What Quarter Zero does

Quarter Zero (QØ) is a privately held, Santa Barbara-based LLC that runs immersive entrepreneurship programs for high school students. Founded in 2014 by Joshua Caleb Collins (originally as Catapult) and operating under the nonprofit parent Endowment for Potential, QØ delivers 5- to 10-day Startup Camps and a 5-week Catapult Incubator in startup hubs including Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and New York City. Adjacent offerings include one-on-one Youth Executive Coaching, School Clubs for educators, the virtual QØ Cup competition, the QØ Arena 60-day accelerator ($10,000 for 5% equity), a $200/month QØ Studio co-working space, and alumni-facing investment vehicles (Q1 Fund and QØ Angel Network).

The company's "technology" is pedagogical rather than software: a proprietary QØ Methodology derived from Stanford's Needfinding process and lean startup principles, adapted for high-school-age participants. There is no disclosed AI, API, or SDK surface; the platform is offline-experiential with an Idea Board blog, online application flow, and TrustPilot social proof layer. Revenue is diversified across five streams — one-time summer program fees, recurring Studio memberships, accelerator equity stakes, alumni investment returns, and (historically) sponsorship-type income from branded cohorts. The company reports 700+ alumni from 10 countries, with alumni ventures generating $5M+ in cumulative revenue and 87% of alumni citing QØ on college applications.

Quarter Zero is founder-led, with Collins as CEO and a small leadership team (Chris Kosednar as Partner/Product Lead; Martha Rush as Chief Educator-in-Residence). The company has not raised institutional capital into the operating entity; investment activity is outbound (into alumni companies such as Maidbot) rather than inbound. Customer concentration is diffuse (B2C high-school consumers), and growth is driven by product-surface expansion and alumni network effects rather than geographic or enterprise-channel moves.

Name

Quarter Zero

Legal name

Quarter Zero, LLC

Website

https://quarterzero.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Quarter Zero runs immersive entrepreneurship programs for high school students — including summer camps, an incubator, and a 60-day accelerator — across U.S. startup hubs, layered with alumni coaching, a co-working studio, and investment vehicles.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Entrepreneurship Education

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Educational Services (611), Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA), Entrepreneurship, Business & Innovation Camps (EDAMALAL), Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB), Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM)

Keywords

• Youth entrepreneurship education
• High school startup programs
• Summer entrepreneurship camps
• Student startup accelerator
• Entrepreneurship coaching services

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Barbara

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, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Summer Program Fees: Revenue from paid summer entrepreneurship programs including Startup Camp and Catapult Incubator. Application fees and initial deposits are non-refundable. Program fees are refundable up to 90 days prior to program start date.
2. QØ Studio Memberships: $200 per month for dedicated desk in shared workspace. Includes coffee, snacks, startup support, community events, and access to QØ resources.
3. Investment Returns: QØ invests in alumni startups through Q1 Fund ($10-20k early stage investments) and maintains equity positions. QØ Arena accelerator takes 5% equity in exchange for $10,000.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Quarter Zero runs paid, immersive entrepreneurship programs for high school students, including a 5- or 10-day Startup Camp, a 5-week Catapult Incubator held in startup hubs, one-on-one Youth Executive Coaching, high school School Clubs for educators, the QØ Cup virtual competition, and a 60-day Teddy's Arena accelerator that exchanges $10,000 for 5% equity. The organization also operates QØ Studio co-working memberships and alumni-focused investment vehicles (Q1 Fund and QØ Angel Network).

