Incubator Questions
Incubator Questions
Incubator Questions
Incubator Questions
Program Basics
01
What is the AI House Incubator?
AI House Incubator helps founders build applied AI companies from the earliest stages.
Our model starts with community. Through the AI House Community, founders get access to the people who make early company-building easier: other founders, technical leaders, researchers, operators, investors, domain experts, and potential customers.
From there, we work side by side with founders on the zero-to-one work: sharpening the idea, validating customer pain, making technical decisions, finding design partners, hiring the first team, preparing to raise capital, and turning a promising concept into a real company.
We are based in Seattle and built around a simple belief: the next wave of AI companies will need more than model access. They will need technical depth, domain expertise, customer access, capital, and a serious community around them.
02
What happens during incubation?
We work side by side with founders through the earliest stages of company-building.
That can include customer discovery, product strategy, AI architecture, model evaluation, UX/UI, technical reviews, go-to-market strategy, pricing, pilots, hiring, storytelling, fundraising, and investor preparation.
Founders also plug into the AI House Community in Seattle: our community, events, resident experts, technical venture partners, alumni, investors, and domain experts.
03
Do I need to move to Seattle?
No, you do not need to permanently relocate.
We work with founders from across North America. But every founder in the incubator is expected to spend at least one month in person in Seattle, working from AI House daily.
We believe community is most useful when founders are actually in the room: meeting other builders, learning from operators, getting customer introductions, attending events, and building relationships that are hard to create remotely.
04
When can I apply?
Applications are rolling.
You do not need to wait for a batch or cohort date. Apply when you are ready to build.
05
What kinds of companies are a fit?
We focus on applied AI companies.
That usually means founders building around real customer pain, deep technical insight, and a clear understanding of the workflow, market, or industry they are entering.
We are especially interested in companies where domain expertise matters: enterprise, healthcare, biology, legal, logistics, aerospace, manufacturing, climate, energy, developer tools, infrastructure, public-sector technology, and other markets where AI can change how work actually gets done.
06
Do I need to have a company formed before applying?
No.
Some founders come to us with a formed company, early product, customers, or funding already in place. Others are still refining the idea or forming the founding team. We can absolutely get involved with “white board ideas” early.
Our question is not whether everything is polished. It is whether there is a strong founder, a real market opportunity, and a place where AI House can meaningfully help.
07
What happened to the "AI2 Incubator" name?
AI2 Incubator rebranded to AI House in June 2026, and each of the affiliated entities changed their legal names. If you previously signed an agreement with an "AI2 Incubator" affiliated entity, all rights and obligations continue in full force without interruption.
Investment + Terms
01
How much do you invest?
We invest up to $600,000 on a SAFE with a $10 million cap.
Early allocations typically start at $100,000 for solo founders or $200,000 for co-founding teams, with the ability to increase up to $600,000 as the company hits early milestones. For more mature teams, we may invest the full amount upfront.
02
What does incubation “cost”?
Our incubation economics are 7% in common stock, the same class of stock held by founders.
We use common stock because we want to be aligned with founders from the beginning. We are not a passive accelerator or a short-term program. We are a company-building partner.
03
What can I use the funding for?
Whatever helps the company make progress.
That might include early hires, compute, infrastructure, product development, customer pilots, design, operations, or go-to-market work.
Founders may also receive access to significant non-dilutive cloud credits through our partner network.
04
If I’ve already raised money, can I still apply?
Yes.
Many founders join after raising angel or pre-seed capital. Prior funding does not disqualify you.
What matters is whether we can help you build a stronger company from here.
05
What happens If I raised at a higher valuation than your SAFE cap?
We handle this case by case.
Our goal is to keep terms simple, founder-friendly, and aligned with your next financing. If you already have money in, we will work through the structure with you directly.
06
Can I raise more money alongside your initial investment?
Yes.
Many AI House companies raise additional angel, operator, or micro-VC capital alongside our investment. We can help with investor strategy, warm introductions, pitch preparation, and fundraising process.
07
What happens if my company shuts down? Do I owe anything?
No.
You do not owe us anything if the company does not work out. Like you, we only win if the company succeeds.
08
How do your terms compare to accelerators and venture studios?
Accelerators often optimize for volume and work with hundreds of companies a year. Venture studios often take much larger ownership stakes and may require control rights.
The AI House Incubator is different.
We work with a smaller number of founders, invest directly, and take common stock so we are aligned with the founding team. Our model is hands-on, but founder-led.
During Incubation
01
What kind of support do you provide?
Founders work directly with the AI House team, technical venture partners, resident experts, operators, researchers, and investors.
