a16z speedrun vs Conviction Embed
How a16z speedrun and Conviction Embed compare on investment, equity, format, stage and timing. Every figure comes from the programs' own sites, verified November 4, 2026.
| a16z speedrun | Conviction Embed | |
|---|---|---|
| Investment | $1M | $250K |
| Equity | 10% | Not published |
| Deal terms | Up to $1M: $500K for 10% upfront on a SAFE, plus up to $500K in the next qualifying round ($2M+) within 18 months | $250K on an uncapped, no-discount MFN SAFE, or at the price of a round raised in the last 60 days. Credits include $350K AWS, $350K Azure and $500K+ in other compute and inference credits (OpenAI, Anthropic, Baseten, Pinecone, Vercel, Weights & Biases), plus early access to Mistral models. Earlier cohorts invested $150K. |
| Format | In-person | Hybrid |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States | San Francisco, United States |
| Stage | pre-seed, seed | idea, pre-seed, seed |
| Sectors | general | ai |
| Duration | 12 weeks | About 2 months (September retreat to November demo day) |
| Application cycle | 2 cohorts a year | Periodic cohorts with rolling admissions during each application month |
Investment is the full standard package; where part of it is an uncapped SAFE, the equity stake covers only the fixed part (see deal terms). Terms change; confirm on each official site before applying.
About
a16z speedrun
Andreessen Horowitz's accelerator: a 12-week residency in San Francisco, run twice a year with 70 to 80 companies per cohort. It accepts fewer than 0.4% of applicants and asks for pro rata rights and an option pool, but no board seat.
About
Conviction Embed
Embed is the AI accelerator run by Conviction, the venture firm founded by Sarah Guo. It invests $250K in each of 10 to 12 very early AI teams per cohort and adds more than $1M in compute and cloud credits. Solo founders, unincorporated teams and teams that have already raised can all apply. The program includes a mandatory retreat in San Francisco and ends with an angel and VC demo day.
Notable alumni: Cognition, Physical Intelligence, Pika Labs, Listen Labs, Reflection
Key differences
a16z speedrun or Conviction Embed?
- Does a16z speedrun or Conviction Embed invest more?
- a16z speedrun invests more: $1M against $250K from Conviction Embed.
- Do I need to relocate for a16z speedrun or Conviction Embed?
- a16z speedrun runs in person (headquartered in San Francisco, United States); Conviction Embed runs hybrid (headquartered in San Francisco, United States).
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