0G and xBuilders Open Applications for Apollo AI Accelerator Cohort 2

0G, the trust layer for AI, and xBuilders, the team of Stanford veterans behind the Stanford Blockchain Accelerator, have opened applications for Cohort 2 of the 0G Apollo Accelerator. The program will select up to 10 AI startups for a four-month accelerator running from November 2026 to February 2027, with up to $2 million in investment available per project.* Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until November 2, 2026, and founders who apply early get priority.

The second cohort was first announced at 0G Dev Day Singapore on October 5. It is open to AI founders building revenue-generating products, from early stage to growth stage, who are ready to build with 0G infrastructure.

What Cohort 2 offers

Accepted teams receive:

• Up to $2,000,000 in investment per project, subject to due diligence, project evaluation and program terms*
• 1:1 mentorship from xBuilders, the 0G team and mentors from Google, Consensys, Privy and Stanford-affiliated funds
• Direct access to 0G protocol engineers for integration support
• Partner perks across security audits, finance, legal, cloud and marketing services
• Demo Day at the end of the program, plus an in-person graduation on the Stanford campus

The program runs in three blocks: four weeks of programming in November covering product strategy, AI and technical deep dives; a focused build sprint from December to mid-January; and four weeks in January and February on go-to-market, operations and legal, and fundraising, ending with Demo Day and graduation. The program is primarily remote, except for an in-person graduation at Stanford toward the end of the program.

How Cohort 1 did

The first Apollo cohort of 10 teams was selected from more than 220 applications and graduated at Stanford in July 2026 after a ten-week program. According to 0G, the cohort has drawn more than 100 intro requests from investors, enterprises and partners since its Demo Day. One Cohort 1 company, UV Labs, launched a platform where AI agents act as market makers for new digital assets. UV Labs also used the platform to launch its own digital asset, Bundle Cat, which reached a fully diluted valuation of about $120 million at its peak in September.

"Cohort 1 showed us what happens when serious AI founders get real infrastructure and real investors around them early," said Michael Heinrich, CEO of 0G Labs and a Stanford alumnus. "Cohort 2 is for founders who want to build AI that people can verify and trust, and we want to back them from the first line of code to Demo Day."

"We have run the Stanford Blockchain Accelerator for five years and helped more than 85 projects raise over $1 billion," said Gil Rosen, Managing Partner of xBuilders. "Apollo brings that playbook to AI founders, and Cohort 1 proved the model works. We are looking for teams that want to build fast and go to market with the right network behind them."

Cohort 1 founders describe the program in their own words on the Apollo website:

"The Apollo and 0G team gets genuinely hands-on. We received detailed feedback across product, GTM, and fundraising, not just high-level advice. The program's partner network provided support at every step, and 0G actively introduced investors to our team throughout," said Justin Bebis, Founder of UV Labs.

Timeline

• October 9: applications open at apollo.0g.ai, reviewed on a rolling basis
• November 2: applications close
• During review: shortlisted founders submit a five-minute video and take one interview call
• November: up to 10 teams announced
• November 2026 to February 2027: program, with Demo Day at the end and an in-person graduation at Stanford

Apply at apollo.0g.ai. Questions about the program: apollo@0g.ai.

*Investment amounts are subject to due diligence, project evaluation, and program terms. Actual funding may vary.

About 0G

0G is the trust layer for AI and a frontier AI lab. It trains its own foundation models, including the 0GM series, and builds the harness, safety, and verification layers around them. Its stack combines these with private compute, encrypted storage, and an AI-native EVM L1 chain, designed to enable AI work, from inference to agent actions, to be verified and audited. Learn more at https://0g.ai.

About xBuilders

xBuilders is comprised of veteran founders, operators, and investors from Google, Salesforce, Capital One, and Coinbase, who have extensive experience running accelerators across AI, Fintech, and Blockchain. The team teaches the MS&E447 AI Sovereignty & Entrepreneurship course at Stanford University's School of Engineering, runs the Stanford Openlab Open Source AI Seminar, and has run the Stanford Blockchain Accelerator for the last 5 years, helping 85+ projects collectively raise over $1B from leading funds with multiple unicorn successes. The xBuilders team has also run AI accelerators for Cornell/IC3, and has extensive experience building and operating the Google for Startups accelerator program for dozens of cohorts across AI, innovation, and software technologies. Accelerator programming is based on Stanford University's startup methodologies and courses, and the extensive experience of the team as founders, operators, and investors running accelerators for SBA, Google for Startups, StartX, and Cardinal Ventures.

0G, the trust layer for AI, and xBuilders, the team of Stanford veterans behind the Stanford Blockchain Accelerator, have opened applications for Cohort 2 of the 0G Apollo Accelerator.

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