Support often includes customer discovery, technical reviews, model strategy, product positioning, pricing, GTM planning, hiring, design, fundraising, and introductions to customers or design partners.
The exact work depends on the company. We do not run a one-size-fits-all curriculum.
02
How much time do I need to commit?
Founders should expect to be deeply engaged.
This is not a weekend program or a lightweight accelerator. We work with founders through the serious early work of building a company, and we expect founders to be actively building.
03
Do I need to work on the company full time?
In most cases, yes.
If accepted, we expect founders to be focused full time on the company or actively transitioning into full-time work.
04
What if I’m a student or have a job?
You can still apply.
But if accepted, you should be prepared to move toward full-time company-building. The incubation model works best when founders are fully committed.
05
What if I’m a professor?
Professors are a special case.
We recognize that a university appointment can be a major asset: research depth, student talent, grant support, lab infrastructure, and credibility. We still expect serious time and commitment to the company, but we work with academic founders to find the right structure.
06
Do you help with immigration or visas?
Yes.
Through our legal and operations network, we can help founders navigate immigration and visa-related questions. We have directly helped more than a dozen founders get their green cards.
07
Do you provide introductions to customers or pilot partners?
Yes, when there is a strong fit.
We help founders reach potential customers, design partners, industry experts, and enterprise buyers through the AI House network. We also help founders think through who they should be learning from, what to ask, and how to turn early conversations into real pilots or revenue.
08
What kind of founder community will I join?
You will join a focused community of AI founders, researchers, operators, investors, technical leaders, and domain experts.
We are intentionally not a high-volume accelerator. Founders should know the people around them. The value comes from proximity: other founders building nearby, alumni sharing what they learned, resident experts helping with hard problems, and AI House Community events bringing the broader Seattle AI ecosystem into the room.
09
Can my team work partly remote and partly from Seattle?
Yes.
Many teams will be hybrid. You do not need to permanently relocate to Seattle, but every incubated founder is expected to spend at least one month working from AI House daily.
After that, teams can stay connected remotely, return for key moments, and continue using AI House when they are in Seattle.
After Incubation
01
What happens after incubation?
You remain part of the AI House network.
Alumni continue to access the community, events, mentors, resident experts, technical venture partners, investors, and other founders. Many return for fundraising help, customer introductions, hiring support, or advice on the next hard company-building problem.
02
Do you help with seed funding?
Yes.
We help founders prepare for seed rounds by refining the narrative, pressure-testing milestones, preparing data rooms, improving pitch materials, and connecting with aligned angels, micro-VCs, and institutional investors.
03
Will the AI House Incubator publicize our product?
We support founder milestones through our community, events, network, and channels when useful.
But your company’s story is yours. We help amplify it; we do not take it over.
04
What is the long-term relationship with AI House?
We aim to be useful well beyond the first year.
Companies change. Markets change. Fundraising changes. The best founders keep learning from people around them. AI House is designed to remain a useful network of founders, operators, researchers, investors, and domain experts as your company grows.
Program Basics
01
What is the AI House Incubator?
AI House Incubator helps founders build applied AI companies from the earliest stages.
Our model starts with community. Through the AI House Community, founders get access to the people who make early company-building easier: other founders, technical leaders, researchers, operators, investors, domain experts, and potential customers.
From there, we work side by side with founders on the zero-to-one work: sharpening the idea, validating customer pain, making technical decisions, finding design partners, hiring the first team, preparing to raise capital, and turning a promising concept into a real company.
We are based in Seattle and built around a simple belief: the next wave of AI companies will need more than model access. They will need technical depth, domain expertise, customer access, capital, and a serious community around them.
02
What happens during incubation?
We work side by side with founders through the earliest stages of company-building.
That can include customer discovery, product strategy, AI architecture, model evaluation, UX/UI, technical reviews, go-to-market strategy, pricing, pilots, hiring, storytelling, fundraising, and investor preparation.
Founders also plug into the AI House Community in Seattle: our community, events, resident experts, technical venture partners, alumni, investors, and domain experts.
03
Do I need to move to Seattle?
No, you do not need to permanently relocate.
We work with founders from across North America. But every founder in the incubator is expected to spend at least one month in person in Seattle, working from AI House daily.
We believe community is most useful when founders are actually in the room: meeting other builders, learning from operators, getting customer introductions, attending events, and building relationships that are hard to create remotely.
04
When can I apply?
Applications are rolling.
You do not need to wait for a batch or cohort date. Apply when you are ready to build.
05
What kinds of companies are a fit?
We focus on applied AI companies.
That usually means founders building around real customer pain, deep technical insight, and a clear understanding of the workflow, market, or industry they are entering.
