Fortify Labs Opens 2026 Applications, Offers Up to $1.3M for Tezos and Etherlink Startups

Fortify Labs has opened applications for its 2026 cohort, promising high-touch support, a tightly curated cohort and funding that can total roughly $1.3 million for standout Web3 projects. Run by TZ APAC, the Web3 ecosystem builder that works closely with the Tezos community, Fortify Labs says the program is designed to give early- and growth-stage teams the breathing room and bespoke help they need to move from MVP to market-ready products, not to rush them through a generic three-month sprint.

What sets Fortify apart is the program’s emphasis on long-form, hands-on partnership. Rather than a fixed curriculum, participants receive one-on-one mentorship, dedicated technical support, and curated introductions to investors, exchanges and other partners. The program also offers tangible financial support in multiple forms, including grants, a user-acquisition fund, direct investment and liquidity support, which Fortify’s information pack totals at roughly USD 1,270,000. That mix is intended to cover everything from early marketing experiments to token liquidity for teams planning a token launch.

Tailored Mentorship and Capital on Offer

Fortify’s pitch is not just theory: alumni outcomes are cited as proof. Questflow, a collaborative AI automation platform that joined the 2024 cohort, posted a 156x jump in monthly active users and later raised at valuations reported in the millions. Sogni AI, part of the 2025 intake, moved from testnet to roughly 90,000 mainnet users and completed a successful token generation event, while prediction-market project 5050 went from idea to full product in three months and attracted 600 users within two weeks of launch. Those examples are presented by Fortify as evidence that the longer, more tailored studio approach can produce fast, measurable growth.

“Working with TZ APAC, the team behind Fortify Labs, has been an absolute privilege since day one. What stands out is their genuine helpfulness across a wide range of areas – marketing, legal, KOLs, and even VC introductions. I wholeheartedly recommend any startup—whether undecided about which chain to build on or exploring expansion to additional L2s—to consider building on Etherlink and working with the TZ APAC team. The level of commitment you get at Fortify Labs is rare, and it makes all the difference,” said Mauvis Ledford, CEO of Sogni AI.

The program deliberately keeps cohorts small, historically working with only seven startups at a time, so the Fortify team can dig into each project’s tokenomics, go-to-market moves and investor narratives rather than spreading support thin. That selectivity is part of the studio’s strategy: intensive, bespoke help for a handful of teams rather than light-touch support for dozens.

Fortify Labs’ 2026 run is a seven-month program, kicking off in early March and wrapping in early October, and includes two mandatory in-person off-sites in Singapore (travel stipends are available). Teams that are ready to begin integration or growth work before the official start can be fast-tracked into resources early. Applications opened in October 2025, are reviewed on a rolling basis, and close on January 30, 2026; successful applicants will be informed by mid-February.

Projects accepted into Fortify must build on either Tezos or Etherlink. Tezos, a proof-of-stake Layer-1 that has been processing transactions since 2018, is positioned in Fortify’s materials as an energy-efficient, governance-forward chain well suited to long-lived dApps. Etherlink operates as an EVM-compatible layer, allowing teams to deploy Solidity codebases and move assets across interoperable chains, a pairing Fortify says helps teams pick the right technical path for their products.

TZ APAC, the team behind Fortify Labs, presents itself as a hyper-local Web3 adoption engine with dedicated teams across Asia. Backed by the Tezos Foundation and headquartered in Singapore, TZ APAC says its mission is to nurture the next generation of DeFi, gaming and culture-and-community projects in the region by connecting founders with grants, technical help and a regional network of users and partners. Fortify Labs, the group adds, is the studio vehicle that turns that support into market-ready companies.

Interested teams can apply via the Fortify Labs application form before the January 30, 2026, deadline; submissions are being reviewed on a rolling basis and selected startups will be contacted in mid-February. For founders who want both capital and close operational help, Fortify is pitching itself as a quieter, longer alternative to the intensive sprint model that dominates much of the startup-acceleration landscape.