How much equity do accelerators take?

"How much equity do accelerators take" has no single answer. The number depends entirely on the model a program runs. Some buy a stake in your company. Some give you money and take nothing. And a large share of programs do not publish a figure at all. This guide walks through each case with real published terms from our directory, so the range stops being a guess. Every term used here is defined in the glossary.

Equity-cash accelerators take a stake

These programs invest money and take a slice of the company in return, usually as equityiAn ownership stake in a company, measured as a percentage of its shares. or through a SAFEiA Simple Agreement for Future Equity: money now that converts into shares later, not a loan.. The published terms vary widely. A few examples drawn from our data:

Program	Investment	Equity taken
Techstars	220,000 total	5 percent common plus an uncapped SAFE
Health Wildcatters	30,000	8 percent
AlphaLab Health	up to 100,000	3 percent
a16z Speedrun	500,000 via a SAFE	10 percent
Global Insurance Accelerator	50,000	5 percent

The spread is the point. A single-digit equity percentage can sit alongside a check of 20,000 dollars or one of 500,000 dollars, so the percentage alone tells you little until you pair it with the dollars behind it. Techstars, for instance, invests 220,000 dollars in total: 20,000 dollars for 5 percent of the company in common stock plus a 200,000 dollar uncapped SAFE, with a minimum of 5 percent overall. Health Wildcatters invests 30,000 dollars for 8 percent. AlphaLab Health invests up to 100,000 dollars for 3 percent. a16z Speedrun invests 500,000 dollars for 10 percent through a SAFE. The Global Insurance Accelerator invests 50,000 dollars for 5 percent.

Non-dilutive and equity-free programs take zero

Many programs take no equity at all. These are non-dilutiveiMoney that does not take equity, such as grants, prizes, or credits. Your ownership is untouched. or equity-free by design. Common forms include:

• SBIR and STTR pipelines that route founders toward federal grant money.
• Fellowships that pay a stipend and take no ownership.
• Corporate credit and infrastructure programs that give product credits, tooling, or compute rather than cash for equity.

For these, the answer to "how much equity" is simply zero. The trade is different: instead of ownership, the cost is usually reporting, milestones, eligibility rules, or spending constraints. For a framework on weighing the two paths against each other, read equity vs non-dilutive accelerators.

Many programs publish no terms at all

The honest finding across the directory is that a large share of programs do not publish their equity terms. That is not an oversight to gloss over. It is itself a data point: when a program stays silent on terms, you cannot price the offer until you ask directly. You can see the breakdown per vertical, including the share of programs that publish no terms, in the accelerator terms benchmarks.

Treat a missing figure as a question to raise early, not as a signal in either direction. Ask what instrument the program uses, what percentage it takes, and at what check size, and get the answer in writing before you apply on the assumption of a number.

Translating a percentage into dollars

The reason the percentage matters is that it converts into real money at an exit. A worked example makes the dilutioniThe drop in your ownership percentage when the company issues new shares. concrete.

The numbers below are round hypotheticals, chosen to make the arithmetic legible.

Assume a program holds a fixed 8 percent stake and, to isolate the equity math, assume a clean cap table where every dollar of the sale flows to that stake's share class. Here is what the 8 percent receives at three exit sizes.

Exit price	The 8 percent stake receives
2,000,000	160,000
20,000,000	1,600,000
100,000,000	8,000,000

The check the program wrote is fixed. The stake is not: it grows with every dollar of outcome. That is why the same 8 percent feels trivial at a small exit and expensive at a large one, and why early equity is worth pricing against the outcomes you are actually aiming for. Later rounds add more dilution on top of this first cut.

For a deeper walkthrough of how a small-sounding number translates across outcomes, including the effect of preferred stock ahead of you in the payout line, read what 5 percent common actually costs.

Here are two programs from the examples above as published pages, so you can read their terms in context:

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FAQ

Do all accelerators take equity?

No. Equity-cash programs buy a stake, but non-dilutive and equity-free programs, such as SBIR pipelines, fellowships, and corporate credit programs, take zero equity. The model the program runs decides whether any ownership changes hands.

What is a typical equity percentage for accelerators that do take a stake?

There is no single typical figure, and the amount varies widely by program. Published examples in our directory range from 3 percent at AlphaLab Health to 10 percent at a16z Speedrun, with Techstars, Health Wildcatters, and the Global Insurance Accelerator falling in between. Always read the percentage together with the check size behind it.

Why do so many programs not list their equity terms?

A large share of programs simply do not publish a figure. When terms are missing, you cannot price the offer from the page, so the practical step is to ask the program directly what instrument it uses and what percentage it takes, and to get the answer in writing before you apply.

This is general education, not legal or investment advice. Read the actual documents and talk to a lawyer before you sign.