We are especially interested in companies where domain expertise matters: enterprise, healthcare, biology, legal, logistics, aerospace, manufacturing, climate, energy, developer tools, infrastructure, public-sector technology, and other markets where AI can change how work actually gets done.
06
Do I need to have a company formed before applying?
No.
Some founders come to us with a formed company, early product, customers, or funding already in place. Others are still refining the idea or forming the founding team. We can absolutely get involved with “white board ideas” early.
Our question is not whether everything is polished. It is whether there is a strong founder, a real market opportunity, and a place where AI House can meaningfully help.
07
What happened to the "AI2 Incubator" name?
AI2 Incubator rebranded to AI House in June 2026, and each of the affiliated entities changed their legal names. If you previously signed an agreement with an "AI2 Incubator" affiliated entity, all rights and obligations continue in full force without interruption.
Investment + Terms
01
How much do you invest?
We invest up to $600,000 on a SAFE with a $10 million cap.
Early allocations typically start at $100,000 for solo founders or $200,000 for co-founding teams, with the ability to increase up to $600,000 as the company hits early milestones. For more mature teams, we may invest the full amount upfront.
02
What does incubation “cost”?
Our incubation economics are 7% in common stock, the same class of stock held by founders.
We use common stock because we want to be aligned with founders from the beginning. We are not a passive accelerator or a short-term program. We are a company-building partner.
03
What can I use the funding for?
Whatever helps the company make progress.
That might include early hires, compute, infrastructure, product development, customer pilots, design, operations, or go-to-market work.
Founders may also receive access to significant non-dilutive cloud credits through our partner network.
04
If I’ve already raised money, can I still apply?
Yes.
Many founders join after raising angel or pre-seed capital. Prior funding does not disqualify you.
What matters is whether we can help you build a stronger company from here.
05
What happens If I raised at a higher valuation than your SAFE cap?
We handle this case by case.
Our goal is to keep terms simple, founder-friendly, and aligned with your next financing. If you already have money in, we will work through the structure with you directly.
06
Can I raise more money alongside your initial investment?
Yes.
Many AI House companies raise additional angel, operator, or micro-VC capital alongside our investment. We can help with investor strategy, warm introductions, pitch preparation, and fundraising process.
07
What happens if my company shuts down? Do I owe anything?
No.
You do not owe us anything if the company does not work out. Like you, we only win if the company succeeds.
08
How do your terms compare to accelerators and venture studios?
Accelerators often optimize for volume and work with hundreds of companies a year. Venture studios often take much larger ownership stakes and may require control rights.
The AI House Incubator is different.
We work with a smaller number of founders, invest directly, and take common stock so we are aligned with the founding team. Our model is hands-on, but founder-led.
During Incubation
01
What kind of support do you provide?
Founders work directly with the AI House team, technical venture partners, resident experts, operators, researchers, and investors.
Support often includes customer discovery, technical reviews, model strategy, product positioning, pricing, GTM planning, hiring, design, fundraising, and introductions to customers or design partners.
The exact work depends on the company. We do not run a one-size-fits-all curriculum.
02
How much time do I need to commit?
Founders should expect to be deeply engaged.
This is not a weekend program or a lightweight accelerator. We work with founders through the serious early work of building a company, and we expect founders to be actively building.
03
Do I need to work on the company full time?
In most cases, yes.
If accepted, we expect founders to be focused full time on the company or actively transitioning into full-time work.
04
What if I’m a student or have a job?
You can still apply.
But if accepted, you should be prepared to move toward full-time company-building. The incubation model works best when founders are fully committed.
05
What if I’m a professor?
Professors are a special case.
We recognize that a university appointment can be a major asset: research depth, student talent, grant support, lab infrastructure, and credibility. We still expect serious time and commitment to the company, but we work with academic founders to find the right structure.
06
Do you help with immigration or visas?
Yes.
Through our legal and operations network, we can help founders navigate immigration and visa-related questions. We have directly helped more than a dozen founders get their green cards.
07
Do you provide introductions to customers or pilot partners?
Yes, when there is a strong fit.
We help founders reach potential customers, design partners, industry experts, and enterprise buyers through the AI House network. We also help founders think through who they should be learning from, what to ask, and how to turn early conversations into real pilots or revenue.
08
What kind of founder community will I join?
You will join a focused community of AI founders, researchers, operators, investors, technical leaders, and domain experts.
We are intentionally not a high-volume accelerator. Founders should know the people around them. The value comes from proximity: other founders building nearby, alumni sharing what they learned, resident experts helping with hard problems, and AI House Community events bringing the broader Seattle AI ecosystem into the room.
