SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Whipsaw, the award-winning product design and engineering firm behind some of the world’s most iconic physical products, today announced that applications are open for the Spring 2026 cohort of The Workshop, its hardware startup accelerator. The program runs a 10-week sprint designed to help early-stage founders go from concept to investor-ready prototype with hands-on support from Whipsaw’s senior design, engineering, and product teams.

The Workshop will accept six to seven companies for its Spring 2026 cohort. The program provides founders with direct access to Whipsaw’s industrial design, technical strategy, prototyping, user experience, brand, and storytelling capabilities, the same teams that have launched over 1,000 products across consumer, medical, industrial, and robotics categories.

“Hardware founders deserve a place that speaks their language,” said Dan Harden, CEO and Founder of Whipsaw. “Most accelerators are optimized for software. Building physical products demands a different kind of expertise, one that blends technical rigor, design excellence, and manufacturability. That’s why we built The Workshop. We want to give early-stage founders the support they need at the moment it matters most.”

The Workshop compresses hundreds of hours of design and customer discovery into an intensive program focused on product definition, architecture, feasibility, functional prototyping, user testing, manufacturability, and investor storytelling. Each team emerges with a design prototype, a clear build path, and the materials required for fundraising. Additionally, founders receive coaching, skill-building, GTM strategy, business model development, and investor relations strategy. The program culminates in a Hardware Demo Day attended by hardware-focused angels, seed funds, and corporate innovation teams.

“Founders in our first cohort made remarkable progress in a short time,” said Cole Derby, Director of Industrial Design at Whipsaw. “When you combine ambitious founders with designers who know how to ship real products, you accelerate everything. That’s what makes this program different: it’s hands-on, technical, and deeply collaborative.”

New for Spring 2026: Dedicated .edu Track

For the first time, The Workshop is reserving one spot specifically for student and academic founders with a .edu email address. This new track is intended to support promising innovators emerging from university labs, research centers, and maker communities.

“Universities are producing extraordinary talent and breakthrough technologies, but student founders often lack access to real-world design expertise and hardware-specific guidance,” Anne Van Itallie, Whipsaw’s VP of Client Relations & Growth said. “We want to bridge that gap.”

Program Benefits Include:

Integrated design, strategy, and brand development
Hands-on fundraising, brand development, and industrial design collaboration
Rapid prototypes built in Whipsaw’s model shop
UX, UI, and early brand development
Fundraising prep and pitch development
Access to Whipsaw’s network of investors, suppliers, and technical mentors
A Hardware Demo Day with targeted investors

Application Information

Applications are open from December 12, 2025 through January 19, 2026.

Early stage (pre-seed) founders building physical products — consumer, medical, robotics, industrial, sustainability, or frontier hardware — are encouraged to apply.

More information and the application portal can be found at:

https://www.whipsaw.com/the-workshop-hardware-startup-accelerator

About Whipsaw

Whipsaw is a product design and experience consultancy based in San Francisco. For more than 25 years, Whipsaw has created breakthrough products and experiences for startups and global brands across consumer electronics, medical devices, robotics, industrial systems, and beyond. With more than 350 design awards and a portfolio responsible for billions in revenue, Whipsaw blends creativity, technical depth, and manufacturability to bring bold ideas into the world.

Media Contact:
Anne Van Itallie
VP of Client Relations & Growth, Managing Director – The Workshop
[email protected]
408-297-9771

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