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THE AI-NATIVE INVESTMENT FIRM CHALLENGE

The Podium Founding Cohort is an inaugural competition to find builders and researchers who can run institutional-quality, AI-native investment workflows. The signup and full details live at /competition.

Structure

The cohort runs June–August 2026 in five phases — kickoff, onboarding, building, operating on Podium, and a final showcase with future pathways. Teams build and paper-trade deterministic strategies on the platform and are evaluated on rigor, process discipline, and risk management — not short-term returns.

Design Partner & Incubation Pathway

Outstanding participants may be invited into a Design Partner and Incubation pathway. Podium may, at its sole discretion, evaluate select participants for operating strategies using up to $100,000 of Podium-controlled proprietary capital within Podium's infrastructure and risk framework. Participation does not guarantee selection, funding, or any future relationship.

How to Register

  1. Complete the team sign-up form at /competition.
  2. Join the Discord channel for announcements and mentor updates.
  3. Register before the deadline (June 21) — workspaces are assigned afterward and the build phase begins.

New to the SDK? Start with First Backtest and the Strategy SDK Reference.