Announcing U Combinator: a Union-focused incubator program in collaboration with Cracked Labs. Taking place from Feb 18 to May 15, 50 teams will compete for 10 spots in the second cohort of the Union Fellowship, with workshops, prototyping, MVP feedback, and pitch practice along the way.
Here’s everything you need to know about U Combinator, including key dates, the benefits of becoming a Union Fellow, and why Union is partnering with Cracked Labs on this important project.
Building the Next Wave of Union Ecosystem Projects
The first Union Fellowship was a huge success, with some of the first Union apps created and prototyped over the course of the fellowship. Over 200 builders applied to be part of the program, and 11 builders from 5 countries were selected for the first cohort.
The fellows leveled up through four weeks of workshops and collaborative building with the Union core team, as well as special sessions with ecosystem partners such as Risc Zero and Agoric. Then all of the fellows joined the core team in Dubai during Cosmoverse 2024 for a week of prototyping, brainstorming, and fun.
Since then, Union Fellows have been building incredible projects leveraging the Union network. The first wave of Union ecosystem projects are being built… which means it’s time to start on the next one.
But Wait—Who are Cracked Labs?
Cracked Labs is a Web3 and AI developer community born from one of the largest developer communities in the world, HackerEarth. As experts in developer events such as hackathons, incubators, accelerators, and hacking challenges, Cracked Labs are the ideal partners to make sure U Combinator is the best Web3 incubator in 2025.
Don’t believe it? Just watch. Or better yet, join in.
U Combinator: An Incubator for the Union Ecosystem
U Combinator is designed to expand on the success of the first Union Fellowship by bringing together even more cracked builders to learn, create, and compete.
50 teams will be accepted into the incubator, which will be a 9-week program of technical workshops, building, pitching, and refining their projects. At the end of the program, the top 10 teams will be selected to become Union Fellows.
Here are the dates you need to know:
Feb 18: Registration is open. Apply here when your team (and your pitch) is ready. Teams will be approved for the incubator throughout the registration period, so don’t wait too long to apply.
Mar 15: Registration deadline.
Mar 17 - Apr 13 (Weeks 1-4): Technical workshops, office hours, and AMAs will provide teams with time to learn, refine their ideas, and get assistance from Union and Cracked Labs.
Apr 14: Mid-incubator check-in. Teams will be asked to submit their working MVPs to receive detailed feedback from the Union and Cracked Labs teams.
Apr 14 - May 11 (Weeks 5-7): Polishing. Teams will be expected to refine their projects ahead of the project submission deadline, with more opportunities for feedback and learning from Union and Cracked Labs.
May 12: Submissions due.
May 15: Pitch day.
The top 10 teams will be announced on May 23rd, and will become the second cohort of Union Fellows. That means white glove support from the Union core team, including technical, product design, marketing, bizdev, and fundraising support. It’s a huge asset to ambitious builders, so if that’s you, apply.
Incubator Tracks
U Combinator will be split into four tracks:
DeFi Social & Creator Economy
Social media monetization platform
Crowdfunding platform for creators/projects
Revenue sharing and tokenization tools
Stablecoin Infrastructure
Stablecoin protocol development
Cross-chain liquidity and bridging
Integration with existing DeFi protocols
DeFAI & Automation
AI agents on Union
Automated trading/investing strategies
AI-powered predictive analytics for DeFi yields
Market Infrastructure & Incentives
Incentivized Action Market Protocol
Onchain behavior marketplace and bidding system
Market making infrastructure
Rewards/incentives optimization
Be clear about which track you’re aiming for in your application. There will be opportunities to learn and ask questions across all tracks during the incubator.
Union Fellowship – Shortcut to Go-to-Market
The Union Fellowship is a unique opportunity for ambitious builders, especially those interested in creating cross-chain applications. Here’s a snapshot of what the top 10 U Combinator teams can expect as Union Fellows:
Advisory support. Tap into the Union core team’s experience. From how to design a product for PMF, access to Union engineers, and how to structure your organization for success, the Union core team has done it before, and can help you do it too.
Connections. Need an introduction to investors or VCs? To key players in major ecosystems? The Union core team can make the introduction.
Promotional support → onchain activity. New protocols can languish in obscurity. Fellows get plugged into the Union marketing machine and dashboard, so that when your app is ready, there will be users ready to use it.
Union Foundation. Fellows will be put in contact with the Union Foundation for additional support related to funding and fundraising.
Becoming a Union Fellow gives builders access to the Union cote team’s knowledge and experience. Not just once in a while. We’re talking white glove support—the core team will pour time, energy, and resources into helping you build your Union app.
Not convinced? Union is also the best place to build highly responsive cross-chain apps. Here’s why:
Union is optimized for cross-chain. Everything about Union is built to support secure and decentralized cross-chain transactions and message passing. From consensus verification to ZKPs, to build on Union is to be at the heart of interoperability.
Every execution environment. Do you build in Rust? Great. Solidity? Also excellent. Move? Fantastic. Whatever the execution environment, Union supports it, which means you can build your app, your way, on Union.
Connection to major L1s/L2s. Think Berachain, Movement, Polygon, Arbitrum, Celestia, Avalanche, Bitcoin L2s like Native and Babylon—building with Union means instant access to ecosystems across Web3.
So what are you waiting for? Apply for U Combinator, win one of the 10 slots, and become a Union Fellow. Couldn’t be easier if you’re a proper goblin.