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2025-04-24 08:20 Top 10

Top 10 Incubators for AI Startups in North America (2025)

Top 10 Incubators for AI Startups in North America (2025)

As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a key driver for innovation across multiple industries. In 2025, numerous incubators are dedicated to nurturing AI startups, providing them with necessary resources, mentorship, and funding opportunities. Below is a detailed list of the Top 10 Incubators for AI Startups in North America for 2025, highlighting their focus areas, investment opportunities, and unique attributes.
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1. Y Combinator

Location: Mountain View, CA, USA
Investment: Provides seed funding of $500,000
Program Length: 3 months
Focus Area: Broad tech focus balancing numerous AI startups
Highlights: Participants benefit from an extensive mentor network including successful founders and investors, culminating in a well-publicized demo day.
Learn more about Y Combinator

2. Techstars

Location: Multiple Locations, USA & Canada
Investment: Typically provides $120,000 seed funding, plus potential follow-on investment
Program Length: 3 months
Focus Area: Operates several programs, many focusing on AI and related technologies
Highlights: Intensive curriculum geared towards growth, fundraising, and market strategy, along with a global network of mentors, partners, and investors.
Discover Techstars
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3. Creative Destruction Lab

Location: Multiple Locations, Canada & USA
Investment: Does not take equity
Program Length: 9 months, structured around specific objectives
Focus Area: Deep tech with a major emphasis on AI and machine learning
Highlights: Mentored by primarily scientists, business leaders, and entrepreneurs, the program aims at solving key commercialization obstacles for AI startups.
Explore Creative Destruction Lab

4. Plug and Play Tech Center

Location: Sunnyvale, CA, USA
Investment: Seed investment and connections to venture capital firms
Program Length: Typically 3 months
Focus Area: Diverse industries, with a specialization in AI and machine learning
Highlights: Strong corporate partnerships enable participants to network with industry leaders and secure additional resources.
Learn more about Plug and Play Tech Center

5. Alchemist Accelerator

Location: San Francisco, CA, USA
Investment: Seed funding (amount varies)
Program Length: 6 months
Focus Area: Early-stage ventures focused on enterprise software and AI
Highlights: Strong focus on mentorship regarding enterprise sales and growth, along with a robust network into the enterprise software market.
Discover Alchemist Accelerator
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6. MassChallenge

Location: Boston, MA, USA
Investment: Does not take equity
Program Length: 4 months
Focus Area: Multiple industries with a significant representation of AI startups
Highlights: Extensive mentorship network with access to funding, resources, and a global startup community, fostering actionable insights for entrepreneurs.
Learn more about MassChallenge

7. Element AI (Now ServiceNow)

Location: Montreal, QC, Canada
Investment: N/A (acquired by ServiceNow)
Focus Area: Specialized in AI research, development, and incubation
Highlights: Following its acquisition by ServiceNow, Element AI continues to facilitate AI initiatives, leveraging expertise from top researchers and collaborations with academic institutions.
Read about the acquisition

8. Next AI

Location: Multiple Locations, Canada
Investment: Offers pre-seed funding along with access to follow-on funding
Program Length: 9 months for Founder Stream, with shorter options available
Focus Area: Early-stage ventures focused on AI
Highlights: Participants gain valuable insights from a mentorship network boasting industry experts, with programming tailored to the unique challenges faced by AI startups.
Explore Next AI

9. The AI Fund

Location: Palo Alto, CA, USA
Investment: Provides seed and early-stage funding
Focus Area: Focus strictly on AI investment and company building
Highlights: Comprehensive mentorship covering aspects of building AI companies from the ground up, combined with a robust network of AI experts and investors.
Learn more about The AI Fund

10. Boost VC

Location: San Mateo, CA, USA
Investment: Provides early-stage investment
Program Length: 3 months
Focus Area: Specializes in pre-seed and seed-stage startups, focusing on AI and frontier technologies
Highlights: Offers extensive mentorship and guidance while fostering a community deeply rooted in both the startup ecosystem and investor networks.
Discover Boost VC
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FAQ

Q: What are some notable AI incubators for startups in North America in 2025?
A: Some key AI incubators include Y Combinator, Techstars, and Creative Destruction Lab. Explore Y Combinator, Discover Techstars, and Learn about Creative Destruction Lab.
Q: How long do the programs at these incubators typically last?
A: Most programs, like Y Combinator and Techstars, last around 3 months, while others, such as Creative Destruction Lab, can last up to 9 months. Find out more about program timelines.
Q: What kind of funding do these incubators provide?
A: Y Combinator offers $500,000 in seed funding, whereas Techstars provides typically $120,000. Other incubators may not take equity but offer access to various funding sources. Learn more about funding options.
Q: What is the focus area of Element AI?
A: Element AI specializes in AI research and development and has ongoing initiatives under ServiceNow following its acquisition. Discover more about Element AI.
Q: Are there AI incubators that focus on specific industries?
A: Yes, some incubators like Alchemist Accelerator focus on enterprise software and AI, while others like the AI Fund concentrate solely on AI technologies. Learn more about Alchemist Accelerator.
Q: What mentorship opportunities do these incubators provide?
A: Most incubators have a network of experienced mentors. For instance, Techstars emphasizes connecting startups with global mentors and investors. Check out Techstars mentorship network.
Q: Is equity taken by any of these incubators?
A: Programs like Creative Destruction Lab do not take equity, while others like Y Combinator and Alchemist Accelerator typically do. Learn more about equity terms.
Q: Which incubator has a notable demo day for startups?
A: Y Combinator hosts a highly publicized demo day where startups pitch to investors at the end of their program. Learn more about Y Combinator's demo day.
Q: What distinguishes Plug and Play Tech Center in the AI sector?
A: Plug and Play Tech Center has extensive partnerships with major corporations and focuses on various industries, including AI and machine learning. Explore Plug and Play's partnerships.
Q: Can startups access follow-on funding through these incubators?
A: Yes, some incubators like Techstars and Next AI provide connections to follow-on funding, enabling startups to raise additional capital. Find out more about funding access.

About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond and launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks.