Turn builders into validated founders
A 28-day residency for technical founders who can ship — but need structure, customer evidence, and a demo-ready story.
Why AREA 01 exists
AI made building cheap. The scarce skills are choosing the right problem, validating demand, and turning a side project into a company.
AREA 01 is a 28-day AI-native founder residency in Bangalore for technical builders who can ship — but lack founder judgment, customer evidence, and a demo-ready narrative.
Our mission
Turn capable technical builders into validated early-stage founders — not better coders or hackathon demo finishers.
Every cohort member leaves with real problem clarity, customer conversations, a focused MVP shaped by usage, early traction signals, and an honest continue / pivot / stop decision backed by evidence.
Who we serve
Cohort 01 is for idea-stage to early-MVP technical founders in Bangalore — solo or two-person teams with high agency who will talk to users before overbuilding.
We select for builders who can ship independently, will run discovery first, and can commit full-time for 28 days. This is not a co-living space, a slide-deck incubator, or a place for passive learners.
The 28-day arc
Week 01 — Discover: 10–15 customer conversations, validated problem, desperate specificity.
Week 02 — Build: single core-loop MVP, hypothesis you can test this week.
Week 03 — Validate: real users, activation or payment signals, behavioral evidence.
Week 04 — Launch: demo-ready story — problem, customer, evidence, traction, next step.
How we're different
High builder density plus structured operating rhythm plus real market contact — not villa perks, logo walls, or unstructured networking.
Selection is the product. Twelve seats per cohort. Every founder gets weekly mentors, peer pressure, and a system that gates each week on evidence.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Tell us what you are building, who you are building for, and whether you are ready for 28 days of evidence-driven execution in Bangalore.