Find your people and build the future.
Catalyst helps ambitious students and early-career people start their first company or break into venture capital.
Ambition has nothing to do with age
Catalyst is On Deck's home for undergrads, grad students, and early-career people. Whether you want to be an investor or founder, Catalyst arms you with resources, mentorship, and a global community for success. All for free.
Catalyst Founders
Catalyst Founders is a track within ODX designed to help early-stage and student founders start their first company.
Join if...
Catalyst Scouts
Catalyst Scouts is a program for early-career professionals and students to break into VC by referring founders and startups to On Deck.
Join if...
Build a company or an investment track record
Learn how the startup world works
Build a startup. Or a track record.
Expand your network in tech and web3
Break into startups. Or VC.
Catalyst Founders
Catalyst Scouts
Apply to be a Founder
We review applications on a rolling basis, but the sooner you apply, the better your chances. This application asks the same questions as the ODX applications.
Apply to be a Scout
Applications are now open, and the deadline is Thursday, December 9. After the written application, the second step is a video interview call.
Meet your Fellow Catalysts in ODX
You’ll join the ODF or ODX program starting January 2022, along with a selective subgroup of your early-career peers.
Join our Curated Community
Our community and education program begins January 2022, where you’ll learn how to think like a VC.
Meet your Build Partner
Connect with a deeply experienced advisor who will help you get the most out of On Deck, and develop a 90-day plan.
Meet Ambitious Founders
Meet early-stage and aspiring founders and help them succeed. Host startup workshops, develop tech partnerships, and increase access to the world of entrepreneurship.
Build with the On Deck Network at Your Back
Join a cohort of talented founders from around the world so you can build, hire, raise and scale with the best.
apply Now
Build Your Track Record in Venture
Refer companies to ODF & ODX to build your track record without investing personal capital.
Apply NowCatalyst Founder Alumni
.svg)
Catalyst Scout Mentors
FAQ
Watch our record Q&A here. If you have additional questions not answered here, please email [email protected].
Catalyst is On Deck’s home for undergrads, grad students, and early-career people (<5 years of work experience). It's for people who are hyper-ambitious and looking for a community of peers from around the world.
Catalyst Founders is for people starting or looking to start a company.
Catalyst Scouts is for people looking to break into VC and help early-stage founders grow their startups.
Catalyst Founders & Scouts are both free programs.
There is no upfront cash fee to participate in Catalyst Founders. When you join the community, we commit to this handshake deal via a Memorandum of Understanding: if you start a company within the next year, you'll join ODX, and we'll invest on our standard terms of $125,000 for 7%. There's no penalty or cost if you decide not to. Put another way: by joining ODF, you’ve already gotten your first firm investment commitment, even if you’re pre-traction, pre-team, or pre-idea.
Catalyst Scouts is a free program with a commitment to find and refer founders to On Deck.
Catalyst Scouts is a 8 - 10 hour/week time commitment, designed to be completed alongside a full-time job or school. You should expect to meet with founders, attend a partner meeting, attend a workshop, and engage with the community each week.
Catalyst Founders follows the ODF schedule. How much time you invest in ODF is largely up to you. For your first month, we recommend spending at least 4 hours per week attending onboarding sessions and getting to know your cohort. After that, ODF is flexible. Some weeks you may want to spend 20 hours taking calls with fellows or attending sessions. Other weeks you may choose not to do anything. Many ODF fellows are working around families and jobs, and we fully support and respect these commitments.
Catalyst programs help early-career people launch their company with Catalyst Founders or find breakout startups with Catalyst Scouts.
Catalyst Scouts should expect to:
- Learn how venture capital works
- Build their investor track record
- Activate their startup ecosystems
- Make lifelong friends
- Build their tech networks
Catalyst Founders should expect to:
- Get the tools and support they need to start a company
- Find a cofounder or early team members
- Explore and validate their ideas
- Learn fundamental founder skills
- Make lifelong friends
- Build their tech networks
We offer rolling admissions for Catalyst programs so the sooner you apply, the sooner you can be accepted. As the programs do fill up throughout the application period, we encourage you to apply early so that you have a better chance of being accepted.
The final application deadline is Thursday, December 9, but we encourage you to apply earlier as the programs may fill up.
Yes: Catalyst programs are run entirely remotely. This enables participation from all corners of the world.
We'll have some casual in-person meetups in locations where restrictions allow, however, the core programs will remain a remote-first experience.