how the accelerator works

the program is split into blocks; each block has a theory part and homework. if you deliver — you move on, if not — you leave the program.
that’s how we select those who are truly ready to work on their startup and not waste investors’ time.

the program is completely free to join. our main goal is to help as many great startups as possible get funded

it’s a 5-week program during which you assemble an investor data room for fundraising, and at the end we invite investors and you pitch your project to them

Ilya Martyn

Co-founder of Cabinet.fm, AIAcademy.me,
Managing partner at unitedinvestors.ru

Alexey Podkletnov

ex-consultant
and business strategist, author of the channel “Disruptor”

Alexander Gorny

author of “startup of the day”, managing partner at United Investors, founder of the Shareai club

Alisa Chumachenko

ex-GP at SKL.vc, 3 exits, one of the top-30 women who changed
the it industry

founder of Mosigra, entrepreneur, business angel

angel investor in several startups.
Founder of the MFS founders club.

Tsyupa Alexander

Has done nothing good
in his life except this accelerator

Oleg Popov

entrepreneur, startup founder, business angel

you won’t be alone

experts your projects get reviewed with feedback every week

finalists get extra one-on-one hours with experts before demo day for roasting and prep

on top of that, every finalist gets grants worth ~$25,000.
and our partner fund is ready to give the best projects an ad budget + a marketing team to help plan and set it up

and of course, for the next 6 months after demo day we will help you with fundraising and intros.

what do i get at the end?

besides all the materials and knowledge, we invited 200+ venture studios/funds/angels/syndicates to demo day who are open to investing

what are the terms? is it free?

we operate as a classic incubator/accelerator. in the middle of the program we sign a future equity agreement; all investors know about it.

there are separate terms for those afraid of being kicked out of the program, and for those who want to join but aren’t ready to share equity

participation is free. if, and only if, you get funded, we receive a dilutable stake of 6% of your startup

from the startup, after the investment lands

6%

1. your project targets the global market, north america/europe — or a market where you have clear expertise

2. you have at least an MVP, and ideally you’ve already spent money on ads and validated demand.
we we don’t consider projects at the idea stage

4. we have no quota of projects to carry to the finish line. not 10, not 5. so we will calmly kick out participants who don’t deliver on time.
this is a selective program, not a free course.
no recordings; platform access only for those who make it to the end.

the accelerator organizers are rather obnoxious people — better keep arguments to a minimum.

3. you really need funding.
you are already fundraising or were planning to.
you’ll be very disappointed if you join “just for the knowledge”

5. there are no restrictions on markets or niches. just keep in mind investors may pass on very unusual projects

6. the program is tough. keeping up with the pace will be really hard. but then, building startups isn’t easy either :)

who we we’re looking for?

what’s important to know?

what you will do:

what does the program look like? what happens and when?

after selection and program start, step by step we prepare you for fundraising — with us or without us

do a proper competitor analysis

and a financial model

build a pitch deck

and the whole data room

evaluate your idea and its potential

craft a go-to-market strategy

and an investor deck

rehearse your pitch dozens of times

analyze the market and size it

work out your unit economics

and a one-pager

come out fully ready for fundraising and due diligence

the accelerator’s main job is to make sure you raise. we provide you with all the knowledge, materials and opportunities for raising money for your idea

and the schedule?

well, schedule it looks roughly like this:

until march 21

application review

fill in the application, the experts review it and we invite you to the accelerator! you’ll get an email with either an invitation or a rejection

march 23

welcome

we do a welcome call, open access to the prep materials, answer questions. getting ready for the start!

march 23-29

analysis

we analyze the idea, size the market, run a competitive analysis. we figure out whether the project can grow into a unicorn
and we’ll try to talk you out of doing a startup :)

march 30-31

finance

we calculate unit economics and build a financial model. we’ll try to make a million dollars in excel

april 1-5

marketing

we spy on competitors’ marketing, craft a go-to-market strategy, prepare materials and plans.
experts help you see what’s wrong with your marketing right now

april 6-8

hypotheses

we build a 2-month plan for the investor: how to validate all hypotheses and get the metrics for a big round

april 9-11

rest and selection

time for a short break. you can rest or catch up on missing materials.
meanwhile we review all projects again and decide which ones we part ways with

after selection we start working closely with each project. projects also get open slots with experts one-on-one, to help with financial models, ads, product, pitch and so on.

april 12-19

finishing the data room

we add everything still missing from the data room.
we separately calculate how much money you actually need and what for

april 20-26

pitch prep

we finish the pitch deck, assemble the one-pager, prepare for the live presentation.
by the end of this block you are ready to raise!

april 27-28

demo day!

those who make it to the end pitch in front of investors and can get funded

the whole program is built so that every session is part of the data room. the result of each assignment is an artifact an investor is 100% going to ask you for.

we picked the list of artifacts based on what the world’s top 50 VCs use.

if everything goes great:

we send all the materials to the investor and introduce you. they’ve done a hundred deals like this, the process is well-oiled, no need to worry.
plus — we walk you through these stages. we’ll answer your questions, help and advise.

we won’t leave you one-on-one with the investor, won’t let you get played, and we’ll do our best to maximize your project’s “win”

things can also go okay-ish:

a vc might be interested in your project but not ready to invest right now.
the investor knows they have the option to fund a “hypothesis test”: money for 3 months to validate a hypothesis, confirm demand, show something.

we’ve already arranged this option with our investors and will help you make it happen. if demand/interest is confirmed, you can get funded.

and if nobody is interested?:

unpleasant, but not scary. this is exactly why you built your data room throughout the program.
for the next 6 months we’ll help you with fundraising.

what happens next?

if an investor is interested, you start preparing the deal. if the investor isn’t ready to invest yet, you still have plenty of options

i still have questions...

we decided not to build a huge block on the site, so here’s a chatgpt with all the accelerator info and the most frequent questions.

but if you still have questions, message us on telegram @tsyupa_limbo or @Somnebula

great! please read the answers carefully. we’ve answered 99% of all possible questions. yours is most likely there too

ready to apply!

fill in the application thoughtfully.
based on your answers we decide whether to invite you to the accelerator
or not

there was something above about special terms...

there are two options:

first — buy access to demo day.
you just show up in november and pitch your project. we get nothing and commit to nothing.
$1500


second — program + demo day.
essentially you’re buying the ability to «not get kicked out» + guaranteed demo day access + feedback on every assignment and material, reviewed with you in detail
$2500

for this option message @tsyupa_limbo

the program and its terms are free and the same for everyone. but you can «buy» access to the program or demo day