Startup Founder: Batch

Co-found an enterprise AI company with Builders

Anyone can build a company now. The founders who win are the ones who prove someone needs it. That is exactly what this batch is built to do.

Builders is a venture studio in Rotterdam. We co-found enterprise AI companies for the future of work. We put capital in, we validate alongside you, and we incorporate the company the moment the evidence earns it. This is not an accelerator. It is not advisory. It is a co-founding path, and you walk it with us from day one.

Batch 2 starts Monday 2 November 2026, in person, in Rotterdam.

What co-founding with Builders means

You are not joining a programme. You are starting a company with a studio as your co-founder. Concretely, that gives you:

• A venture builder beside you, daily. Not office hours once a week. Someone in the room, on your calls, in your decisions.

• Design partners, not slides. The first three weeks are one thing only: signed design partners in your actual target market. Everything else waits.

• A studio that builds with you. Our team joins the build week in person. Design, GTM, engineering, all in the room.

• The CTO Network. 2,400+ technical leaders across Europe. Your first customers, advisors and hires are already in it.

• Capital and incorporation. Clear the bar and we incorporate together, with a pre-seed from Builders on our standard deal. Terms are public: builders.studio/studio/deal.

• A company memory that compounds. Every call, every claim, every piece of evidence lives in VSI from day one (more below).

The shape of the path

Ten weeks, one room, every stage a real cut.

Before day one. We sharpen your scope together, onboard you, and pin down your first plan before you land in Rotterdam.

1. Weeks 1 to 3: prove. Only founders with at least 3 signed design partners advance to the following step, with a venture builder beside you every day.

2. Week 5: build week. Prototype with the studio in the room. Daily standups, design partners testing mid-build, and a Friday demo day where go or no-go is decided on the spot.

3. Weeks 6 to 9: build. Convert partners toward paying, push toward funding, backed individually when ready.

4. Week 10: pre-incorporation sprint. Real pitch-and-diligence sessions with outside investors. Clear the bar and we incorporate together.

What is VSI

VSI (Venture Studio Intelligence) is the operating layer for AI-first founders, and the batch runs on it from before day one. It turns every conversation into decision-grade intelligence: it scores the evidence behind every claim, shows you what is real and what is drifting, and guides your next move, from first call to first customer.

You sell and build; your Company Memory compounds. Selection and investment decisions run on that proof, not on pitch quality. And it does not stop after ten weeks: VSI is permanent infrastructure for your venture, not a programme you graduate from. Learn more at builders.studio/vsi.

Who we are looking for

Founders ready to commit like founders. One route in, with your own idea or one of ours. Lead with one of three profiles:

• Commercial. You have sold into enterprises and know how a deal actually closes.

• Technical. You ship. You have built products people pay for, and you build with AI as a matter of course.

• Domain expert. You have lived the problem inside an industry and know exactly who suffers from it.

Whichever profile you lead with, we expect you to also demonstrate:

• Domain sharpness. Name the five people you would call this week.

• Product understanding. You know what good looks like and what to leave out.

• Validation drive. Days, not quarters.

• Distribution. You have a way in, or you know how to build one fast.

• AI fluency. Claude, Cursor, agentic workflows. How you work, not a demo.

Practicalities

• Location: Rotterdam, in office, from day one. Our studio sits in the Groot Handelsgebouw, right next to Rotterdam Centraal. About 10 weeks until incorporation.

• Entry: for most nationalities a Schengen stay covers the batch (under 90 days), so no residence visa is needed. Invitation letter on request. Builders is a recognised Startup Visa facilitator; that route becomes relevant once we incorporate.

• Costs: you arrange and fund your own stay and travel. We provide the workspace, the studio team, and a proper welcome.

• Language: English.

• Capital and equity: the batch is free for selected founders. No compensation and no equity during the batch. Equity and pre-seed at incorporation only.

How applying works

1. Hit apply. We check your application against our scope: enterprise AI, future of work, and one of the three founder profiles above.

2. If it aligns, you receive an invitation to the Baseline Builder: about 30 minutes, a ~12-question conversation plus ~20 situational questions, and a short webcam intro (retained 30 days).

3. You hear back from us within 7 days.

4. If it is a fit, a 30 to 45 minute studio conversation with the founding team.

5. Terms, then Rotterdam.

Not sure yet? Come to Day Zero, our monthly build evening in Rotterdam. No pitches. You bring one real customer-facing problem and build alongside our team and current founders for two hours. It is the fastest way to find out whether this is your room.

Ready to prove someone needs it? Apply, and let's build.