Fast Forward Academy
Getting from MVP to beta can be one of the hardest stages in a founder's journey. For nonprofit founders building AI-powered products, there's almost no infrastructure designed for this moment. You've built a prototype, but you’re still figuring out who it's really for, whether it solves the problem you think it does, and how to get it into the hands of the people who need it most. Enter the Fast Forward Academy.
What is the Academy?
The Fast Forward Academy is a hybrid, six-week program for people who are using AI to build for social impact in the United States. It’s designed for founders with a clear vision, lived experience of the problem they’re solving, and the drive to ship something real. Over six weeks, you'll validate your solution, deepen your understanding of who you're building for, sharpen your go-to-market strategy, and launch a beta product — with technical support, peer community, and the guidance of people who have done this before. And, it comes with a $10k grant to support the next phase of building.
At Fast Forward, we define an MVP as a product with some functionality, but no real users yet. We define a beta as a product in testing with a small group of external users.
Key Dates
- The Academy application is open until July 17th.
- We’ll interview founders on a rolling basis, and notify all applicants of their status by August 30th.
- The Academy kicks off virtually the week of October 8th and concludes the week of November 9th.
- The week of October 19th, Fast Forward will convene founders in San Francisco for a week of in-person building.
Get Funded
Receive a $10k grant to support your access to AI tools and build your product.
Get Insights
Learn about user research, agentic coding, go-to-market strategy, and storytelling.
Get Community
Join a small cohort of fellow early stage builders.
Should I apply for the Academy or the Accelerator?
The Academy supports AI-powered nonprofit founders in getting from MVP to beta. The Accelerator supports early-stage tech nonprofits in growing their organization.
Not sure if you're a fit for the Academy? Email us at academy@ffwd.org with your question. BIPOC and women founders are statistically less likely to apply when they have doubts. That shouldn’t be the reason we miss you.
Ready to apply?
Frequently Asked Questions
My co-founder and I are both interested in the Academy. Can we both apply?
Each team should have one representative participating in programming.
What if I only meet some of the criteria?
You must be a U.S. based founder building an AI-powered nonprofit who needs support to get to beta. If you meet that criteria, you should apply.
What are the key program dates?
The Academy application is open until July 17th. We’ll interview founders on a rolling basis, and notify all applicants of their status by August 30th.
The Academy kicks off virtually the week of October 8th & concludes the week of November 9th. The week of October 19th, Fast Forward will convene founders in San Francisco for a week of in-person building.
How many founders will be accepted?
Up to 24, depending on founder alignment.
Do I need to be a registered nonprofit?
No. We anticipate that many of our Academy founders will be pre-incorporation. But, anyone who applies for this program should be committed to becoming a tech nonprofit in the near future
Do I need to be working on this full-time?
Not yet. We know many early-stage founders are still juggling other roles & responsibilities. That said, you should be far enough along that you can commit roughly 4 hours per week to program calls (+ additional build time!) and one in-person week in San Francisco.
Other question not answered here?
Email us at academy@ffwd.org. We look forward to reviewing your application.