SoFi Entrepreneur Program 2.0

Four years ago, we kicked off what would become our first Entrepreneur Program class. Since then, we’ve helped four classes of 70 companies founded by SoFi members get off the ground with our coaching and resources. We’ve been excited by what these alumni companies have gone on to do: for instance, four out of the five FinTech companies that have participated have had significant liquidity (Standard Treasury, Good April) events or markups (Funding Circle, Axio). Further, companies like Augmedix, CancerIQ, Metrix, Stasis, and others are working on solving huge problems through innovation and technology.

As we enter what will be year five of the program, we thought about what kinds of improvements we could make to further benefit future classes. As a startup ourselves, we understand the challenges first-hand and want to contribute back to the ecosystem, and continue to find ways to serve our members. Today we’re unveiling those improvements as part of the relaunch of the program, and we’re accepting applications now through November 17 for ten open slots.

To sum up what’s new:

– More people are eligible. The program is now open to all members working as a founder or co-founder either full or part time on an innovative and scalable tech-enabled business.

– SoFi’s got skin in the game. We will invest equity capital into each of the members of the Class — for this coming Class, this amount will be $25,000 per company. We want to align ourselves further with our members, provide a meaningful company-level benefit (vs. solely individual support as offered in the past), and be credible advocates with customers and investors. SoFi will invest further in the Demo Day winner — for this coming Class, it will be $50,000.

– Richer curriculum. We will run a robust nine month accelerator program that will include the following components:

         — 1Q – Phase 1 – Resources. Materials and coaching dedicated to key aspects of building a company. Initial video call(s) hosted with each company in the class.

         — 2Q – Phase 2 – Q&A/Iteration. Office hours with SoFi Ventures and other SoFi team members (e.g. engineering, product, marketing, etc.) to help iterate and refine products. Q&A sessions and events held with SoFi team members and other outside experts

         — 3Q – Phase 3 – Pitch and Growth Training. Focus on investor presentation development, pitch training, term sheet components and negotiation, growth hacking, and other more advanced skills.

         — 4Q – October – Demo Day. Companies will present to a room full of investors, including SoFi investors, accredited SoFi members, and a panel of VC judges, with the opportunity to garner growth funding alongside SoFi’s additional contribution in the winner.

– Alumni engagement: We will bring the 70 alumni companies together with this year’s Class to learn from and share with one another throughout each others’ entrepreneurial journeys.

– Community engagement: We will engage our 380,000-plus members in the accelerator process and share the incredible companies their fellow members are working on.

– Dedicated resources: The SoFi Ventures team, led by Logan Allin, will support the day-to-day of the accelerator and work hands-on with each Class.

We sincerely hope to accelerate the growth of our entrepreneurial members and serve as a meaningful springboard. More information, including a detailed FAQ about the program and a link to our new application, can be found on our site. Applications are due December 1st. We look forward to receiving your applications and riding shotgun on your entrepreneurial journey!