Forum Ventures, the early-stage B2B venture studio, accelerator, and pre-seed fund that has backed over 550 companies since 2014, released performance data from its most recent accelerator cohort. The data provides a detailed look at revenue outcomes, founder backgrounds, and team composition, challenging conventional wisdom about early-stage investing.
Across the cohort, three key findings stand out: 64.1% of founders reached early revenue during the program, 58.3% are first-time founders, and 25.6% are solo-founder led. These independent data points reflect different dimensions of who participates and what they achieve.
The narrative around early-stage funding has long assumed that the safest bets are repeat founders, co-founding teams, and companies with demonstrated traction before the program begins. Forum's data offers a different perspective. Solo founders, often perceived as higher risk, comprised a quarter of the cohort. Forum pairs each company with a dedicated Managing Director who works one-on-one weekly, providing operational support and accountability that a co-founder would typically offer.
First-time founders, who made up 58.3% of the cohort, are not a risk factor according to the data. Despite prior startup experience often being favored by investors, the cohort's revenue and follow-on outcomes align with Forum's three-year averages: a 65% fund-through rate and an 80+ NPS score across the portfolio. Structured, hands-on support—including 15 hours minimum of one-on-one Managing Director time and 40+ investor introductions per showcase—appears to drive these results.
Revenue during the program emerged as a real traction benchmark. The Forum model, focused on go-to-market, customer traction, and fundraise readiness from week one, is designed to produce this outcome regardless of initial traction. "The $100k is nice... but the real value comes from having the MDs on your team," said Kory Kelly, founder of Legal Karma, which raised $6.8 million to date.
Forum's accelerator is a 16-week program investing $100,000 for 7.5% equity via post-money SAFE. Each company receives a dedicated Managing Director—a former founder or operator—who works with them weekly. The program does not run a curriculum; it meets founders where they are. It is best suited for founders who have raised less than $500,000 and are pre- or post-MVP. Applications are reviewed individually, and Forum answers every pitch.
Forum Ventures was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New York City, with offices in San Francisco and Toronto. The firm has backed over 550 portfolio companies and 1,000 founders, with more than $1 billion in follow-on funding raised across the portfolio. Its three investment strategies—the AI Venture Studio ($250,000 at formation), the Accelerator ($100,000, 16 weeks), and the Pre-Seed Fund ($250,000 to $1 million)—make it the only early-stage firm investing from pre-idea through early growth. More information is available at forumvc.com.
According to Michael Cardamone, CEO & Managing Partner of Forum Ventures, "Most accelerators are subconsciously filtering out the founders who need them most. Solo founders, first-timers, founders without a product yet—those are exactly the people we built Forum for. The data shows they can deliver."
