Y Combinator doesn't charge you anything, but gives less cash for roughly the same equity. I don't know about Tech Stars. I think Founder Institute charges and doesn't invest, but I don't know their terms, and they're not really an accelerator.
It's normal for VCs in Series A to bill you for their legal expenses. Maybe that's a similar kind of thing to giving money and then charging back for expenses. It's obvious that accelerators have per-participant expenses; it's up to them and their LPs whether they should cover it by recouping from portfolio vs. overhead.
I don't think this term would influence my decision to participate or not. If an accelerator isn't a clear yes (massively increasingly your odds of success, raising your investment valuation, etc., far beyond what it costs), it's a no.
For Y Combinator, I'd say it's a clear yes. For a lot of the other accelerators, it's a no. I've heard good things about 500 Startups from other people I know who have participated.
It's normal for VCs in Series A to bill you for their legal expenses. Maybe that's a similar kind of thing to giving money and then charging back for expenses. It's obvious that accelerators have per-participant expenses; it's up to them and their LPs whether they should cover it by recouping from portfolio vs. overhead.
I don't think this term would influence my decision to participate or not. If an accelerator isn't a clear yes (massively increasingly your odds of success, raising your investment valuation, etc., far beyond what it costs), it's a no.
For Y Combinator, I'd say it's a clear yes. For a lot of the other accelerators, it's a no. I've heard good things about 500 Startups from other people I know who have participated.