Surplus — a software incubator
A Software IncubatorFor Massive Public Good ✻In the Age of Transformative AI<br>A software incubator for massive public good in the age of transformative AI<br>SURPLUS<br>☞ Organized by Manifund & Mox3 months · starting late JulySan Francisco<br>“Surplus” is the value created<br>through positive-sum trades;<br>what markets produce in abundance.<br>PRICEQUANTITYP*Q*SUPPLYDEMAND<br>$100KSeed funding$2M post-money cap<br>3Months of programmingJul 27 → Oct 16<br>~10Founders in the cohortHigh intensity, tight knit
APPLYBy June 24th☞ ☞ ☞
— Seed funding · Advice · Peers · Intros · Space to focus —<br>§ WhoFounders who care about xrisk and flourishing futures.§ WhereOffice space at Mox, San Francisco.§ When12 weeks, starting late July.§ Cohort~10 founders.<br>Surplus is an incubator for software startups, organized by Manifund and Mox — to create massive public good in the age of transformative AI. It’s a 3 month program, starting late July in SF. We provide seed funding, advice, peers, intros, and space to focus.<br>Now is an excellent time to start a for-profit, given vast torrents of funding available from Anthropic employees and OpenAI Foundation. 501c3s can pay for for-profit services, and invest in for-profit corps. There’s a $100B market waiting to be constructed; shovels waiting to be sold.<br>Building great software takes more than coding. Product taste, visual design, distribution, sales and marketing are all things that 2026 LLMs still fail at. We’ve developed these supplementary skills needed to ship successful products, and would love to foster them in a new generation of founders.
§ The deal$100k SAFE, at a $2m post-money cap.§ Office hoursWeekly office hours and mentorship.§ DeadlineApply early by June 24; final deadline July 10.
01Projects We’re Excited For
We’re open to many proposals, but here are three categories of projects we’re well-suited to incubate. If your idea is adjacent — apply anyway.<br>☞ ☞ ☞
01AI for Epistemics & Coordination
LLM-powered tools that help people think better, work together, and build common knowledge.<br>— Examples —<br>Fact-checking like Community Notes or Pangram<br>Guardian angels / “Digital Twins”, as described by Gwern<br>Knowledge bases like Grokipedia or Longterm Wiki<br>Research reports like Elicit or Deep Research<br>AI forecasting like Mantic or Futuresearch<br>AI simulation of human preferences, like Simile or Aaru<br>AI for dispute resolution — community investigations; prediction-market criteria<br>AI for democratic resilience, resisting authoritarianism
02Public-Facing Websites
Many important concepts could be translated for a wider audience, with thoughtful design and an eye for virality.<br>— Examples —<br>Microsites like AI 2027, showcasing concepts through narrative & interactive design<br>Visualizations like Epoch and Our World in Data<br>Transparency for what’s happening inside labs, and across the AI supply chain<br>Courses like Bluedot, helping people upskill into relevant domains<br>Demos like Nicky Case’s, or of topics from recent alignment research papers<br>Games like Manifold or Universal Paperclips, teaching concepts through play
03Community infra
Marketplaces or platforms, addressing common problems in EA, AI safety, and others working towards a beautiful future<br>— Examples —<br>Job platforms like the 80k Job Board or an “AI safety LinkedIn”<br>Or other opportunities — fellowships, grassroots political coordination<br>Funding platforms like Manifund or an open-source S-process<br>Whitelabeled microgrant platforms like ACX Grants or Bluedot Rapid Grants<br>AI-powered grantmaking and review<br>Writing platforms like LessWrong, EA Forum, Alignment Forum<br>Research platforms like Distill or Unjournal
02What We Offer
No. 01 — Capital<br>$100K<br>investment, as a SAFE<br>At a $2m post-money cap. (Maybe a grant if you’re a committed nonprofit, but we’ll try to argue you out of this.)
No. 02 — Cohort<br>A cohort of ~10 founders<br>Work alongside others who care about xrisk and flourishing futures.
No. 03 — Mentorship<br>Office hours & mentorship<br>Every week of the program.
No. 04 — Dinners<br>Dinners with speakers<br>Shared meals with founders we admire.
No. 05 — Place<br>Office space at Mox<br>A space to focus, in San Francisco.
No. 06 — Demo Day<br>Demo Day, Oct 16<br>Pitch to aligned VCs and philanthropic funders.
03Timeline
Jun 12Applications Open<br>Apply via this form.
Open now<br>Jun 24Early Applications Due<br>Apply early for priority review; rolling video interviews.
Priority<br>Jul 10Applications Due<br>Final deadline; rolling video interviews continue.
Final deadline<br>Jul 27Program Kickoff<br>2 weeks of ideating & cofounder matching<br>10 weeks of mentorship, dinners with speakers
Cohort begins<br>Oct 16Demo Day<br>Pitch to an audience of angels, VCs and philanthropic funders.
The grand finale
04Virtues We Cherish
We’re seeking founders who are:<br>Loving, wholesome, earnestHumble, called to serve, takes out the trashCaring, obsessive, dedicated to craftFast, iterative, gets things doneIdealistic, optimistic, dreamersScrappy, resourceful, practicalOpen,...