09
Can my team work partly remote and partly from Seattle?
Yes.
Many teams will be hybrid. You do not need to permanently relocate to Seattle, but every incubated founder is expected to spend at least one month working from AI House daily.
After that, teams can stay connected remotely, return for key moments, and continue using AI House when they are in Seattle.
After Incubation
01
What happens after incubation?
You remain part of the AI House network.
Alumni continue to access the community, events, mentors, resident experts, technical venture partners, investors, and other founders. Many return for fundraising help, customer introductions, hiring support, or advice on the next hard company-building problem.
02
Do you help with seed funding?
Yes.
We help founders prepare for seed rounds by refining the narrative, pressure-testing milestones, preparing data rooms, improving pitch materials, and connecting with aligned angels, micro-VCs, and institutional investors.
03
Will the AI House Incubator publicize our product?
We support founder milestones through our community, events, network, and channels when useful.
But your company’s story is yours. We help amplify it; we do not take it over.
04
What is the long-term relationship with AI House?
We aim to be useful well beyond the first year.
Companies change. Markets change. Fundraising changes. The best founders keep learning from people around them. AI House is designed to remain a useful network of founders, operators, researchers, investors, and domain experts as your company grows.
Program Basics
01
What is the AI House Incubator?
AI House Incubator helps founders build applied AI companies from the earliest stages.
Our model starts with community. Through the AI House Community, founders get access to the people who make early company-building easier: other founders, technical leaders, researchers, operators, investors, domain experts, and potential customers.
From there, we work side by side with founders on the zero-to-one work: sharpening the idea, validating customer pain, making technical decisions, finding design partners, hiring the first team, preparing to raise capital, and turning a promising concept into a real company.
We are based in Seattle and built around a simple belief: the next wave of AI companies will need more than model access. They will need technical depth, domain expertise, customer access, capital, and a serious community around them.
02
What happens during incubation?
We work side by side with founders through the earliest stages of company-building.
That can include customer discovery, product strategy, AI architecture, model evaluation, UX/UI, technical reviews, go-to-market strategy, pricing, pilots, hiring, storytelling, fundraising, and investor preparation.
Founders also plug into the AI House Community in Seattle: our community, events, resident experts, technical venture partners, alumni, investors, and domain experts.
03
Do I need to move to Seattle?
No, you do not need to permanently relocate.
We work with founders from across North America. But every founder in the incubator is expected to spend at least one month in person in Seattle, working from AI House daily.
We believe community is most useful when founders are actually in the room: meeting other builders, learning from operators, getting customer introductions, attending events, and building relationships that are hard to create remotely.
04
When can I apply?
Applications are rolling.
You do not need to wait for a batch or cohort date. Apply when you are ready to build.
05
What kinds of companies are a fit?
We focus on applied AI companies.
That usually means founders building around real customer pain, deep technical insight, and a clear understanding of the workflow, market, or industry they are entering.
We are especially interested in companies where domain expertise matters: enterprise, healthcare, biology, legal, logistics, aerospace, manufacturing, climate, energy, developer tools, infrastructure, public-sector technology, and other markets where AI can change how work actually gets done.
06
Do I need to have a company formed before applying?
No.
Some founders come to us with a formed company, early product, customers, or funding already in place. Others are still refining the idea or forming the founding team. We can absolutely get involved with “white board ideas” early.
Our question is not whether everything is polished. It is whether there is a strong founder, a real market opportunity, and a place where AI House can meaningfully help.
07
What happened to the "AI2 Incubator" name?
AI2 Incubator rebranded to AI House in June 2026, and each of the affiliated entities changed their legal names. If you previously signed an agreement with an "AI2 Incubator" affiliated entity, all rights and obligations continue in full force without interruption.
Investment + Terms
01
How much do you invest?
We invest up to $600,000 on a SAFE with a $10 million cap.
Early allocations typically start at $100,000 for solo founders or $200,000 for co-founding teams, with the ability to increase up to $600,000 as the company hits early milestones. For more mature teams, we may invest the full amount upfront.
02
What does incubation “cost”?
Our incubation economics are 7% in common stock, the same class of stock held by founders.
We use common stock because we want to be aligned with founders from the beginning. We are not a passive accelerator or a short-term program. We are a company-building partner.
03
What can I use the funding for?
Whatever helps the company make progress.
That might include early hires, compute, infrastructure, product development, customer pilots, design, operations, or go-to-market work.
Founders may also receive access to significant non-dilutive cloud credits through our partner network.
04
If I’ve already raised money, can I still apply?
Yes.
Many founders join after raising angel or pre-seed capital. Prior funding does not disqualify you.
