Last updated 8 September 2026
These terms apply when you enroll a student in the ASCENT Venture Fellowship run by Starbound Founders, and when you use this website. Enrolling means you accept them. If a student is under 18, a parent or guardian must accept these terms on their behalf.
The fellowship is open to students in grades 9 through 12. No prior business or coding experience is required. A parent or guardian must complete the enrollment and payment for any student under 18, and must be reachable at the contact details given on the form.
The October cohort is capped at 16 students. Enrollment closes on 6 November.
Tuition for the Founding Cohort is $600, reduced from the standard tuition of $1,200. Tuition covers the full program. There are no additional fees.
The Founding Cohort rate asks families to share feedback and a short testimonial. We will ask before using a student's name, photo or story publicly.
Payment is made at checkout and processed securely by Stripe. Payment plans are available upon request by emailing hello@starboundfounders.com.
Need-based tuition assistance is available. Contact us before enrolling and we will talk it through.
Tuition is fully refundable for 7 days after payment, or until 24 hours before the cohort begins — whichever comes first. After that point tuition is non-refundable.
To request a refund within that window, email us before the deadline. Refunds are returned to the original payment method through Stripe and typically appear within five to ten business days.
If you enroll within 24 hours of the cohort start date, the refund window has already closed and tuition is non-refundable from the moment of payment. Please take that into account if you are enrolling at the last minute.
Sessions are delivered live and online. Mentor pairings depend on mentor availability and are matched to each student's venture. We may substitute a mentor of comparable experience where necessary.
The fellowship is intensive and depends on students showing up. We ask students to attend sessions, do the work between them, and treat mentors, guests and other students with respect. We may remove a student from the program for conduct that is harassing, dishonest, or disruptive to others, or for sustained non-participation. Where we remove a student for conduct, tuition is not refunded.
Students own their ventures. Any business, product, code, or intellectual property students create during the fellowship belongs to the students who created it. We claim no equity, no ownership stake, and no license to commercialize it.
We ask permission separately before using a student's name, image, or venture in any marketing material. Nothing in these terms grants that permission automatically.
We may adjust the schedule, curriculum, session times, or mentor line-up where circumstances require it, and will give as much notice as we reasonably can. If we cancel the cohort entirely before it begins, we refund tuition in full regardless of the refund window above.
The text, design, and graphics on this website belong to Starbound Founders. You are welcome to share links to it. Please do not copy the content wholesale or present it as your own.
We deliver the fellowship with genuine care, but we do not guarantee any particular outcome. We make no promise about revenue a student will earn, admission to any school or program, funding a venture may receive, or any other result. Participation is educational.
To the extent the law allows, our total liability arising from the program or this website is limited to the tuition paid.
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.
If we update these terms we will change the date at the top of this page. The terms in force at the time you enroll are the ones that apply to that enrollment.
Questions about these terms can go to hello@starboundfounders.com.