EWOR

Choose the right fellowship

• You have a product and early traction (revenue, active users, pilots, patents or built hardware): apply to the Traction Fellowship.
• You are at idea or pre-seed stage, with or without a co-founder or company: apply to the Ideation Fellowship.
• Both use the same online application form. One co-founder applies and lists the rest of the team.

How applications work

• Applications are submitted online and take about 15 to 20 minutes.
• EWOR says it reviews applications and accepts fellows on a rolling basis, and that you can expect a reply within three weeks.
• The apply page also shows a countdown to an application deadline. The two descriptions of the timing do not match, so check the apply page for the current window before you submit.
• You do not need to incorporate in a particular country. If you have no company yet, EWOR asks you to form one within 18 months of joining the Ideation Fellowship, at your own cost.

Know the deal before you apply

• The Traction Fellowship is an investment, not a grant. EWOR becomes an investor in your company, through a capped investment plus an uncapped SAFE note or similar instrument.
• The Ideation Fellowship does not guarantee funding. EWOR holds an option to invest, and if it does, it takes a small equity share as tuition.
• Neither fellowship charges a cash fee.
• The Ideation Fellowship agreement is governed by German law. Have a lawyer read it before you sign.

What to expect from selection

• EWOR reports a very low acceptance rate, around 35 to 40 startups a year. Be specific about your traction or your insight, and about why you are the right founder for the problem.
• Tell them what you want from the one-to-one sessions with an EWOR Partner, since this is the core of the fellowship.

Investor event

• Fellows pitch at the twice-yearly Grand Pitch, and are coached beforehand. Investors who want to attend can request an invitation through EWOR.

EWOR is a founder fellowship based in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 2021 and is run by EWOR GmbH, which is led by managing directors Daniel Dippold and Florian Huber. It works with founders from any country and any industry, and most of its programme is delivered online.

EWOR is an investor-led fellowship rather than a cohort accelerator. It describes the fellowship as virtual-first and modular, with no batch schedule, so each founder follows their own path. Applicants do not need to move to Germany or re-incorporate their company in a particular country.

How the fellowships work

EWOR runs two fellowships, and the one you apply to depends on how far along you are.

The Traction Fellowship is for founders who already have a product in the market and early traction. EWOR counts traction as revenue, active users, pilot projects, initial patents or built hardware. Fellows who are accepted receive an investment from EWOR straight away, and there is no tuition fee. The investment is made partly at a fixed valuation cap and partly through an uncapped SAFE note or a similar instrument with a most-favoured-nation clause. EWOR therefore becomes an investor in your company. It is not a grant.

The Ideation Fellowship is for founders at idea or pre-seed stage. You can apply with or without a co-founder, with or without an incorporated company, and without a fixed business idea. Fellows work one-to-one with an EWOR Partner on product-market fit, ideal customer profile and pivots. EWOR has the option, but not the obligation, to invest. Not every Ideation Fellow receives an investment. If EWOR does invest, it takes a small equity share in the startup as a one-time tuition fee. No cash fee is charged.

Both fellowships are open on the same online application form. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

What fellows get

Fellows work one-to-one with one of the EWOR Partners, in regular sparring sessions. EWOR's press material from 2025 describes this as one to five hours a week with a founder who has built a large company. The fellowship also includes learning modules, access to the EWOR Platform and a community of other fellows, plus discounts and credits from partner companies that sell tools such as CRM and accounting software. EWOR describes its mentor and investor network as running to the thousands, though its pages give different counts, from 1,500 up to 10,000.

EWOR also runs the Grand Pitch, an investor event held twice a year. Fellows are coached beforehand and then pitch to venture funds, family offices and super-angels. The online version regularly draws several hundred investors, according to EWOR. Investors who are not part of EWOR can ask for an invitation.

Who can apply

EWOR says it welcomes founders from all industries and technology sectors. There is no required country of incorporation, and EWOR says it invests globally. For the Traction Fellowship you need a product and some early proof of demand. For the Ideation Fellowship you need none, although a founder without a company has to form one within 18 months of acceptance, at their own cost. One co-founder submits the application and lists the rest of the team.

If you are already past the first sales and are preparing for a first institutional round, the Traction Fellowship is the closer fit. If you are still shaping the product and the business case, apply to the Ideation Fellowship.

How selective it is

EWOR reports a 0.1 percent acceptance rate and says it selects roughly 35 to 40 new startups a year. A 2025 press release said it accepts about 35 entrepreneurs out of more than 35,000 applicants each year. These are EWOR's own figures. Expect a very competitive process, and treat the numbers as an indication rather than an audited total.

Who runs it

EWOR GmbH is registered in Berlin and entered in the commercial register of the Berlin-Charlottenburg local court. The EWOR Partners are founders who have built and sold technology companies. EWOR's 2025 press release says it is run full-time by six entrepreneurs, while its current home page lists seven partners.

Most of the capital for its startup investments does not come from EWOR GmbH. EWOR states that it comes from Roundtable – EWOR Friends & Family Fund I, a Luxembourg-based EuVECA investment fund. The Ideation Fellowship agreement is governed by German law, with the courts of Berlin having jurisdiction. Indian founders should read it with that in mind, and ideally have a lawyer review it.

Location and contact

EWOR's office is at Münzstraße 23, 10178 Berlin, Germany, and its general inbox is info@ewor.com. Because the fellowship is run online, you do not need to be in Berlin to take part.