How to Apply to YES!Delft in 2026
YES!Delft takes no equity, and it is still not free. Two programs, two fee structures, and a Dutch incorporation requirement applicants find out about late.
How to Apply to YES!Delft in 2026
How to apply to YES!Delft in 2026: submit the online form, clear a startup-scout review, take an intake conversation, complete a template pitch-deck assignment, then pitch the jury on Selection Day. YES!Delft takes no equity, but the Validation Program charges €900 and the Accelerator €3,500 plus a success fee.
No equity is the headline. It is also where most founders stop reading.
YES!Delft takes no equity in your company, and it still charges you. The Validation Program costs €900 excluding VAT per team of two founders. The Accelerator costs €3,500 excluding VAT per team, plus a €25,000 excluding VAT success fee that triggers when the company reaches either €1 million in additional annual revenue or €1 million in total dilutive and non-dilutive funding (YES!Delft FAQ).
The second fact to settle before you open a form: YES!Delft does not invest directly. It publishes no guaranteed funding amount, and Accelerator startups get funding-plan work, investor matching, and deal-making support in place of cash (YES!Delft FAQ). If you came for a cheque, this is the wrong door. If you came for structured validation of a hard technology, it is a good one.
How to apply to YES!Delft in 5 steps
The pitch deck is the fourth filter, not the first. This is the sequence the program publishes (YES!Delft FAQ).
- Submit the online application form. It asks for contact details, startup name, company country and city, founder count, a pitch deck or one-pager upload, an optional website, and how you heard about YES!Delft (YES!Delft 360 application).
- Clear the startup-scout review. A scout screens the submission before anyone speaks to you.
- Take the intake conversation. First live filter, and the first place your technology claim gets pressure-tested.
- Complete the pitch-deck assignment. It arrives on a YES!Delft template, and only after a successful intake.
- Pitch the jury on Selection Day. Shortlisted teams pitch, and the jury decides within a few days.
Do not send your fundraising deck at step one. Step four hands you a template you have to fill in anyway. Upload the shortest artifact that proves the technology exists and the team is two people deep.
✅ Good: Two co-founders, working prototype in the lab, Dutch BV registered, two paid pilots. One-pager attached. Every line maps to something a scout can verify.
❌ Bad: Revolutionary deeptech platform seeking funding and mentorship to scale globally. Nothing in it can be checked against a criteria list.
Validation or Accelerator: choose before you start the YES!Delft application
These are two products with two different bars, and applying a level up burns a cycle.
| Validation Program | Accelerator Program | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 10 weeks, part time | 3 months, then 5+ years of ecosystem support |
| Focus | Problem-solution fit, customer validation | Funding plan, investor matching, deal-making |
| Fee (excl. VAT) | €900 per team of two founders | €3,500 per team |
| Success fee | None published | €25,000 excl. VAT, on trigger |
| Displayed 2026 deadline | 23 August 2026 | 13 September 2026 |
| Displayed run dates | 29 Sep to 2 Dec 2026 | 21 Oct 2026 to 5 Feb 2027 |
Length, focus and fees come from the FAQ (YES!Delft FAQ); the dated windows come from the two program pages (Validation Program, Accelerator Program).
Apply to Validation if you cannot yet name a paying customer. The Accelerator's stated bar already includes problem-solution fit, a working prototype or MVP, and market traction (YES!Delft FAQ). Both programs run on site at YES!Delft in Delft, Netherlands.
YES!Delft equity terms: no equity, two fees, one contingent €25,000
No equity is a cap-table fact, not a cost fact. The program takes no stake, and that is the real advantage over an equity accelerator: a fixed fee stops, a permanent percentage of the company does not.
The line to model is the Accelerator success fee. It fires at €1 million in additional annual revenue or €1 million in total dilutive and non-dilutive funding (YES!Delft FAQ). Read the second trigger again. A €1 million seed round is a trigger event, and it is the exact outcome the program is built to produce.
Put the €25,000 in your use-of-funds line, not in the surprise column. Founders who model it as a fundraising cost rather than a program cost do not get caught by it.
YES!Delft eligibility: two co-founders, Dutch incorporation, freedom to operate
Solo founders are filtered at the door. The core requirements are at least two committed co-founders and an innovative, scalable technology (YES!Delft FAQ).
