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Lightyear Founder Residency

Do a year's worth of work
in a month.

Apply for the next cohort. Applications take under 5 minutes.
We review on a rolling basis.

Apply Now
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We're at an inflection point. Generational companies are being built in record time — but only by founders who've rewired how they build. The old playbook is dead.

The Lightyear Residency is a focused, 1-month program for pre-seed founders who are building, not just planning. We strip away every distraction, give you deep connections with people who've been in your shoes, and support you every step of the way.

The experience culminates in an immersive retreat and a high-signal demo day, where founders demo working products — not decks — to a curated audience of investors and operators.

If you can focus that intensely in today's distraction-first world, anything is possible.

Welcome to Lightyear.

01: The Program
Week 01
Rewire
Align on the most important thing you could possibly build. Unlearn the habits slowing you down and adopt a new operating system — with AI as a first-class collaborator.
Week 02 — 03
Build
Execute with singular focus. Daily standups, peer accountability, expert office hours. Stress-test with real users and refine the product, the story, and the business — fast.
Week 04
Launch
An immersive retreat, then demo day. Founders demo working products to a curated audience of investors and operators who are there because what's on stage is already worth backing.
02: By the numbers
1
Month Program
3×
Cohorts Per Year
10+
Companies Launched
<5
Min to Apply
Our alumni have gone on to raise funding, hit their first revenue, and ship products they couldn't have imagined a month earlier.
Apply Now
Small
Cohort Size
We keep cohorts small on purpose. Every founder in the room is there because they earned it. This isn't a conference — it's a room full of people who will push you.
Rolling
Applications
We review applications on a rolling basis. The sooner you apply, the better your chances. Applications take under 5 minutes. No decks required.
03: Companies
"Do 12 months of work in 1."
Make Sunsets
+
Launching reflective clouds near the ozone layer to cool the world
  • Closing $500k pilot with OpenAI, clear path to $250M with current customers
  • 1,000+ paying customers including CEO of Anduril, ex-CEO of Twitch, ex-CEO of Reddit
  • Founders: Head of Hardware at YC, first business hire at Scale AI
Climate Tech
2025
StaffAI
+
Commission-only 1099 AI employees that supercharge revenue
  • $50K MRR during batch, growing 50% MoM
  • Signed world's first 1099 for an AI employee
  • Each AI employee averages $7.5k MRR
AI Workforce
2025
Recast Systems
+
Weather modification company that precisely controls the weather
  • 2 pilots with international governments in last month
  • Creating novel compound to track and verify weather modification
Deep Tech
2025
Deconflict
+
Onchain fraud prevention
  • $0 to $500k in binding LOIs with Anchorage Digital and PayPal in two weeks
  • 600 law enforcement agencies including FBI, CIA, NSA onboarded
  • CEO: crypto investigations at Secret Service. CTO: Apple Intelligence
Crypto / Security
2025
StanBy
+
Scale AI for cultural intelligence data, starting with live events
  • Software used by 300k people at one of the largest festivals in the world
  • LOIs with Tomorrowland, J. Balvin, and MSG
  • Founder produced 100+ live events including Minecraft's first concert
Data / Culture
2025
Sorcerer
+
Weapon of Mass Adoption
  • 1M views for a customer in under one week during batch
  • Customers include Emergent, Lovable, and Hyperspell
  • Founders have won 28 hackathons including YC's first AI Hackathon
Growth
2025
Superpath
+
Virtual card powered by AI that optimizes software spend
  • 36 companies signed up on launch week; $47M in transactions processed
  • YC founder, co-founder built credit cards at Capital One
Fintech
2025
Sphere
+
Fund, buy, borrow against any public stock in 49 seconds
  • $470M in borrow demand in last two weeks
  • Only company able to borrow against tokenized stocks compliantly
  • Founder previously raised $1B for startups
Fintech / Crypto
2025
Theseus
+
Guarantee agentic personhood onchain
  • Whitepaper with Professors from UT, UIUC, and McGill
  • Pioneered verified tensor compute for autonomous agent transactions
  • Founders previously started Frax and EigenAI
Crypto / AI
2025
Clayton Farms
+
A longevity platform starting with healthy addictive food
  • Sold out of salads every week during batch
  • Works with YC, Coinbase, and Founders Inc
  • First SF location opening soon
Food / Longevity
2025
Posty
+
Generate, monitor, and reply to posts across all marketing channels
  • Answering 100% of negative replies for customers within one week
  • Founder scaled last company to $2B valuation with $6B in volume
AI / Marketing
2025
Next Cohort
Applications open now

The game for entrepreneurs has changed.
It's time to focus on what matters most.

Applications take under 5 minutes  ·  Rolling review  ·  Pre-seed founders only

Apply Now Get in Touch