Call For Applications: Character Labs AI Startup Accelerator 2024
Character Labs is a four-week sprint program for AI founders. Since 2009, they have helped world-class AI teams solve product and GTM with the Sprint method. Through seed fund, they invest in technical founders —including those from DeepMind, Google, Microsoft, and more — and then work hand-in-hand to help them build products that really click for customers.
Now they are combining their biggest lessons and takeaways into Character Labs, an AI startup accelerator that’s 100% focused on product-market fit. If you want to stand out from the crowd and build a differentiated product with AI, you should apply for Character Labs today.
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In Character Labs, you’ll rapidly test hypotheses and validate your product and go-to-market strategy in a sequence of back-to-back sprints.
- Foundation Sprint: focused on strategy and differentiation.
- Story Sprint: to prototype and test your marketing and sales.
- Design Sprints: to prototype and test your product.
- Risk Roadmap: to plan your next experiments.
- Pitch Sprint: to create a first draft of your pitch.
Eligibility
- Character Labs is designed for pre-seed startup founders who have identified an opportunity or market, but have not found product-market fit. That could mean you have an early product in the market but it’s not quite working, or that you haven’t shipped your v1 yet. Either way, you know how important it is to build the right product for the right people, and you love the idea of a focused effort to figure it out.
- Character Labs is optimized for AI startups. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply if you’re not 100% focused on artificial intelligence; it just means they have made a few tweaks to the program to tailor it for founders working on AI-centric products.
- If you’re not sure whether Character Labs is a good fit — apply! (Note that they only invest in software products and software-enabled services.)
Benefits
- Every startup in Character Labs gets a $125,000 investment from Character in exchange for 4% equity. They make their investment on the first day of the program. It is not contingent on any milestones, and there are no fees to participate.
- You’ll immediately become a member of the Character portfolio and have access to their network of founders, advisors, and co-investors. They will work with you on fundraising, additional sprints, or whatever else you need to build on the momentum from Character Labs.
Application Process
They review applications on a rolling basis. They will look at yours ASAP and get in touch to schedule an interview for the week of July 15. If you’re selected for Character Labs, you’ll find out the week of July 22. The program begins on Wednesday, August 14 and runs for approximately four weeks.
Deadline: July 14, 2024