New Season. Applications Are Now Open.
Work next to unicorn founders for 4 weeks #
By Shahed Khan
I’m excited to announce an experiment we’re bringing to Hyper—one that I selfishly wish existed in the early days of Loom.
For the first time, Hyper is creating an environment where you’re matched with unicorn founders who work alongside you on product, growth, and hiring for 4+ weeks.
Some of the biggest unlocks for Loom were being side by side with founders a few stages ahead of us. Learning their mistakes. Studying their strengths. Being aware of the potential pitfalls we might run into.
While these unlocks were incredibly valuable for the business, we didn’t start building these relationships until our Series A. Had we done this sooner… Well, that’s what Hyper is for :)
As part of our unicorn matching program, I’m excited to announce our first host for this upcoming season.
Immad Akhund, CEO & co-founder of Mercury #
Prior to founding Mercury, Immad spent the past decade building Clickpass and Heyzap. Heyzap was acquired in 2016 for $45M—and shortly after, Immad founded Mercury. The banking solution for startups of all sizes.
He’s scaled Mercury from 0-600+ employees and to a valuation of $1.6B. In the same time, the business grew from just a few companies to now over 100,000 startups—as customers.
Mercury at a glance:
- Founded: 2017
- Employees: 600+
- Customers: 100,000+ startups
- Funding: $163M (Series B)
- Valuation: $1.6B
Want Immad to help you with your startup? Apply to Hyper now.
Upcoming Season
Our next season [cohort] will take place from January 19 - February 17, 2023. Applications for this season open today and will close on January 6, 2023. We recommend you apply soon as we select interviews on a first-review basis.
We’re looking for founders who:
Select compelling markets. We like founders who go after large and growing markets with a clear thesis on the opportunity for disruption– the “Why Now?”.
Have an early strategic advantage. The founding team is able to build, sell, and deliver the early product faster than anyone else. They deeply understand their target customers and have unique expertise in solving their problems.
Are ambitious and discerning. They need to win and have a proven track record of success. They are truth-seeking– constantly evaluating the world and their position in it.
High-quality, Intimate group of founders
One of the benefits of Hyper is its small, intimate seasons. We do not plan to accept any more than 25 companies—so our quality bar for companies in each cohort is high.
This means not only do you get to work closely with your Host but you also get exposed to other founders who are just as ambitious and hungry as you.
Access to the best operators
In addition to our Hosts, Hyper founders also gain access to a group of well-known operators – those who’ve built Stripe, Facebook, Disney, Airbnb, Instacart, Webflow, and many more. They’re actively supporting Hyper’s founders through short, outcome-oriented mentorship.
Since starting Hyper, our goal has been to build the unparalleled access that we wish we had in our founding journeys.
I’ll announce the remaining unicorn Hosts over the next few weeks on Twitter. If working with founders like Immad on your startup, you can apply for this Season at hyper.com