EWOR announced on September 22, 2026, that it has named a new senior leadership team in San Francisco after United States applications rose 237 percent in twelve months. The fellowship, which describes itself as more selective than Y Combinator, appointed Charles Ferguson, Katie Madding, and Gigi Brett to lead its American expansion. The announcement highlights growing demand from US founders for EWOR's model of early capital and hands-on mentorship.
A Model Built on Equal Opportunity
The fellowship provides participants with up to $600,000 in capital and weekly one-on-one mentorship from unicorn builders, without requiring them to relocate. EWOR's stated premise is that talent is spread evenly across the world but opportunity is not, a view founder and CEO Daniel Dippold has repeated. The new US team is expected to deepen EWOR's access to the San Francisco startup ecosystem while serving founders at the earliest stages.
Leadership Team Brings Operating and Investment Depth
Charles Ferguson sold FrontPage to Microsoft in 1996 and later won an Academy Award for the documentary Inside Job. He has invested early in companies such as Etched, Perplexity, CopilotKit, and Paradigm. Ferguson stated that he is honored to help lead EWOR's US growth and integrate the fellowship more closely with San Francisco's world-leading ecosystem.
Katie Madding was Chief Product Officer and the third US hire at Adjust, which Palo Alto based AppLovin acquired for one billion dollars in 2021. She later led Emhance as CEO, taking the company from idea to recurring revenue with customers including Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard King. Madding said her lonely nights as a pre-seed CEO convinced her to help build the support system she once needed.
Fellowship Performance and New Investment Leadership
Gigi Brett joins EWOR as Chief Investment Officer and relocates from Cape Town to San Francisco. A three-time founder in health and education, she built Batelle, launched Upstream, and most recently founded PreSeed Fertility, whose donor database covers around ten percent of registered sperm donors in the United States. Brett said working at the earliest point is where the right help changes everything that follows.
EWOR reports that founders who joined this year raised an average of ten million dollars after completing the program. Twenty-five percent of recent joiners have raised at nine-figure valuations in the past six months. The fellowship also helps founders hire early team members and secure first customers through its global talent and customer network.
A Selective Cohort With Transatlantic Reach
Recent accepted fellows include Martin Varsavsky, Lars Hinrichs, Maya Polackal, Carter Laren, and Thiri Shwesin Aung. Previous fellows include Ricky Knox, Alfons Huber, Jörgen Tveit, and Leonard T. Dorlöchter. The rising share of US applicants indicates that EWOR's model is gaining traction even among founders who already live inside a major startup market.
Why San Francisco Matters
San Francisco remains the most important hub for startup talent and venture capital in the United States. EWOR's decision to place Ferguson, Madding, and Brett in the city signals an intent to connect fellows with investors and operators at the center of that ecosystem. The fellowship says it does not ask founders to relocate, but its leadership will work from San Francisco to strengthen those relationships.
By pairing a senior US leadership team with a global fellowship model, EWOR is positioning itself as a direct alternative to traditional accelerators. Its emphasis on capital, mentorship, and customer access addresses gaps that even founders in mature markets can face. The next phase will show whether this approach can sustain its growth and produce a broader pipeline of high-valuation companies.