Is your startup the next Vanta, Doordash, or Gusto? Your startup has the opportunity to work with one of their earliest investors: Pear, a Microsoft for Startups partner that hosts an exclusive cohort accelerator program designed to support pre-seed companies called PearX.
Microsoft for Startups partners with PearX to ensure that their portfolio companies get access to a variety of resources—including customers.
One of the biggest surprises in Microsoft for Startups and PearX partnership has been how valuable Microsoft’s enterprise network has been for early-stage startups. While cloud credits are beneficial, the true advantage of Microsoft for Startups lies in access to Fortune 500 companies, co-selling opportunities, and deep technical resources. Several Pear startups have leveraged Microsoft’s programs to land major enterprise deals, which has been a game-changer for early growth.
Ajay Kamat, Partner, PearX
With the application deadline for the next cohort rapidly approaching—April 28, 2025—we thought it would be valuable to share some insights on why AI startups should apply to take part in the next PearX cohort.
What kinds of candidates is PearX seeking?
Wondering if your AI startup is a good fit for the PearX program? A strong application demonstrates:
- A bold vision with clear articulation of why now is “the right time to build.”
- Strong founder-market fit, showing why your team is uniquely suited to tackle the problem.
- Early signs of demand or traction, even if it’s just customer interviews or initial pilots.
- Differentiation, whether through data access, technical innovation, or a unique go-to-market strategy.
How does PearX evaluate AI startups’ technology?
At the application layer, Pear thinks less about AI companies as their own category and instead views companies as technology providers selling into specific verticals like healthcare, biotech, marketing, or engineering. What matters most is how deeply the founders understand their specific vertical and the workflows within it. If founders have a keen insight into the human processes today, AI can be a major accelerant to automate those workflows, especially if they have deep integrations with vertical-specific systems.
At the foundational layer, the transformer architecture has created a significant market shift for generic large language models. That said, Pear sees a limited window of opportunity for foundational model providers that take a unique approach, such as neuro-symbolic AI for numeric models.
But it’s not just the application of AI. Pear evaluates whether the founder has a deep technical insight and their speed of experimentation. While Pear is familiar with many of the techniques that are becoming commonplace at the application layer, they collaborate with AI experts through their broader network to assess novel foundational approaches. Pear also regularly reads papers to stay up to date with the latest research.
What do PearX accelerator participants gain?
Startups who are accepted to the cohort can expect:
- A deeply involved approach. They don’t just offer capital; they roll up their sleeves to help with everything from hiring that first employee to iterating on product-market fit. Some of the program offerings include:
- An in house recruiter dedicated to PearX companies.
- A go-to-market (GTM) services team to make introductions, help close customers, and support go-to-market.
- An opportunity to present in front of hundreds of the top General Partners of Silicon Valley venture capital firms and reach thousands of investors globally through streaming.
- Weekly office hours, hands-on working sessions, and introductions in real time based on company needs.
- Help securing the capital needed to scale. This hands-on approach has proven effective, with many companies raising follow-on capital, often from top institutional investors.
Pear has extensive experience with early-stage startups. They’ve built an internal playbook—called Pear Almanac—that provides companies with frameworks and guidance on navigating common challenges like go-to-market strategy, fundraising, and scaling.
Who is behind the effort of PearX?
Rest assured, it’s people who have “been there and done that.” Pear is composed of experienced founders, operators, and domain experts across AI, consumer, enterprise, healthcare, software as a service (SaaS), and deep tech. When Pear invests, they match startups with team members who have relevant expertise.
- An AI startup might work closely with someone like Arash Afraketeh, who has scaled ML models at a large company.
- A consumer startup might be paired with a former founder like Warren Schaeffer, who has built and launched viral consumer companies.
- A biotech startup may benefit from the expertise of Eddie Eltoukhy, who holds a PhD in biological engineering and helped scale companies like Senti Bio.
- And if you need help specific to being a founder, Pear also has a strong mentorship network of founders who actively advise new startups.
In fact, community is one of Pear’s biggest strengths—and biggest differentiators. PearX founders lean on each other for tactical advice, customer introductions, and team-building support. From a highly engaged Slack network where founders share insights and troubleshoot challenges in real time to alumni who play an active role, this peer support goes beyond what most accelerators and investors offer.
Microsoft for Startups is already looking forward to meeting the next PearX cohort. If you think your early stage AI startup deserves to be among them, please consider applying for PearX before April 28, 2025.