The Accelerator stacks seven more on top: problem-solution fit, a working prototype or MVP, market traction, a Netherlands-registered startup, freedom to operate, an IP patent, and at least six months of runway (YES!Delft FAQ).
International founders have a route and a logistics problem. The application form's international-founder notice states that Dutch incorporation before the program and physical attendance in Delft are both required (YES!Delft 360 application). Start the BV paperwork alongside the application, not after a yes. Do not read the IP requirement loosely either: if your freedom-to-operate position is a plan rather than a filing, say so at intake, not at Selection Day.
YES!Delft deadline 2026: dated windows over year-round registration
Both programs take registrations all year and both still publish a cut-off date.
- Validation Program: registration year-round on a first-come, first-served basis, with a displayed 2026 deadline of 23 August 2026 and the program running 29 September to 2 December 2026 (YES!Delft Validation Program).
- Accelerator Program: registration throughout the year, with a displayed deadline of 13 September 2026, a 21 October 2026 start and a 5 February 2027 end (YES!Delft Accelerator Program).
Those displayed deadlines roll. Because registration never closes, the date showing when you visit may already belong to the next intake rather than the one listed above. Confirm it on the program page before you plan around any date, including these. Dated windows for programs in this family are tracked in our deadline calendar.
First-come, first-served changes the strategy on Validation. When places fill in order, an early competent application beats a late polished one.
YES!Delft acceptance rate: unpublished, and what to do about that
YES!Delft publishes no acceptance rate and no cohort size (YES!Delft FAQ). Any percentage you find on an aggregator did not come from the program, so do not calibrate against it.
What is published is the filter stack, and it is long: several screening stages plus substantial technical, team, traction and Netherlands-location requirements (YES!Delft FAQ). Prepare for the intake conversation as though it were the final round. It is the stage that decides whether the deck assignment ever reaches you.
Is YES!Delft worth it? It is strongest for complex hardware or digital startups that need structured validation, expert mentorship, customer and market connections, facilities, talent support, and investor access without giving up equity. It is a weak fit for solo founders, non-technical businesses, and founders who want a direct cash investment (YES!Delft support).
When this matters for your raise
The Accelerator is built to make you fundable, and its own success fee is tied to whether you raise. Median seed pre-money valuation reached $16 million in Q4 2024, up 22% year over year (Carta State of Private Markets), so capital is available to teams that can show validated demand instead of a demo.
European deeptech has a tailwind worth naming in the deck: sustainability-related companies took 21% of all funding raised in Europe in 2024 (Atomico). Build the investor list while the program runs, not after it closes. Causo matches your milestone set against funds actively deploying in your sector, so the outreach is ready by the time Selection Day is behind you.
FAQ
How hard is it to get into YES!Delft? YES!Delft publishes no acceptance rate and no cohort size, so nobody can give you an honest percentage (YES!Delft FAQ). What it does publish is the filter stack: several screening stages plus technical, team, traction and Netherlands-location requirements. Treat the intake conversation as the hard gate, because it decides whether you ever receive the deck assignment.
Does YES!Delft take equity? No. YES!Delft takes no equity, but it does charge fees: the Validation Program costs €900 excluding VAT per team of two founders, and the Accelerator costs €3,500 excluding VAT per team plus a €25,000 excluding VAT success fee (YES!Delft FAQ). That success fee triggers at €1 million in additional annual revenue or €1 million in total dilutive and non-dilutive funding.
How much funding does YES!Delft provide? None directly. YES!Delft does not invest in startups and publishes no guaranteed funding amount (YES!Delft FAQ). Accelerator startups receive funding-plan work, investor matching, and deal-making support instead of a cheque, so budget runway on the assumption that the program adds zero cash.
When is the YES!Delft application deadline? Both programs accept registration year-round and still display a dated cut-off. The Validation page shows a 23 August 2026 deadline for a program running 29 September to 2 December 2026 (YES!Delft Validation Program), and the Accelerator page shows 13 September 2026 with a 21 October 2026 start (YES!Delft Accelerator Program). Those displayed dates roll as cycles fill, so confirm on the program page before planning around them.
Is YES!Delft worth it for founders? It is strongest for complex hardware or digital startups that need structured validation, mentorship, customer and market connections, facilities, talent support, and investor access without giving up equity (YES!Delft support). It is a weak fit for solo founders, non-technical businesses, and anyone looking for a direct cash investment. The deciding practical question is whether you can be in Delft in person.
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