SOSV

SOSV runs several programs under one roof. There is HAX for hardware, IndieBio for biotech, the cross-border Orbit program once known as MOX, and a crypto arm called D-Lab, and each one runs at its own tempo. For most founders the core experience is intense and in person. Donatas Smailys took Billo through the Taiwan program and still talks about it.

The days are full and the calendar is not really yours. Aizaz Nayyer joined the first Orbit One cohort with Oliv and described the pace.

Mentorship runs on a rotating, speed-dating format, roughly five minutes with one mentor before you move to the next, and the support has a long tail that outlasts the program. Donatas still takes calls from his mentors years later, and Aizaz had a growth call with an SOSV mentor the same day he spoke with us. For Scarlett Li, who built Zebra Labs through the old SOSV China Accelerator, the community around all of that was the real milestone.

Not every SOSV program looks like that. Kamel Aouane went through D-Lab, the crypto arm, where there was no fixed schedule, no mandatory in-person sessions, and no assigned mentors to report to. What you get depends heavily on which program you join and what stage you are at when you arrive.

The deal is simpler than the program. SOSV's standard ticket is around $250,000, and its published terms put the equity at 4 to 7%. Unlike accelerators that hand you a fixed check the day you join, SOSV often invests as part of your active fundraising round. Aizaz Nayyer laid out how it worked for Oliv.

The dollar figure moves with the program. Kamel Aouane's D-Lab pre-seed was $300,000, put in jointly with Advanced Blockchain. And the money is rarely the part founders remember most. For Kamel, the value was runway and the nudge to go all in.

There is more than one tier to it. The first check is often followed by a small follow-on, and SOSV keeps investing through later rounds when a company performs. The demo day at the end is the other half of the deal, the room where founders meet outside investors. Aizaz met the backer who led him to acquire Oliv on his own demo day, and that introduction mattered to him more than the check did.

Very few SOSV founders got in through a cold online form. The pattern is a relationship or a chance meeting that turned into a pitch. Donatas met William Bao Bean at an after-party in Hong Kong. Scarlett Li had known him for over a decade. Kamel's team was scouted at a crypto hackathon called ETH Global. Aizaz chased him on LinkedIn for weeks before a co-founder finally got through and pushed Aizaz onto a 2 AM pitch that somehow landed.

Donatas summed up what that says about getting in.

When there is a formal pipeline, it starts with an online application, then a pitch call with William Bao Bean, then several follow-up calls that dig into your business model, your team, your vision, and your early metrics. Founders put the online filter at under 2%, though everyone who clears it describes a lifetime of support that changes how you read that number. At the early stage SOSV is buying the founder more than the idea.

What the founders said actually helps you get in, in their own words.

• Show prior wins, even from outside this startup, since a past exit or venture counts for a lot
• Lead with your team and a sharp value proposition, and let the timing make your case
• Commit fully, because SOSV backs founders who are all in rather than running it on the side
• Bring a clear product vision, which can be the thing that tips the decision
• Point to tangible results you have already delivered

One edge came up more than any other. A working product or a warm introduction will carry you further than a polished form, so if you can ship something real or get in front of the team in person, do it.