The flagship scale programme, rebuilt for AI-native companies using the experience from 16 previous batches. Five working sessions in Amsterdam, four days in San Francisco, and buyer rooms with the people who could buy your product. The customers, experts, and peers that get you to your next inflection point.
Buyers, investors, experts, peers — and an operator paired with you for the whole programme. Selected for the conversation you're trying to have, not the conference circuit.
New in this generation of Rise: buyer rooms and buyer panels. You sit at dinner with CTOs, Heads of AI and engineering leaders from companies like Miro, Booking and Picnic — and later pitch a panel of buyers who react to your positioning and pricing. Not a sales pitch, though some conversations have a way of turning into contracts.
Top-tier US funds, met on the ground in San Francisco rather than covered in a session from a distance. Partners who are able to lead your next round and intro you to the right customers and senior hires.
Every expert is briefed on your challenge before they walk in. You'll get specific, opinionated answers from some of the best practitioners in each area — no cold rooms, no generic masterclass.
A cohort of six to nine founders going through similar challenges right now. The kind of relationships that make the next decade of scaling easier — and that keep running as a Circle after the programme ends.
September to December. Standalone sessions, roughly fortnightly, from the early afternoon into drinks in Amsterdam — built to fit a founder's calendar. Buyer rooms run as evening dinners alongside, and the programme closes at the Heroes Dinner.
One per session — preparation, an in-the-room working session with the right experts, and an implementation follow-up at the next one.
Rather than covering the US market and fundraising from a distance, we take you there. The kick off runs a practical deep dive on establishing in the US, then four days in San Francisco put you in front of the builders, operators and funds defining your category. Investor meetings on the ground replace the old standalone capital session.
Deliberately not abstract product strategy or which features to ship. How to run engineering, what makes a team effective, and which processes actually produce good outcomes — especially now that teams are co-building with AI. Most companies at this stage have the technical capability but not yet an efficient system around it.
A written ICP sharp enough to name the companies and roles you want introductions to. The three segments you are saying no to. A pipeline model you can forecast from, and a decision on your first sales hire.
Buyer rooms over dinner and a buyer panel in session. Does the problem land, is the buyer you described the buyer in the room, would they take the next meeting? Each buyer scores every company on a structured sheet, so you leave with comparable feedback rather than a handful of impressions.
The first senior hires past the founders. Where the best technical talent in the Netherlands really sits, and how to win them against a US offer. The 30% ruling, equity packages, and the operational system underneath it all. The cohort decides on the day which of the two is the bigger constraint.
Process. Companies submit their challenge and prep material before every session, so experts walk in briefed. Every session ends with commitments in writing, and the next one opens with an implementation follow-up.
The format is the product. Four things we hold to in every session, kept and sharpened across 16 batches.
The spine of every session, kept from every prior batch because founders keep telling us it works. Groups of three to four companies plus experts, 45 minutes per challenge, moderated. You outline the challenge, the group digs in with questions before anyone offers a view, then the tough love comes — and the room usually gets to a problem deeper than the one you submitted.
Each company is paired with an experienced operator for the whole programme. Your EiR runs your pre-programme deep dive, briefs the session experts on what you actually need, opens sessions with your implementation follow-up, and checks in every fortnight. Accountability from someone who has done it.
Before every session you submit your challenge and the prep ask — your last twenty closed-won and closed-lost deals, or your current pipeline export. Experts walk in briefed on your situation. Every session ends with commitments in writing, and the next one opens with what actually shipped.
You bring the team member most affected by the topic — your Head of Sales for ICP, your CHRO for talent — and we expect two people per company at each session. Chatham House throughout: roadmaps, pricing and pipeline stay in the room. Vulnerability is what makes the format work.
Rise 3.0 · the cohort
Built for earlier-stage AI companies showing exceptional growth. All building at a similar pace, in the same generation — the working group during the programme, and the peer relationship most founders only develop years later.
Chatham House Throughout — roadmaps, pricing, and pipeline stay in the room.
Programme fee
per company
Covers the full Rise programme, the San Francisco trip and all logistics, Techleap membership, and Circle continuation. Excludes flights.
First batch July 2020. Themed cohorts since (Health, Fintech, AI-native). Every batch is surveyed afterwards: 89 NPS across 116 responses, and not one founder has scored Rise below an eight. Every cohort, every company, where they are now — on a separate page.
Cohorts
16
since 2020, including themed Health and Fintech cohorts
Companies
151
graduated through Rise
NPS
89
across 6 years, with zero detractors
Rise is one of four ways the community shows up. The others run on the same network — different commitments, different shapes.
Member directory, dinners, AMAs and WhatsApp. The everyday network you turn to first when something's broken or the next call is wrong.
Inside Connect
Eight founders. Same room. Quarter after quarter. Honest peer advisory on the problems you can't put on a deck.
Join a Circle
Twenty seats. London, New York, San Francisco. Curated investor + customer days, alumni dinners, the rooms you'd struggle to book alone.
See the trips