# Pick a cohort from one window of applications

> Accelerator application review works best when every application is checked against the same published criteria and every shortlisted team gets the same interview. Delsivo's pilot gives you a branded portal for the window, eligibility as hard rules, cited deck facts and a shared queue for your selection team. Guest reviewers and the live AI interview follow in the first release. Your team selects the cohort.

Source: https://delsivo.com/use-cases/accelerator-cohort-selection · Updated 2026-11-06 · Planned, not available yet

## Key takeaways

- Publish the portal when the window opens and unpublish it when it closes. An unpublished portal can't receive applications.
- Eligibility rules are hard rules; anything an application doesn't state becomes a question, not a rejection.
- Mentors and industry reviewers join as guest experts with expiring access in the first release.
- Every decision, override and rubric version is kept, so selection can be explained after the cohort starts.

## What makes cohort selection different from fund screening

A fund screens a steady stream. A programme gets its applications in a burst, with a deadline, and has a few weeks to turn them into a cohort. Eligibility matters more: incorporation, stage, region and full-time founders are often fixed rules from funders or partners. The review team is bigger and changes between cohorts, and the programme often has to explain its choices to rejected applicants, sponsors and its own board.

That changes what the tool must do. Consistency across reviewers and a clear record of why each team was picked matter as much as speed.

## Set up accelerator application review before the window opens

1. Write eligibility as hard rules, what you look for as weighted preferences, and the questions to ask when an application is silent (Pilot).
2. Brand the portal with your logo, colours and copy on a subdomain, and put the closing date on the landing page in your own words (Pilot).
3. Build the application form. The pilot form supports text, number, select and file fields and required questions; conditional questions come in the first release.
4. Create private referral links for partners, alumni and investors so each application keeps its source (Pilot).
5. Give your selection team roles: an admin for settings, analysts for the queue, a partner who approves decisions and messages (Pilot).
6. Publish the portal on the day the window opens.

## During the window

Each application is read and screened as it arrives, so the queue is useful from the first week rather than after the deadline. Teams that apply twice, or a founder who submits for two companies, are suggested as possible duplicates for an analyst to confirm. Applicants can invite co-founders to the application and save their progress.

Unknown values build up a list of questions per applicant. You can send them as a short form while the window is still open, so applicants have time to answer before review starts.

## From longlist to selection

Selection stages and the release each depends on

| Stage | What happens | Release |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Longlist | Applications that meet eligibility, ordered by fit, with mismatches reviewed by a person | Pilot |
| Team review | Analysts work the queue and record reasons for each advance or pass | Pilot |
| Outside reviewers | Mentors see only the applications shared with them, until access expires | First release |
| Interview | The same live AI interview, or its text version, for every shortlisted team | First release |
| Selection | Your programme team decides, and each decision keeps its reason | Pilot |
| Selection packet | A frozen packet with independent reviews for a selection committee | Later |

## Limits for programme teams

- Applications need a PDF deck. PowerPoint support follows once extraction quality is measured.
- English first at launch.
- How guest reviewers record their views is being shaped with design partners; there is no built-in judges' scoring sheet today.
- Scout links with per-scout attribution are planned for later. Referral links work in the pilot.
- Messages to applicants are approved by a person, including passes, so plan time for that after selection.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can we reuse last cohort's criteria?

Yes. Rubrics are versioned, so you can start from the previous version, change what you need and publish it for the new window. The old version stays on the earlier applications.

### Can several co-founders work on one application?

Yes. Founders sign in to your portal with a one-time code sent to their email and can invite teammates to the same application.

### What happens to applications after the window closes?

Unpublishing the portal stops new applications. Existing ones stay in your workspace under the retention settings you choose, and you remain the controller of that data.

### Do applicants pay anything?

No. Programmes and funds pay for Delsivo. Founders and applicants never pay.

## Related pages

- [Delsivo for accelerators](https://delsivo.com/for/accelerators)
- [White-label portals](https://delsivo.com/white-label-portals)
- [Pitch competition judging](https://delsivo.com/use-cases/pitch-competition-judging)
- [How accelerators select startups](https://delsivo.com/how-accelerators-select-startups)
- [VC application form template](https://delsivo.com/templates/vc-application-form-template)