Save Your Equity
Our program is equity free and no cost. Save your equity for future investors and employees.
Pre-seed companies with at least 1 veteran/military spouse founder. Housing support awarded to a limited number of founders relocating to NYC
9 months. Apex2022 will run from September 2021 to June 2022. For information on applying, please email vfl@nyu.edu
May 16, 2021
Our program is equity free and no cost. Save your equity for future investors and employees.
We make every effort to connect our companies to New York University’s formidable resources — from its globally recognized faculty to its student talent, data sets, and more — however they would best support a startup’s growth.
Up to two founders in each venture receive free space for the duration of the 9-month program.
Growing a startup isn’t easy, and relocating to New York City shouldn’t add to that burden. We’re lightening the load by offering Ignition Awards, to be used towards housing, for select qualifying founders.
A limited number of companies that intend to relocate to New York City from outside the Tri State Area to enroll in Apex are eligible to apply for the Ignition Awards, to be used towards housing expenses.
Apex ventures have access to prototyping expertise and, supported by student interns, the 10,000 square-foot MakerSpace at NYU Tandon's Brooklyn campus.
Unlike coworking spaces of non-curated companies and individuals, the Veterans Future Lab offers a community of veterans and military spouses who are invested in each others' success.
Startups in our programs receive perks like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform credits, pro bono legal hours with Orrick, and more.
If you’re looking to work with some of the world’s brightest minds, we can help. VFL connects founders with NYU Tandon faculty and for-credit internship opportunities with NYU Tandon undergraduate students.
Companies enrolled in Apex can apply for this New York State incentive, which grants tax-free status to startups participating in our program.
We accept companies across a wide range of industries. We look for strong product-market fit, a demonstrated commitment to the venture, and the expertise of the founding team as related to the mission. We make sure our team and resources can be of use to the company.
We offer a limited number of Apex Ignition Awards to select founders, and this is intended for use towards housing during the 9-month-long Apex program. Preference is given to founders intending to relocate to NYC to participate in the program. To be considered for the award, please mention that in the application where asked — residency details will be confirmed in the final round of interviews, and no further actions are required at the time of application. Applying for the award does not in any way impact acceptance to Apex.
Several VET graduates have joined the Apex incubator program, and we strongly encourage this. However, acceptance into one of our past or upcoming VET programs does not guarantee admittance to the Apex incubator program.
The value of NYU’s resources are largely dependent on each company. We connect founders to NYU faculty and staff. The Future Labs also run a for-credit internship program, where companies have the opportunity to recruit NYU Tandon undergraduate students to work on specific projects in return for academic credit. Through the VFL, companies have access to NYU Tandon’s MakerSpace facility. Also available is access to data sets, model sets, and other similar resources.
Apex companies are eligible to apply for the START-UP NY program, receive pro bono legal hours with Orrick, up to $100K in Amazon Web Services, up to $100K for Google Cloud, up to $5K in credits for use at Twilio, and discounts with a range of services that startups find useful. This is an ever-expanding selection — we work with our founders to identify and offer perks that they need.
Upon submitting your application, you should receive a confirmation email with tentative dates. If you have not received this confirmation, please email us (vfl@nyu.edu). We aim to notify all accepted companies by August 16, 2021.
After two years of running Apex as a year-long program, we’re able to streamline programming to make it more efficient and effective. We work with each company to set up mutually agreed upon milestones, which must be met to graduate in good standing. Remember: The program is 9 months long, but Apex companies graduates will always remain members of our community.
Apex was launched as an in-person program but successfully moved to virtual programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We anticipate returning to in-person programming, but are prepared for a hybrid (in-person/virtual) program if required. We will keep founders up to date on all developments.
We do not take equity or other compensation from selected ventures for participation in Apex. We are able to keep this a no-cost program thanks to strong support from NYU Tandon, our founding partner Barclays, New York State, and our other valuable supporters and sponsors.
Managing Director, Future Labs
Director
Community Manager
Marketing Lead