Product overview

Quarter Zero is a high school entrepreneurship education organization offering a portfolio of programs rather than a unified software product. The core offerings include Youth Executive Coaching, Summer Experiences (Startup Camp and Catapult Incubator), School Clubs, and the QØ Cup competition. Additional programs include Teddy's Arena (60-day accelerator with $10k funding for 5% equity), QØ Studio co-working space, the Q1 Fund investment vehicle, and the QØ Angel Network. The programs work together to take students from initial entrepreneurship exposure through startup creation and funding, with the QØ Community and Idea Board Blog providing ongoing support and educational resources. The organization is headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA with operations spanning Silicon Valley, NYC, and Santa Barbara.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• QØ Startup Camp A 5- or 10-day intensive summer camp on the fundamentals of entrepreneurship with local adventures, designed for high school students to experience entrepreneurship firsthand.
• Catapult Incubator A 5-week immersive startup experience where high school students work from startup hubs including Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and NYC, creating and pitching a real startup.
• Youth Executive Coaching

Quantifiable outcome

• 87% of alumni wrote about QØ on college applications
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Endowment for PotentialcoreOthersParent organization of Quarter Zero. QØ's mission to power the potential of young people aligns with the Endowment's focus on youth development and potential maximization.
• Horn Entrepreneurship at University of DelawareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQØ sponsors the Diamond Challenge high school entrepreneurship competition created by Horn Entrepreneurship at University of Delaware. The competition includes an online curriculum guiding students through business planning and pitch deck creation.
• gBETA Medtech Accelerator (Mayo Clinic)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlumni Bharat Pulgam participated in gBETA Medtech accelerator sponsored by Mayo Clinic for his Vitrose medical device company.
• TechstarsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlumni Bharat Pulgam attended Techstars Retail Accelerator with his third startup Runerra. Declined Techstars acceptance to focus on Maidbot.
• Harvard Innovation LabcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner2014 inaugural Catapult cohort was hosted at Harvard Innovation Lab. Alumni Micah Estis Green was accepted as a Free Agent in this first cohort.
• TargetminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRunerra (founded by QØ alumni) has partnered with Target for crowdsourced food pickup and errands.
• Caribou CoffeeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRunerra (founded by QØ alumni) has partnered with Caribou Coffee for crowdsourced errands.
• QdobaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRunerra (founded by QØ alumni) has partnered with Qdoba for food pickup services.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Diamond Challenge (Horn Entrepreneurship, University of Delaware): Diamond Challenge is a high school entrepreneurship pitch competition operated by Horn Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware. Quarter Zero explicitly sponsors Diamond Challenge, and the two collaborate on pitch/curriculum content.
• BUILD: BUILD runs in-school and after-school entrepreneurship programs where high school students launch real ventures with mentors. Its mission, target age, and venture-creation model are highly comparable to Quarter Zero's experiential programs.
• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE): NFTE is a long-standing nonprofit delivering entrepreneurship curricula and pitch competitions to high school students, particularly in underserved schools. It directly overlaps with Quarter Zero's School Clubs and QØ Cup offerings.
• DECA: DECA is a large student organization that prepares high schoolers for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management through competitive events and curricular programs. Its competition-and-credential model parallels QØ Cup.
• LaunchX: LaunchX runs immersive summer startup programs for high school students at top universities, directly mirroring Quarter Zero's Catapult Incubator and Startup Camp model, pricing, and target demographic. It is the closest head-to-head competitor in the paid HS entrepreneurship summer space.
• Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!): YEA! is an after-school and summer program where middle and high school students launch real businesses with mentorship and pitch to investors for seed funding. Its venture-funding finale is highly comparable to QØ Arena and the QØ Angel Network.

Broad incumbents

• Junior Achievement USA: Junior Achievement is the largest established youth business and work-readiness education nonprofit, reaching millions of K-12 students. It is a much broader incumbent but occupies the same 'business literacy for teens' category.
• Y Combinator Startup School: Y Combinator's Startup School is a free, broad online entrepreneurship curriculum reaching founders of all ages. It is a free alternative that competes with the educational layer of Quarter Zero's programs, though without the in-person immersion.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/quarterzero
• Instagraminstagram.com/quarterzero
• Xx.com/quarter_zero
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/quarterzero

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Quarter Zero