You are already helping other startups: with Powerset, you can offer them capital in addition to advice.
You will get better at running your own company from sitting on the other side of the table and learning from a peer group of elite founders in your cohort.
You will also learn how to become a world-class angel investor.
You should be a founder in San Francisco, New York City, Boston, London, Tel Aviv or their surrounding areas—but we will consider exceptional founders in other cities. We are particularly interested in deeply-technical founders who have a history of helping other startups already.
Powerset is not a scout program nor is it affiliated with any venture fund.
Powerset gives you your own independent fund, branded and controlled by you.
Powerset can complement scout programs, as you can also invite other investors—including VC firms—to invest in your fund.
Several founders in Powerset are scouting for Tier-1s.
If you are an accredited investor, we encourage you to invest a small amount in your fund to align incentives. This is not required, however, and can be decided after you join the program.
There are no fees or costs associated with Powerset.
Your fund will bear standard administrative expenses (paid to AngelList), but this is waived on any capital you invest in the fund yourself.
Applications close on June 12 at 11:59 p.m. pacific time.
Approximately 5-10 founders will be selected for each cohort.
We will review your application and the most compelling candidates will be invited to interview.
You do not need to be an accredited investor to participate in Powerset.
You will hear from us by June 19 regarding whether or not you have qualified for an interview.
We plan to open applications for Cohort 5 in Q4’26. If you are not selected for Cohort 4, you can re-apply then.
Interviews will happen remotely over Google Hangout during June 2026.
Each founder starts with a $1M fund. If you make great investments, you can unlock an additional $15M+ to scale up in exceptional companies.
You earn carried interest (i.e. “carry”), which means you earn a share of the fund’s profits. This is the same way VCs are compensated.
Please see the investing guidelines.
You have authority over investments. Investments require external approval in cases where you disclose a conflict of interest or the investment poses legal or tax challenges.
This should happen rarely since advisor shares present conflicts of interest and are generally not considered founder-friendly. If you do take advisor shares, best practice is to pledge these to your fund.
You agree to adhere to the investing guidelines. In addition, you agree to “no cherry-picking,” which means all of your venture investments should be done with Powerset while your fund still has capital.
The Powerset team is available real-time to discuss potential investments and share pattern recognition, but there is no formal curriculum since angel investing is something that you only learn by doing it.
You will receive a confidential monthly digest with recent investments from your cohort. Everyone is covered under NDA.
Powerset may disclose participants from time to time. If you have an extenuating circumstance, please mention this in your application and we will consider making an exception.
Certain investments may be disclosed, but nothing will be attributed to you without permission. Investors in your fund and Powerset’s investors will be able to see your portfolio and are covered under NDA.
The primary criteria is adhering to the investing guidelines and demonstrating good taste in founders and companies. We will discuss in more detail as you start making investments.
Powerset Cohort 4 has been filled. We plan to open applications for Cohort 5 in Q4 2026. Subscribe for updates below to be notified when applications open.
Thank you for subscribing to Powerset. We will notify you with the latest updates.
