What Telora does

Telora is a privately-held fellowship program based in Miami that funds and mentors ambitious student-age builders (primarily under 24) as they transition from student to founder. The organization selects fewer than 1% of applicants into a 6-month, in-person cohort that begins in either January or June, requiring participants to relocate to Miami and commit fully to their startups. The fellowship provides $55,000 per team ($10,000 on acceptance for legal and relocation costs, with the remainder paid in monthly installments), weekly group dinners, one-on-one mentorship, and access to a community of experienced founders.

The program was founded and is funded by three individuals — Eliam, Angie, and Kris — using their own money. Eliam and Kris previously co-founded Willing, which was acquired by MetLife, and Angie's role centers on community-building and supporting founders. Telora is not an accelerator or venture fund and takes no board seats, charges no fees, and imposes no restrictions on how funding is used.

Telora's economic model is contingent: it purchases common stock (not preferred), waives pro-rata rights, and forfeits its equity unless the founders of a given team collectively realize more than $4M from the sale of their stake, at which point Telora receives 10% of founder proceeds. Distribution into the applicant pool is generated primarily through the founders' teaching relationships at elite engineering schools (Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Harvard, Michigan, MIT, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, UIUC, and Yale), supplemented by alumni referrals and a direct website-based application portal. As of the latest data, Telora has made one disclosed portfolio investment — $40,000 into AI startup FastrFlow in April 2026 as part of a larger $375,000 round.

Name

Telora

Legal name

Telora

Website

https://telora.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Telora is a Miami-based fellowship program that funds and mentors ambitious student-age hackers (under 24) as they transition to founders, providing $55K per team and 10% royalty only above a $4M exit threshold.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Startup Founder Fellowship / Pre-Seed Accelerator

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Mentoring, Coaching, Alumni Networking & Peer Support Platforms (EDAFAMAN)

Keywords

• Startup fellowship program
• Founder mentorship
• Early-stage founder funding
• Pre-seed capital
• Student entrepreneur program

Headquarters

HQ city

Miami

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Royalty on Startup Exit Proceeds: Telora receives 10% of whatever each founder makes from the sale of their stake in the company if the founders collectively make $4M or more. If they make less than $4M collectively, Telora receives nothing. This unique structure aligns Telora's incentives with founders - they only profit if founders achieve significant exits.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Telora runs a 6-month, in-person fellowship in Miami that helps student hackers transition into startup founders by providing $55,000 per team in funding (paid as $10,000 on acceptance plus monthly installments), one-on-one mentorship from founders who have built and exited companies, weekly group dinners, and a community of ambitious peer builders. In exchange, Telora takes common stock with a unique 10% royalty on founder exit proceeds that only activates if the founding team collectively realizes more than $4M from the sale of their company; below that threshold Telora forfeits its equity entirely.

Product overview

Telora is a fellowship program that helps hackers start startups, not a tech product company. The offering consists of a single core product: the Telora Fellowship program. This 6-month intensive fellowship in Miami provides participants with $55,000 in funding, mentorship from founders who've built successful companies, weekly dinners with experienced founders, and a community of ambitious builders. The fellowship targets ambitious students and young hackers under 24 who want to transition from academia to entrepreneurship, with fellowships starting in January and June each year.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Telora Fellowship A 6-month in-person fellowship in Miami for ambitious student hackers who want to become startup founders, providing $55,000 of capital per team, one-on-one mentorship from founders who have built and exited companies, weekly group dinners, and a community of peer builders, in exchange for common stock that only pays a 10% royalty if the founders collectively realize more than $4M from the sale of the company.
• Telora Funding Program The capital component of the Telora Fellowship: $55,000 per team delivered as $10,000 on acceptance plus monthly installments, structured as a common-stock investment with a 10% royalty on founder exit proceeds that only activates above a $4M collective exit threshold and is forfeited entirely below it.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Neo Scholar:
• 1517 Fund: 1517 Fund supports young founders under 23, often dropouts from top universities, with non-traditional deal structures aimed at making starting a company less risky. Direct overlap with Telora's under-24 hacker-founder target demographic and founder-friendly economics.

Broad incumbents

• Y Combinator: Y Combinator is the dominant startup accelerator, funding early-stage founders with standard preferred-stock terms, taking board seats, and providing strong network effects. Telora explicitly positions itself as the stage before YC, helping founders build the kind of companies YC would be lucky to fund.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Telora