Startup incubator · One flat fee

Pay $3,999 once. Get $20,000+ in perks.

One upfront fee unlocks AI credits, contract talent, and software subscriptions from YC-backed companies, so more of your runway goes into the product.

Apply now See every perk

Applying is free. You pay only if you're accepted.

Perk statementUSD, est. retail

AI credits$9,500
Workforce$6,500
Subscriptions$4,500

Total perk value$20,500

Program fee, one time−$3,999

Net value to you+$16,501

5.1× your fee in estimated retail value

The perk package

What your membership unlocks

Nine perks across AI, workforce, and software, from YC-backed partner companies. Uncheck anything you wouldn't use to see what the package is worth to you.

AI credits

$9,500

LLM API creditsUsage credits for frontier model APIs $5,000 GPU and inference computeOn-demand GPUs for fine-tuning and serving models $2,500 AI developer toolsEvals, observability, and vector database plans $2,000

Workforce

$6,500

Contract engineeringVetted full-stack and ML engineers, billed against your credit $4,000 Design and productBrand, UI, and product design hours $1,500 Recruiting creditsJob posts and candidate sourcing for your first hires $1,000

Subscriptions

$4,500

Dev and infrastructureHosting, databases, auth, and monitoring plans $2,000 Go-to-market stackCRM, product analytics, and email tools $1,500 Back officeBanking, payroll, and legal document tools $1,000

Values are estimated retail prices at each partner's list rates. Partners set their own eligibility, limits, and expiration terms, and offers can change.

How it works

From application to redeemed credits

Apply

Tell us about you and what you're building. It takes about ten minutes.
Intro call

We confirm fit and walk through which perks match your stack, including each partner's terms.
Pay once

One payment of $3,999 after you're accepted. No subscription.
Redeem

You get redemption links and direct partner intros, and start drawing down credits.

Who it's for

Founders who'd rather spend runway on the product

Pre-seed and bootstrapped teams building software, with or without outside funding.
AI-heavy products where model and compute bills arrive before revenue does.
Small teams that need extra engineering or design hours without a full-time hire.

Membership

$3,999one time, per company

The full perk package, $20,500 in estimated value
AI model and compute credits
Contract engineering, design, and recruiting credits
Dev, go-to-market, and back-office subscriptions
An intro call to match perks to your stack
Direct intros to each partner

Apply now

Payment is due only after your application is accepted.

FAQ

Questions founders ask

Is Fivefold part of Y Combinator?: No. Fivefold is an independent incubator. Our perk partners are YC-backed companies that extend credits and discounts to Fivefold members. Y Combinator does not sponsor or endorse Fivefold.
How do you get to $20,000+?: We add up the estimated retail value of every perk in the package at partner list prices. The current package totals $20,500. What it's worth to you depends on what you use, so the calculator above lets you remove anything that doesn't fit.
What counts as workforce?: Credits toward vetted contract engineers and designers from partner talent platforms, plus recruiting credits for your first hires.
Is the fee recurring?: No. $3,999 is a one-time payment per company, due after you're accepted.
When can I start using the perks?: After your intro call and payment, we send redemption links and partner intros. Most credits become active as soon as you redeem them with the partner.
Do perks expire?: Each partner sets its own terms, including eligibility and expiration windows. We walk through them on your intro call.

Apply

Apply for membership

Tell us what you're building. We read every application and reply by email.

Full name

Company name

Website or demo link (optional)

Stage

What are you building?

Which perks matter most? (optional)

AI credits Workforce Subscriptions