Variance Residency
Variance·India
Free 30-day residential deep-tech residency in Bengaluru for 14 builders. Housing, meals, workspace, a hardware lab, over $30,000 in AI and cloud credits per person and a need-based ₹20,000 stipend. No fee and no equity.
What you get
“Over $30,000 in AI and cloud credits per person, a need-based ₹20,000 stipend, and covered housing, meals, workspace and hardware lab access. No fee and no equity.”
Can you apply
Deep-tech founders and researchers working across robotics, hardware, applied physics, biotech, neurotechnology, foundational AI and other foundational technologies. Solo founders and small founding teams can both apply, and each person must be able to spend the full month in the house. Variance selects for technical ability, ambition, speed and what an applicant can accomplish in 30 days rather than credentials or pedigree. A prototype, research result or other proof of work matters more than credentials. The application asks for a single specific and measurable milestone the applicant can demonstrate by 15 October.
When
Open now
- Residency 2026open, no deadline published
What Variance funds
A residential deep-tech house in Bengaluru built by Yug Gupta and Vedant Nayak. It puts fourteen founders and researchers under one roof for a month with housing, a hardware lab, credits and mentors, and takes no equity. Backed by The Residency.
Everything Variance funds →Details
Variance runs from 15 September to 15 October 2026 in Bengaluru. Fourteen deep-tech founders and researchers live in the house and spend the month on one technical breakthrough. Variance covers the room, meals and a permanent workspace, and puts a hardware lab on site with a 3D printer, prototyping tools, electronics equipment and fabrication support. Each resident gets more than $30,000 in AI and cloud credits across Anthropic, AWS, Azure, Fireworks AI and others, plus a need-based ₹20,000 stipend for the month. Mentors from 1517 Fund, Z Fellows, Y Combinator, Lightspeed India, Razorpay, Cloudflare and academia join when their experience can unblock the work. There is no application fee, no program fee and no equity, and residents keep the company, the invention and the IP. The month ends with a technical Demo Day on 16 October, where residents show what changed rather than a polished pitch. Variance is backed by The Residency, and lists Anthropic, Y Combinator and Markov Robotics as supporters.
Read off the Variance page on 3 Sept 2026. Funders move amounts and eligibility without announcing it, so confirm any figure here before you count on it.