertise to guide you in shaping your product and pitch
Group accountability to push you further
Weekly pitching feedback to help you refine and perfect
Understand sources of funding so you can optimize your strategy (Grants, Angels, VC's, Crowdfunding, Syndicates, R&D Credits)
Gain access to a network
Understand the in's and our of early stage fundraising
We take no-equity
The Fourth Effect: 3 month access (Value $147)
Synexis platform: Investor Connector
Find business partners (our previous members have found co-founders and business partners)






FEEL CONFIDENT WHILE RAISING STARTUP FUNDS
FUNDRAISING DOESN'T HAVE TO BE OVERWHELMING
You develop new skills by learning through experience, exposure and education. Designed to help you practice, build your network, and conceptualize key concepts. Learning to fundraise has been made dynamic, interactive and fun.
When you join our cohort, you will save time. Instead of piecing information to learn about fundraising, find it all in one place. Learn live each week from industry experts. Ask questions and get insider insights. Rewatch the recording to catch anything you missed.
Join a community, be part of a mastermind, and practice your pitch weekly for feedback.
Testimonials
Hear from our previous cohort







Speakers
Bringing you the top Advisors, Founders, Investors, VCs, Lawyers, Tax Strategists & CPAs
Mentors
Bringing you people who love to support founders
Panelists
Hear from experience. Their stories help you understand the reality of the concepts.
Judges
Monthly Pitch Competitions to perfect your story!


Join Our Community
Get the latest on our program and learn about mindfulness








JOIN COHORT BETA COMMUNITY
August 23rd to October 26th
Weekends
ONLINE (Zoom)
Be Informed Of Our Next Cohort
Spring 2026
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