TRANSCEND FELLOWSHIP

Where founders go to find Product-Market Fit

50 countries
$200M raised
91 NPS
The Transcend Fellowship is a selective program for early-stage founders building in education and the future of work!

We help you break down product-market fit into small steps, and run weekly PMF experiments that will drive traction for your startup.

Apply to join TF13 by Feb 9!
OUTCOMES

For founders looking for product-market fit

1 Experiment/Week
Drive traction through PMF experiments
Run weekly experiments to crack customer acquisition & retention!

As a fellow, you will focus on rapid customer learning by of running lean & low-cost experiments. You will track your results with fellow founders and move faster product-market fit.

96% of TF11 Fellows graduated running weekly experiments
$200M raised
1:1 mentorship from experienced mentors
Get matched with experienced founders in edtech with decades of experience.

Each Fellows is matched 1:1 with former founders and operators from a highly curated network of mentors, based on your PMF stage and challenges.

97% of TF11 Fellows said they built meaningful mentor relationships through the program.
+100 investors
Fine-tune your Fundraising Strategy
Fine-tune your fundraising strategy through our sessions and feedback.

Our funding model sessions are designed to give you clarity with regards to what funding model (VC, bootstrap, nonprofit, impact investment) is a best fit for your startups. Our follow up consultation will give you feedback on your current fundraising strategy.

92% of TF11 Fellows defined their funding model through the Fellowship.
OUR IDEAL FOUNDER

The Fellowship is for you if you...

Have identified a customer pain point
Have your first users with some traction, but want to speed up growth
Have a product vision, but need to build a clear GTM strategy
Want to raise a funding round in the coming months
Want to build a network of trusted peers & advisors
Have an idea you want to validate
Are pre-product & pre-revenue
Are looking to launch your startup to solve a problem in the space
You are in the right place
INDUSTRY EXPERTS

What's the word on us?

“Just wanted to give a big shout out to my friends at Transcend, the best edtech incubator in the world”
John Danner
3x Founder, Leading edtech investor
"A great opportunity for early edtech founders!"
Julia Stiglitz
Investor and Founder, CoRise
Transcend Network is doing so many incredible things!
Dan Carroll
Co-Founder, Clever & Transcend Fund LP
PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Experience

We only accept 30 founders into each cohort who, so the experience is highly personalized and intimate. To go more in-depth, check out our TF13 Overview.

The Fellowship experience focuses specifically on 4 elements: 

5 weeks
The Transcend Fellowship is a 5-week program for early-stage founders building the future of learning & work
Run Product-Market Fit Experiments, Weekly
Curriculum
In week 1, you will meet other founders in your cohort and get started with our orientation to the Transcend Network.

You will go through our product-market fit playbook (employed by 300+ startups and inspired by John Danner's PMF Playbook) to better understand where exactly you are on the path to PMF.

Once you have a clear assessment, we'll help you run weekly,low-cost PMF experiments that help you validate what your customer needs and wants, without going through long sales or product development cycles, such as landing pages, demos, ads, and much more.

We believe PMF experiments are central to every early-stage founder experience, and will give you all the tools and resources you need to run them weekly.

96% of TF11 Fellows were running weekly experiments by the time they graduated from the Transcend Fellowship, the majority running 2-3 per week!
Your 1:1 PMF Coach
Curriculum
Founders don't need more generic advice – they need feedback from founders who've been there, and done that!

Each Transcend Fellows is matched 1:1 with a PMF Coach, who has previously exited, scaled or grown an edtech startup before in your specific sector (higher ed, K-12, corporate learning, future of work, etc). Every week, they'll support in interpreting and re-launching your PMF Experiments.

97% of TF11 Fellows said they built meaningful mentor relationships through the program.
1:1 Mentor Jams
Curriculum
We know it takes a village to build a successful startup, so we match you with highly relevant mentors to the work you are doing and your sector.

Each Transcend Fellows is matched 1:1 with a Mentors for the Mentors Jams in the second half of the program, who will support you with defining your GTM strategy, PMF experiments, or fundraising strategy.

97% of TF11 Fellows said they built meaningful mentor relationships through the program.
Fine-tuning your Fundraising Strategy
Curriculum
A core objective of this fellowship is to allow you to identify & activate the right funding model for your startup.

In our fundraising sessions, we explore the current state of the fundraising market in edtech anddiscuss all the different models that are available for founders including Venture Capital, Bootstrapping, Nonprofit, or Impact investment. You get to explore what the right 'Funding-Market Fit' is for you on first principles and activate the right strategy for your organization.

92% of TF11 Fellows found that Transcend helped them identify the right funding model.

Founder Outcomes

You can't improve what you don't measure – here are the outcomes we drove for our founders in our last cohort (TF12 Fellowship, ended in December 2023): 

👉 96% of our fellows graduated running weekly PMF experiments. On average, each fellow ran 2 per week.

👉 14% of them are running daily experiments, or 5+ experiments/week

👉 92% of our fellows defined their funding model through the Fellowship.

Weekly Schedule

On average, Fellows take on a 3-hour per week commitment (two 90 minute sessions), but the optional sessions and community chats provide options for those who want to engage more deeply.

