From submission to investment.
Xylento reviews startups one at a time, on a rolling basis — no cohorts, no batch deadlines, no algorithmic screening. Here's exactly what happens at each stage, so there are no surprises.
Before you apply
You don't need a registered company, a pitch deck, or existing revenue to apply — Xylento reviews founders at any stage, from a raw idea through an already-revenue-generating business. It helps to have ready:
Founder details
Your name, contact info, and links (LinkedIn, GitHub, personal site) if you have them.
Startup basics
Name, industry, stage, and team size — even if the team is just you.
The pitch
Problem, solution, target customers, competitors, and what makes you the right person to build this.
The ask
How much investment you're seeking, any funding raised so far, and current traction if you have it.
A pitch deck or supporting document is optional but helps our team understand your idea faster — PDFs, slide decks, and images all work.
The five steps
01 — Submit
Fill in your founder and startup details on the application form. No account is required at this stage — you can complete the entire form as a guest.
02 — Review fee
Pay a one-time $10 application review fee via Stripe. It's non-refundable regardless of outcome — it exists to keep submissions serious and to cover the time our team spends personally reading every application, not as a revenue line. An optional Priority Review add-on (+$7.99) moves your application ahead in the review queue if you'd rather not wait for the standard rolling order. Either way, you'll receive a unique Application ID immediately after payment.
03 — Human review
A member of the Xylento team personally reads your application in full — there is no automated scoring or keyword-matching step. Typical turnaround is 3–5 business days. Because review is rolling rather than batched, you're not waiting for a cohort deadline that may be weeks away.
04 — Conversation
If we're interested, we reach out directly through your dashboard's private message thread — that might be a clarifying question, a request for more detail, or an invitation to an interview. If we're not moving forward, you'll still hear back with a specific reason rather than a generic rejection.
05 — Decision
Applications that move forward enter a private investment discussion — further diligence and individually agreed terms, structured as a revenue share tied to your company's outcome rather than a fixed fee. See how the revenue share model works for more detail, or about Xylento for the philosophy behind it.
After you apply
Once your review fee is confirmed, your Application ID lets you create an account and unlock a dashboard: your application's status and timeline, a secure message thread with our team, and account security settings including optional two-factor authentication. Your original application content is locked at this point — it's the record we review — but your personal profile details (contact info, links, timezone) stay editable at any time.
Questions about a submission in progress, or anything not covered here: [email protected], or check the full FAQ.