500 Global

Check you meet the location rule first

• The flagship runs in person in San Francisco for four months. You need to be in the U.S. or plan to be there within six months.
• 500 Global has no India programme, so an Indian founder who cannot relocate is not a fit for the flagship.
• If you are an Indian founder who can move, you are in good company: a large share of each batch is international.

How applications work

• Apply online through the application portal linked from the programme page. You do not need an introduction.
• Selected applicants have a series of interviews with the team. Expect up to a few weeks before you hear back.
• If you are turned down you can apply again.
• The programme page shows more than one deadline for the current round, so check the date on the application portal before you plan around it.

Before you accept a place

• The pages say different things about whether the programme is free. Ask the programme team to confirm in writing whether there is a fee and how it is handled.
• The pages do not say what 500 Global takes in return for its investment. Ask this before you accept.
• Applying does not guarantee an investment.

What the programme looks for

• Founders who have started building and think globally.
• Any stage from day zero to first users, revenue or pilots.
• Early U.S. traction helps, but is not required.
• Any tech-enabled sector.

500 Global, formerly 500 Startups, is a venture capital firm and accelerator operator. It was co-founded by Christine Tsai in 2010 and opened its first office for founders in Mountain View, California. It rebranded from 500 Startups to 500 Global in 2021, and in 2022 it moved its US headquarters to Palo Alto, California. Its flagship accelerator, the 500 Fellowship, runs in San Francisco.

What 500 Global is

500 Global describes itself as a venture firm that invests in founders building fast-growing technology companies. Its funds and its programmes sit in different legal entities. The funds are managed by 500 Startups Management Company, while the programmes, investor education and events are run by a separate company, 500 Startups Incubator. The site says the funds do not share in the revenue from those programmes.

The firm says it works in more than 80 countries and that its founder community has more than 6,000 founders. These are its own figures and are not audited.

The flagship programme

The 500 Fellowship, which the founders page also calls the Flagship Accelerator, is a four-month programme in San Francisco. Founders work with their cohort, mentors and venture investors, at a co-working space in Mission Bay. The current batch is Batch 37, with dates running from 30 November 2026 to 9 April 2027.

The programme is for early-stage founders building for the U.S. and the world, from day zero to first users, revenue or pilots. It is sector agnostic and takes AI, deep tech, infrastructure, applications, enterprise, consumer, marketplaces, SaaS and other tech-enabled businesses. Accepted companies can receive an investment from 500 Global. The pages do not say what the firm takes in return for that investment, and applying does not guarantee an investment.

The pages are also not consistent on cost. One answer says the programme is free. Another section states a programme fee, and a further answer says the fee can be deducted from the investment. Confirm the fee terms with the programme team before you accept a place.

Who can apply

The programme is open to founders who have started building, think globally, and are in the U.S. or plan to be there within six months. Early U.S. traction helps, but the page tells founders to apply anyway. International founders are part of every batch: the site says that on average 30 to 40 percent of a batch is international.

For Indian founders the location rule is the main condition. The programme is in person in San Francisco, and an Indian founder who has no plan to be in the U.S. within six months does not meet it. 500 Global lists no India programme and no India office.

How selection works

Founders apply online through the 500 Global application portal. Selected applicants then have a series of interviews with the team, and it can take up to a few weeks to hear back. There is no need for an introduction, and founders who are turned down can apply again.

The programme page and the application page give different batch numbers and different October 2026 deadlines. One banner refers to Batch 36, while the rest of the page and the application portal refer to Batch 37. Check the date on the application portal itself.

Other programmes

Global Launch is a short market-entry programme for tech startups that already have product-market fit in their home country. It is run with partner organisations through hubs in Silicon Valley, Singapore, Riyadh, Tokyo and Seoul. The only dates shown are from 2025, and its call to action is aimed at institutions that want to partner, so it is not currently a route for individual founders.

The Sustainable Innovation Program is described as a planned programme for mission-driven founders in sectors such as agriculture, energy, mobility and the built environment. Bangalore is one of the places listed under where 500 Global is building it, alongside Nairobi, Casablanca, Abu Dhabi and Lagos. The page has no application, dates or eligibility yet, so there is nothing for founders to apply to.

500 Global also lists regional programmes for Latin America, Eurasia, Georgia, the Middle East and North Africa, Egypt, Japan and Korea. None of them is for India.

Separately, its venture education courses, VC Unlocked, Angel Investing Unlocked and a bootcamp for accelerator managers, are for investors and accelerator managers rather than founders.

Scale

The site says 500 Global has backed more than 3,000 startups, while the description of its portfolio page says 2,900 or more. It also says it has supported more than 5,000 founders and that 40 programmes have run in total. All of these are the firm's own counts.

Where it is

The site gives no street address. The US headquarters is in Palo Alto, California, and the flagship programme is in San Francisco. Applicants should treat San Francisco as where they will be for the four months. The only public contact addresses are role inboxes for partnership and press enquiries, not for founders, so founders should apply through the application portal.