NEXT 36 Founder Fellowship
- Organization: NEXT Canada
- Type: Fellowship
- Location: Canada
- Deadline: October 14, 2026
- Funding: Partially Funded
NEXT Canada, a registered charity based in Toronto, selects 36 of the most entrepreneurial undergraduates, masters students and recent graduates from across Canada each year and spends eight months turning them into founders. You can arrive with an early-stage venture or with an idea you want to build from scratch. The programme is part-time and remote from January to April 2027, then a full-time, in-person Entrepreneurship Institute in Toronto from May to August 2027, with classes taught by faculty from Rotman, MIT Sloan, Imperial College London, Harvard Business School and Georgetown. **What you get:** - A curriculum on building, launching and scaling a company, taught by successful entrepreneurs and award-winning faculty - Pairing with a mentor who has launched a venture - Access to NEXT Canada's investor network - Free office space in Toronto for the summer, alongside the rest of the cohort - In-kind products and services from partners, including cloud hosting and legal support - Membership of an alumni community of more than 1,000 founders, with coaching and resources after the programme - No fee to participate, and no equity taken (the 2.5 percent equity requirement was removed in September 2025) **What you'll do:** - January to April 2027: build your venture part-time and remotely while finishing your academic year - May to August 2027: commit full-time and in person in Toronto to classes, workshops, mentorship and building the venture; no other classes, jobs or side projects during this period - Attend masters-level courses including the Economics of Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation, Entrepreneurial Finance, and Entrepreneurial Marketing - Pitch to investors, corporate stakeholders and the startup ecosystem at Venture Day in August **Key dates:** - Applications open August 13, 2026 - Applications close October 14, 2026 at 11:59pm - Programme runs part-time and remote from January to April 2027 - Programme runs full-time and in person in Toronto from May to August 2027 - A second intake in February 2027 lets admitted founders' co-founders apply **More information:** - There is no minimum GPA requirement; GPA is one data point among many - The application is individual, so co-founders of an existing venture each apply separately; only those selected at National Selection Weekend are admitted as Lead Founders - Participants cover their own summer living expenses in Toronto (food and accommodation) and their travel to Toronto - Ventures own their own intellectual property upon incorporation - The application asks for education history, short-answer questions and a 60-second video answer, and can be saved and resumed until the deadline