Our schedule is designed to be flexible as we believe you have a clear understanding of your needs as a founder.
Mon
Content & Case study
Async
Learn from our frameworks and real life case studies
1:1 Founder Intro
Async
Connect 1:1 with founders in our network
Tue
Founder Lab #1
90 mins
Live, interactive 90min session facilitated by the Transcend team
Wed
Expert Roundtable
60 mins
Learn from leading experts in the space about PMF, fundraising, experiments, GTM, and much more.
Thur
Founder Lab #2
90 mins
Second session of the week with Transcend team & peer coaching
Fri
Office Hours
60 mins
Get support from the Transcend team on your own challenges!
Fundraising Support
Async
Get feedback on your materials and get connected to investors in the future of learning and work on a 1:1 basis
Transcend Mentors

Our Mentors walked so you can run

Get 1:1 matched with our awesome mentors our mentoring sessions with successful founders and operators in the space, to receive tactical feedback on your startup's challenges.

You will be assigned a set of curated mentors whom you will get to meet 1:1 according to your sector or PMF stage so that you gain value from these conversations.

Transcend mentors bring years of experience as Edtech founders and support our network by mentoring fellows, and facilitating open discussions on growth, branding, fundraising, etc.
SPEAKER
Samara Mejía
Fundraising Office Hours
fund lp
Will Houghteling
Startup Pivots
fund lp
Will Houghteling
Startup Pivots
Left
Founder & Investor
Dan Carroll
Scaling K-12 products
Investor
Jessica Millstone
Edtech Fundraising
2x Exited Founder
Dan Sommer
Building in Higher Ed
2x founder
Sabari Raja
K-12 & Higher Ed GTM
3x Founder
Juan Lagrange
Bootstrapping in Edtech
JOIN US

TF13 Fellowship + Lifetime access to the Network at $1490 USD

If accepted, you will enroll in the TF13 Transcend Fellowship + receive a lifetime membership to the Transcend Network. Check out our FAQs if you have any questions about the sessions or the cost of the program.

We have designed the Fellowship intentionally to be equity-free, to give founders optionality into what type of funding they want to apply to their startup.

If you are a bootstrapped founder or building in a low-income economy, we offer flexible instalment plans. Your tuition is the sole source of income of this network and allows us to pay for your coach, program team, and multiple virtual and in-person gatherings!
TF13 Fellowship + Lifetime Membership to Network
COST
$1490 USD
UPCOMING COHORT
TF13
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Feb 9
FELLOWSHIP DATES
Feb 27 - April 4
Instalment plans for low-income and bootstrapped founders are available upon request!
THE NETWORK

The network that will get you plugged-in!

The Fellowship is just the beginning – upon graduation, you will join our lively community of 300+ founders and global events programming, all over the world!

Join our special events for Transcend Fellows at global conferences like: 
Bett Show (Jan 24-26, 2024) in London 🇬🇧
SXSW Edu (Mar 4- 8, 2024) in Austin 🇺🇸
ASU GSV (April 14-17, 2024) in San Diego 🇺🇸
South Summit Madrid (Jun 5-7, 2024) in Madrid 🇪🇸
NYC Edtech Week (Oct 7-10, 2024) in New York City 🇺🇸
And that's just the beginning!
FAQs

Got a question about our Transcend Fellowship?

If you want to learn more, ask questions, and meet the Transcend founders, join us for our weekly events! RSVP below.
Can any startup join the Fellowship?
We exclusively work with startup founders that are in some way addressing how people learn or work and take a broad definition of edtech or the future of work.

We think about this space very broadly, and like working with projects that intersect with fintech, mental health, HR, or anything that gives you a unique angle!
What if I can't afford the cost of the Fellowship?
If you are a bootstrapped founder or are early in your revenue journey, we offer flexible instalment plans of 3 or 5 months to pay your fellowship tuition.

Your tuition is the sole source of income in our for founder network, and it allows us to pay for your coach, program team, and multiple virtual and in-person events bringing our fellows and investor/operator network together.
What's the best stage to apply?
The fellowship caters to founders who have defined a problem they are solving, identified a customer persona, gotten a bit of validation or traction, and are in the process of finding a product-market fit.

When in doubt, apply – we review every single application and will reach out with personalized feedback.
Do I need a project to get selected?
Yes – the Fellowship is exclusively for founders working on an existing project.

However, if you don't have one but have identified a customer persona to serve, we encourage you to still apply!
Will I receive fundraising support?
A core part of our curriculum and community experience is to help you identify & activate the right funding model for your startup. You will dive deeper into fundraising in Week 5 of the fellowship.

If as a fellow you qualify pre-seed metrics and are looking raise funds, you are eligible for 1:1 intros with investors in our network.

You also get to apply for funding from the Transcend Fund once you graduate from the fellowship!
What days and times are the seessions scheduled?
Our Fellows meet 2x per week: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 AM PST (US West Coast).

We will also facilitate optional-to-attend weekly open discussions with industry experts every Wednesday and bi-weekly office hours.
Is the Transcend Fellowship an accelerator?
Not quite – unlike accelerators, we don't take equity in exchange for participating. We think this helps you have flexibility as a founder while operating at such an early stage.
What is the exepected time commitment? Will I have to attend every session?
The fellowship is designed to be flexible. We understand that as founders you know what your focus needs to be. Hence, once selected you will receive the schedule for all 5 weeks and you can choose which sessions you want to attend, depending on what is a priority for you.

We host 2 fellowship sessions in the week along with Office hours, optional events, and an active Slack community. On average, you can expect anywhere between 3-5 hours per week during the 5 weeks of the Fellowship.

After the fellowship, it's a totally optional commitment, but we maintain the active community and weekly programming for all founders.
Can my co-founder join the fellowship with me?
We accept founders individually, not teams. If you have multiple co-founders who are interested, you should decide who will make the most of the program.

You can also apply together and decide after the interview who will be best suited for the Fellowship.
When does the next cohort start?
You can apply now to join TF13!

To stay updated on our Fellowships, subscribe to the Transcend Newsletter, follow us on Twitter or on LinkedIn.