By focusing on the transition from a technical idea to a fundable product, the program helps participants navigate the commercial and regulatory hurdles that founders will overcome to succeed in the privacy sector.
Beyond technical and commercial guidance, the program provides a framework for personal growth and business development. Participants receive customized support tailored to their specific project goals, allowing them to transform a high-level vision into a practical, market-ready application.
Cohort 0
The inaugural cohort recently concluded with 10 participants representing an international community of developers. These builders joined from countries and time zones all around the world, culminating in a final pitch day where participants presented privacy-enhancing projects.
This global representation highlights the value of it bringing privacy-enhancing technology to a range of different ideas and applications around the world.
The projects spanned a wide range of use cases, demonstrating the versatility of privacy-first design:
- Identity and credentials: Innovations in digital identity, pilot credential management, and general digital ID systems.
- Financial protocols: Development of liquid staking protocols and real-world asset (RWA) integration.
- Administrative and data tools: Legal administrative assistants, private storage solutions, and verified proof of data deletion.
- Market mechanisms: Novel approaches to NFT blind auctions.
Participants highlighted the strength of the problem in supporting them to shift from purely technical development to the commercial strategy required for a successful startup.
"Build Club was a completely different experience. While other programs helped us build the technical foundation, this phase taught us about business, market dynamics, and scaling."
— Md Athar Jamal Makki, Cohort 0 Participant
The success of these projects confirms that the privacy-first ecosystem supports complex, interoperable applications.
"It was eye-opening to learn what investors actually look for. We moved from a hackathon project to a full-fledged product, and finally to a pre-seed startup with a vision."
— Ayush Sarkar, Cohort 0 Participant
Watch the playlist of Cohort 0 presentations to see how they are building privacy into the future.
Program structure and resources
Build Club is technology-agnostic. Founders use TypeScript, Rust, Solidity, or other languages to build their applications. The program provides frameworks and connections without mandating exclusive deployment on a specific network. This gives participants the flexibility to design interoperable products that meet specific market conditions or customer demands. The focus is on turning privacy-enhancing technology into investable businesses.
Over the eight weeks, participants gain access to:
- Specialist mentorship: Engineers and entrepreneurs provide guidance on zero-knowledge proofs—cryptographic methods that allow one party to prove a statement is true without revealing the underlying data.
- Operational support: Practical resources and tools worth over $200,000 to reduce early-stage friction.
- Pitch readiness: Guided sessions to prepare founders for interaction with an extensive investor network.
The curriculum covers software development, business design, and regulatory alignment. This ensures that products are not only technically sound but also compliant with global data standards.
"The technology is here and the builders are ready. The program offers an inspiring opportunity to share a vision in front of an incredible audience."
— Ahmed Amine Gargoura, Cohort 0 participant
Enrollment for Cohort 1
Applications are now open for Cohort 1, which begins in mid-May. This next group of founders will enter an environment optimized for privacy-preserving applications.
"Build club equips you with the frameworks, commercial knowledge, and connections needed to succeed, regardless of the language you use to build."
— Spy Crypto, Cohort 0 participant
Selected projects from the program may receive an invitation to pitch to investors.
Top-performing teams may also gain entry into the Midnight accelerator, providing access to deeper technical integration and potential pre-seed funding.
Join the next cohort
Founders building the next generation of private, interoperable applications can apply now to join the mid-May cohort.
Learn more about Build Club and apply here.