IndieBio
How to get into IndieBio according to the founders who pulled it off
Our take
Best for early-stage biotech, alt-protein, cleantech, or deep tech founders, often straight out of academia, who want a pre-seed check, wet-lab space, and warm intros to deep tech VCs. Skip it if you are past the science risk, need advice tuned to one local market, or can't be in San Francisco or New York in person.
Acceptance
~1%
Equity
8-10%
Funding
$250K–$525K
Duration
4-6 months
Stage
Pre-Seed
HQ
San Francisco, CA
We asked the founders how IndieBio really went.
Every interview behind this page is one we ran ourselves. The numbers, quotes, and lessons come straight from founders who went through IndieBio. No press releases, no PR gloss.
Who IndieBio is for, and who should skip it.
Best for
- You are pre-seed in biotech, alternative protein, cleantech, or deep tech, often a science team turning research into a company
- You want a check plus wet-lab space and infrastructure to prove your hypothesis in six months instead of eighteen
- You will use IndieBio's reputation and network to get warm intros to VCs who write real checks in deep tech
- You can be in San Francisco or New York in person and treat the program as your full-time focus
Skip it if
- You are past the science-risk stage and mostly need capital, not a program that de-risks the technology
- You want mentorship precisely tuned to one industry or one local market rather than a broad deep tech cohort
- You cannot participate in person and would run the whole thing remotely. Founders say that is where the value thins
- You only want the check. The equity buys the lab, the network, and the reputation, not just the money
What it's actually like at IndieBio
IndieBio is the biotech arm of SOSV, running out of San Francisco and New York, and founders describe it as closer to a hands-on pre-seed VC than a classic cohort accelerator. The core is a roughly four-to-six-month sprint built around daily contact, an hour a day of calls, one-on-ones with the IndieBio team, and sessions with investors, with the second half turning toward pitch preparation. Since COVID the program went hybrid, so several of the founders here ran it largely from Israel or Mexico, gathering in San Francisco for a week or two at a time.
The program's pace is remarkably swift, pushing us to achieve in six months what would typically take a year and a half.
For the founders on the ground in San Francisco, the lab is the point. Jason Fontana took Wayfinder Biosciences, a University of Washington drug-discovery spin-out, through the SF program and leaned on the physical space to run experiments while sitting inside a dense pool of investors giving daily feedback. Marissa Cuevas ran microTERRA remotely through the New York program in 2021, and the network there is what pushed her to pivot from selling an aquatic plant as animal feed toward high-value food ingredients.
For Wayfinder, the ability to quickly conduct experiments and have a physical space for our research was instrumental.
The recurring caution is that remote participation asks more of you. Aviel Even and Ophira Melamed both ran the program from Israel and said the same thing. The structure outside the scheduled hours is not obvious from a distance, and you have to work to find the opportunities. Being in the room is where the spontaneous introductions and the momentum come from.
One drawback in remote programming is the lack of obvious structure outside of the structured program. Seeking opportunities requires effort, especially when operating from a considerable distance.
The money, and what it actually costs
IndieBio's deal is a pre-seed check split into a cash portion and a services portion, plus a follow-on that unlocks against milestones. Founders here describe the same structure with slightly different numbers depending on their batch. A headline figure around $250K to $275K, part of it reserved for the program itself, in exchange for high-single-digit to low-double-digit equity through a SAFE.
It involved a $250,000 investment, with $50,000 allocated for the program cost. Essentially, startups receive $200,000, and IndieBio takes 8% from preferred stocks.
The exact split moves with the cohort. Ophira Melamed described $275K drawn down in tranches against goals and milestones, with $75K held back for the program and roughly 10% equity. Jason Fontana put Wayfinder's number at $500K through a convertible instrument, with a follow-on that came through in the seed round. What every founder stressed is that the money is the smaller half of the deal. The lab, the reputation, and the introductions are what the equity actually buys.
We received $500,000 from IndieBio, but I believe the amount they can invest has increased slightly. We have also received additional follow-on investment from IndieBio during our seed round.