What matters is whether we can help you build a stronger company from here.
05
What happens If I raised at a higher valuation than your SAFE cap?
We handle this case by case.
Our goal is to keep terms simple, founder-friendly, and aligned with your next financing. If you already have money in, we will work through the structure with you directly.
06
Can I raise more money alongside your initial investment?
Yes.
Many AI House companies raise additional angel, operator, or micro-VC capital alongside our investment. We can help with investor strategy, warm introductions, pitch preparation, and fundraising process.
07
What happens if my company shuts down? Do I owe anything?
No.
You do not owe us anything if the company does not work out. Like you, we only win if the company succeeds.
08
How do your terms compare to accelerators and venture studios?
Accelerators often optimize for volume and work with hundreds of companies a year. Venture studios often take much larger ownership stakes and may require control rights.
The AI House Incubator is different.
We work with a smaller number of founders, invest directly, and take common stock so we are aligned with the founding team. Our model is hands-on, but founder-led.
During Incubation
01
What kind of support do you provide?
Founders work directly with the AI House team, technical venture partners, resident experts, operators, researchers, and investors.
Support often includes customer discovery, technical reviews, model strategy, product positioning, pricing, GTM planning, hiring, design, fundraising, and introductions to customers or design partners.
The exact work depends on the company. We do not run a one-size-fits-all curriculum.
02
How much time do I need to commit?
Founders should expect to be deeply engaged.
This is not a weekend program or a lightweight accelerator. We work with founders through the serious early work of building a company, and we expect founders to be actively building.
03
Do I need to work on the company full time?
In most cases, yes.
If accepted, we expect founders to be focused full time on the company or actively transitioning into full-time work.
04
What if I’m a student or have a job?
You can still apply.
But if accepted, you should be prepared to move toward full-time company-building. The incubation model works best when founders are fully committed.
05
What if I’m a professor?
Professors are a special case.
We recognize that a university appointment can be a major asset: research depth, student talent, grant support, lab infrastructure, and credibility. We still expect serious time and commitment to the company, but we work with academic founders to find the right structure.
06
Do you help with immigration or visas?
Yes.
Through our legal and operations network, we can help founders navigate immigration and visa-related questions. We have directly helped more than a dozen founders get their green cards.
07
Do you provide introductions to customers or pilot partners?
Yes, when there is a strong fit.
We help founders reach potential customers, design partners, industry experts, and enterprise buyers through the AI House network. We also help founders think through who they should be learning from, what to ask, and how to turn early conversations into real pilots or revenue.
08
What kind of founder community will I join?
You will join a focused community of AI founders, researchers, operators, investors, technical leaders, and domain experts.
We are intentionally not a high-volume accelerator. Founders should know the people around them. The value comes from proximity: other founders building nearby, alumni sharing what they learned, resident experts helping with hard problems, and AI House Community events bringing the broader Seattle AI ecosystem into the room.
09
Can my team work partly remote and partly from Seattle?
Yes.
Many teams will be hybrid. You do not need to permanently relocate to Seattle, but every incubated founder is expected to spend at least one month working from AI House daily.
After that, teams can stay connected remotely, return for key moments, and continue using AI House when they are in Seattle.
After Incubation
01
What happens after incubation?
You remain part of the AI House network.
Alumni continue to access the community, events, mentors, resident experts, technical venture partners, investors, and other founders. Many return for fundraising help, customer introductions, hiring support, or advice on the next hard company-building problem.
02
Do you help with seed funding?
Yes.
We help founders prepare for seed rounds by refining the narrative, pressure-testing milestones, preparing data rooms, improving pitch materials, and connecting with aligned angels, micro-VCs, and institutional investors.
03
Will the AI House Incubator publicize our product?
We support founder milestones through our community, events, network, and channels when useful.
But your company’s story is yours. We help amplify it; we do not take it over.
04
What is the long-term relationship with AI House?
We aim to be useful well beyond the first year.
Companies change. Markets change. Fundraising changes. The best founders keep learning from people around them. AI House is designed to remain a useful network of founders, operators, researchers, investors, and domain experts as your company grows.
Stay in touch
Subscribe to our Luma calendar for the latest on events and news from us.
Where AI meets the real world
Stay in touch
Subscribe to our Luma calendar for the latest on events and news from us.
Where AI meets the real world
Stay in touch
Subscribe to our Luma calendar for the latest on events and news from us.
Where AI meets the real world
Stay in touch
Subscribe to our Luma calendar for the latest on events and news from us.
Where AI meets the real world
Stay in touch
Subscribe to our Luma calendar for the latest on events and news from us.
Where AI meets the real world