500 Global's accelerator fee comes out of its own check

The record

500 Global, which its own site identifies as formerly known as 500 Startups, publishes its accelerator terms on a dedicated Flagship Accelerator page, as retrieved on 16 September 2026. The page states: 'Companies accepted into our Flagship Accelerator are offered a $150,000 investment for a 6% stake, subject to terms and diligence.' A page FAQ block describes the instrument type: 'we offer investments structured as convertible securities. Companies typically receive an investment of $150,000 for around 6% of their company (subject to dilution at the time of conversion of our convertible security).' The same page states the program itself runs four months, in person, and is hosted in Silicon Valley.

What the documents establish

The page's own FAQ text establishes that the headline $150,000 is not what a company nets. It states directly: 'we charge $37,500 per company to participate,' but that 'these fees can be deducted from our investment amount, so you don't have to pay out of pocket. As mentioned above, our gross investment is typically $150,000. Once program fees are deducted, you would receive $112,500.' The page frames this fee as covering 'basic costs of running the Flagship Accelerator, paying outside speakers,' and says it 'should be viewed like tuition.' The 500 Global homepage does not restate the fee or the equity figure; it establishes only the firm's identity and its history as 500 Startups, which is why the Flagship page, not the homepage, is the operative document for terms.

The operating read

The distinction a founder should draw here, editorially, is between the gross investment figure a program advertises and the net capital that actually reaches the company's bank account. On the numbers 500 Global states, the $37,500 program fee represents one quarter of the $150,000 headline check, deducted before the company sees it, even though the 6% equity stake is measured against the full $150,000, not the net $112,500. That gap between gross and net is worth modeling separately from the equity percentage itself.

What to check before you decide

Before comparing this offer to another accelerator's headline number, check the following against the current page and the company's own terms sheet.

• Does the final agreement confirm the $37,500 program fee is deducted from the $150,000 rather than billed separately, as the page currently states?
• Is the 6% equity figure calculated against the gross $150,000 or the net $112,500 the company actually receives?
• What form does the 'convertible security' take in the specific agreement offered, and what happens to it if no priced round occurs?

This is a description of one program's published terms as retrieved on 16 September 2026, not a claim that these figures have applied to every batch or every company 500 Global has funded; a founder should confirm current terms and diligence conditions directly.