- The headline check founders described ran from $250K to $500K, with a slice reserved for the program and a milestone-based follow-on on top.
- Equity ran roughly 8 to 10% through a SAFE or convertible instrument that converts at a later round.
- The follow-on is real. Wayfinder and others took additional IndieBio money into their seed rounds after the program.
The network and the VC intros are the part founders keep
Ask what lasted, and every founder points past the money to two things. The introductions to investors and the community of IndieBio founders. IndieBio's endorsement in deep tech carries weight, and founders describe warm intros to VCs who write meaningful checks. For Ophira Melamed, that exposure turned into a full seed round, and the visibility started before the formal introductions even landed.
Through interactions with over 30-40 VCs, we successfully closed a seed round, raising $3.6 million.
The other half is the founder community, which several founders rated above the curriculum. With hundreds of IndieBio companies, founders describe a family-like willingness to help and warm intros between alumni that keep paying off after the program ends. For a science team making the jump from the lab bench to running a company, that peer network is often the thing that gets them through the hardest stage.
The most valuable aspect of IndieBio, in my view, is the network expansion and the sense of community that readily offers assistance.
IndieBio's reputation in the deep tech world means their endorsement can open doors, leading to warm introductions with investors who are willing to write significant checks.
The founders we talked to.
Alumni include Memphis Meats, Perfect Day, Geltor, Catalog, NotCo, Endless West.
Want the mentorship without the accelerator?
An accelerator's real value is the people who have done it before. GrowthMentor gives you that on its own. Unlimited 1:1 calls with founders and operators, from $50 a month, no equity, no relocating, and no 1-in-100 application. Not a replacement for a pre-seed check and a wet lab, but if what you're really after is someone who has raised the round or built the company you're chasing, you can start those conversations today.
RecommendedFormat
Live 1:1 calls, on demand- IndieBio
- 4-6 month biotech cohort with wet-lab access, in SF or New York
Cost to you
From $50/month, no equity- IndieBio
- ~8-10% equity via SAFE (plus program fee)
Capital
None. It's mentorship, not funding- IndieBio
- $250K to $525K pre-seed investment
Commitment
As much or as little as you want- IndieBio
- Full-time, best experienced in person
Acceptance
Open to any member- IndieBio
- ~1%, highly competitive
Best for
Founders wanting targeted advice from operators who've done it- IndieBio
- Early biotech and deep tech teams wanting capital, lab, and a VC network
Relationship
Pick your mentor, book again whenever you need- IndieBio
- Cohort + alumni community and follow-on over years
From $50 a month · no equity.
Questions founders ask about IndieBio.
Roughly 1%. IndieBio is one of the most competitive biotech accelerators, and founders describe an application that rewards a clear, genuinely novel idea over a polished venture pitch. Several of the founders here got in through a warm introduction rather than the cold form. A colleague, a VC recommendation, or a conference conversation that turned into calls with the team.
The pre-seed deal runs from about $250K up to roughly $525K including a milestone-based follow-on, structured through SAFEs, with part of the headline figure reserved for the program itself. Founders in our interviews described equity in the 8 to 10% range. One put it at 8% of preferred stock, another at around 10%, and another took $500K through a convertible instrument that converted at the next round.
The core program runs roughly four to six months out of San Francisco and New York. Since COVID it has been hybrid, so founders outside the US can run much of it remotely and fly in for a week or two, though founders consistently say the in-person time is where the real value sits.
Two things, over and over. The introductions to VCs and the community of IndieBio founders. IndieBio's endorsement in deep tech opens doors to investors, and founders credited the program with the warm intros that filled their seed rounds. The wet-lab access mattered for teams on the ground in San Francisco, letting them prove a hypothesis in six months that would otherwise take a year and a half.
Founders building real science said yes. The lab, the reputation, and the VC network were hard to find elsewhere at pre-seed. The recurring caution is that if you run the program remotely and passively, the value thins, and if you are already past the science-risk stage, cheaper capital exists. The equity buys the acceleration and the network, not the check alone.
