The Foundery

Is this the right fit

• The Foundery builds consumer businesses only. If you want to run your own existing company, or build something that is not a consumer product, this is not the route.
• You are applying to become a co-founder of a company the studio owns with its affiliates, not to get funding for your own startup.
• You do not need an idea, but you do need to be ready to commit to a fully residential, in-person 90-day build in Alibaug.

How applications work

• Apply online through the application portal. For Cohort 02 applications opened on 18 September 2026 and close on 24 October 2026.
• The stages are the form, an AI interview, a task, a panel interview, a 5-day in-person bootcamp and final selection.
• The 24 October date is the deadline to complete every stage, not just the form. Pay the application fee and finish the AI interview and task in time, or you will not reach the panel.
• The application fee is non-refundable. There are no further fees for the bootcamp or residency.
• Questions can go to join@thefoundery.in.

How selection works

• Selection is open to the public and competitive. Cohort 01 ended with 30 people in the final cohort.
• You may apply with a co-founder, but you are assessed on your own.
• Prior experience building, operating or launching something is said to matter, even though founding experience is not required.

Read before you commit

• Read the terms and conditions in full. They set out how equity is granted, the lock-ins and reverse vesting, who owns the intellectual property, and the relocation requirement after the residency.
• The pages disagree on where you would be based after the residency, and on the ceiling for capital per company. Ask the team to confirm both in writing.
• Government employees, officials and politically exposed persons are not eligible.

The Foundery is a venture builder, also called a startup studio, that creates new consumer businesses together with the co-founders who will run them. It describes itself as not an accelerator or an incubator. Selected people spend 90 days in a fully residential build at The Foundery Sanctum in Alibaug, Maharashtra, and come out as co-founders of a company they helped start. The application portal is at applications.thefoundery.in and the team can be reached at join@thefoundery.in.

How the programme works

The Foundery does not take in existing startups. It selects individuals. Its own pages draw the line this way: startup schools teach entrepreneurship, accelerators invest in startups that already exist, and The Foundery helps create companies from scratch.

The current intake is Cohort 02, run as the Co-Founder Identification and Immersion Program. Applicants move through six stages: the application form, an AI interview, a task submission, a panel interview, a 5-day in-person bootcamp and final selection. People who clear the bootcamp and are selected then do the 90-day residency, which is scheduled to start on 15 January 2027.

During the residency each co-founder is matched with an idea from the studio's own pool, called the Idea Vault, and builds a consumer company alongside operators and shared teams. The Foundery lists mentors, product teams, brand teams, AI tooling, content strategy, supply chain experts, legal and finance support and investor access among the help available. Co-founders also get wellness, fitness, nutrition and mental health support. A stipend is paid during the residential phase, although no figure is published.

Who can apply

Anyone aged 18 or older on 31 December 2026 can apply, with no upper age limit. Applications are open globally, but the residency is in India and is in person. You do not need a business idea, because the studio supplies ideas. You also do not need to have founded a company before, although prior experience building, operating or launching something is said to matter. A small, early or bootstrapped business can apply if it can fit the venture-building model.

You may apply with a co-founder, but each person applies and is selected individually. The terms exclude employees and officials of government and politically exposed persons. The studio builds consumer businesses only.

How selection works

Intake is open to the public rather than by invitation, and it is competitive. A non-refundable application fee is payable after you submit the form and before the AI interview. The Foundery says it covers the technology and resources needed to run selection at scale, and that there are no further fees for the bootcamp or the residency. The deadline to complete every stage, including the form, payment, AI interview and task, is 24 October 2026. Applications opened on 18 September 2026. Only people who finish all stages by the deadline are eligible for the interview panel.

For Cohort 01, The Foundery reports 30 people in the final cohort, with an average age of 27 and 57 per cent women, and more than 300 panel interviews. Its pages give different totals for how many people applied: one says 36,000 or more, another shows 24,000 or more, and the questions page says 38,000 or more applied last year. Treat the application count as approximate.

Equity and ownership

This is not an investment in a founder's existing company. Each new company is owned and promoted by affiliates of the two parties behind the programme, and the person selected becomes a co-founder of that company. The terms say the choice of which company a selectee co-founds is at the sole discretion of those affiliates.

Co-founders are entitled to up to 25 per cent equity, subject to lock-ins and reverse vesting set out in the final agreements. The studio also describes a performance-linked option pool and a separate pool for the founding team. The business itself is backed with capital by The Foundery. The ceiling on that capital is worded differently on its programme pages and in its terms, so read the terms before relying on either. Under the terms, intellectual property created during and after the programme belongs to the company affiliate you co-found with, not to you personally.

Facilities at The Foundery Sanctum

The residency takes place at The Foundery Sanctum in Alibaug, a three-acre residential campus. The Foundery arranges accommodation, meals, high-speed internet, dedicated workspaces, meeting rooms, fitness facilities and recreational areas, so participants can concentrate on building. No street address is published for the campus.

After the residency

The build continues after the 90 days. The questions page says co-founders keep building from Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru. The terms say selectees must relocate to and work from affiliate offices in Mumbai, Bangalore or Gurugram, or another location the affiliates direct. The two lists differ on Delhi and Gurugram, so confirm where you would be based before you apply.

Showcase

The Foundery held an inaugural showcase, Foundery FWD, in Mumbai on 9 July 2026. It reports that 18 companies presented to more than 220 investors and that the event produced non-binding expressions of investment interest. These are self-reported figures and are not commitments to invest.

Who runs it

The Foundery says it is a joint venture of WTF Media and Think9. Its terms and conditions instead name the proposers as Think9 Consumer Technologies Private Limited and WTFund, and its privacy and refund policies name only Think9 Consumer Technologies Private Limited as the company. The pages do not say whether WTFund and WTF Media are the same body. Think9 lists a Mumbai address in Worli in its privacy policy. The Foundery does not publish a founding year, and its site does not list a careers page.

Where it operates

The residency is in Alibaug. Post-residency work is based in the cities named above. Applications are made online, so applicants can apply from anywhere.