For founders building the next generation of smart hardware and physical AI. 7 slots. Shenzhen. Cohort 01 starts July 1.
Apply as FounderB&A is built for one specific type of company: ambitious physical AI and smart hardware ventures. We run a focused, hands-on program designed around the realities of building hardware in Shenzhen — not a generic startup curriculum.
You do not need everything figured out to apply. You do need conviction about the problem you're solving and genuine interest in building a physical product.
People who can build — hardware, firmware, software, or all three. You understand the product at a component level.
You've worked through early ideas, have some validation, and are ready to commit to building a real company in Shenzhen.
You don't have a co-founder yet, but you have a thesis, relevant experience, and the drive to move fast on a physical AI idea.
You've started building and want to dramatically accelerate by running the next phase from Shenzhen.
B&A is for founders with the potential to build large and important companies. The product has to be physical, the intelligence has to be meaningful, and the ambition has to match.
Products that use AI inference at the device level to create experiences or outcomes that weren't possible with dumb hardware.
Hardware products that solve a genuine consumer problem by combining connected hardware with software intelligence.
Tools, sensors, modules, or systems that make industrial and commercial environments more capable through embedded intelligence.
Robots or autonomous devices for specific tasks — not general-purpose research projects, but products with a clear customer and use case.
Not a fit
Pure software AI companies. Consumer electronics without meaningful intelligence. Academic or research-only projects. Products with no plausible path to a real business.
We are accepting a deliberately small first cohort to give each team real attention and support. International applicants are welcome and actively encouraged.
Alongside founder-led applications, B&A will select builders for three venture concepts we have shaped around our thesis. High-potential ideas for exceptional executors.
Consumer smart devices operate as isolated silos with no shared environmental awareness.
Register interest →Small manufacturers rely on manual inspection with 15–25% defect escape rates and no affordable automated alternative.
Register interest →Industrial operators collect terabytes of sensor data with no affordable real-time inference layer.
Register interest →