This billionaire-backed founder residency will pay you to come to Austin and provide everything you need to build the next fintech unicorn

PEAK6, the Austin-based fintech operating company, announces the launch of PEAK6 Trials, a one-year founder residency program based at PEAK6's headquarters inclusive of a $100,000 salary, with direct access to PEAK6 internal resources and network of potential customers.

AUSTIN, Texas, March 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- PEAK6, the Austin-based fintech operating company behind multiple billion-dollar businesses, is opening up their sandbox to the next generation of entrepreneurs. PEAK6 Trials is the latest concept from co-founders Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer and a first-of-its-kind founder residency at the PEAK6 Austin, TX headquarters for the future leaders of fintech to create new businesses.

After growing and scaling more than 15 companies, including multiple billion-dollar companies, Apex Fintech Solutions and PEAK6 Capital Management, and eight other businesses, including FOCUS, WeInsure, and Zogo, the PEAK6 team has created an ecosystem that successfully challenges the one-size-fits-all approach of traditional capital investment. Each PEAK6 Trials Resident will have access to the full breadth of PEAK6 resources including the best devs, lawyers, and compliance experts in the business. PEAK6 Trials is the pathway for founders to validate their ideas and develop their concepts into reality.

"Unlike an incubator, we're focused on creating real functioning companies. Ideas are great, but to become a fully functioning concept they require real-world trial, advising, and more. This residency provides the tools for this process. We're removing the pain points, offering a $100,000 salary, and creating direct lines of communication and access to our teams for these founders to put their ideas into motion. We also are opening this program up to anyone, regardless of fintech experience, because of the expertise we have internally," says Jenny Just, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of PEAK6. 

As top AI investors, PEAK6 knows the only moats left are capital, distribution and velocity. PEAK6 Trials exists to give founders direct access to build within those moats. Committed to the idea of founders owning more than their investors do, PEAK6 Trials provides favorable equity terms and a salary while the Residents iterate until the concept proves successful. There will not be cohorts, demo days or conferences; this is a 12-month commitment to building real businesses with real revenue and real customers. It will look different for every founder. There is no need to be technical; PEAK6 Trials has AI engineers in house who will help build out initial prototypes with the option to spin out with them as your CTOs.

"AI has made it easier than ever to build. We are seeing what used to take years and a full engineering organization be prototyped in weeks. The harder part is knowing what to build and having the distribution to execute faster than your competition. More people are becoming founders than ever, so the same customers are getting inundated by 'insert new AI startup' as a result. Within the Trials program, entrepreneurs will get built-in design partners and early customers to test, validate and scale their ideas," notes Riyanka Ganguly, PEAK6 Head of AI Strategies.

Applications are reviewed by the team at PEAK6 with an anticipated acceptance rate of about 1%. A maximum of 12 participants will be accepted into the residency. Founders are invited to apply starting today via PEAK6Trials.com.

About PEAK6
PEAK6 was started in 1997 by Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer as an options trading firm. They've since taken gains to start, invest in, and turn around more than 15 businesses. Today, the PEAK6 portfolio of founded companies includes multiple multi-billion dollar companies. PEAK6's core brands include PEAK6 Capital Management, PEAK6 Strategic Capital, Apex Fintech Solutions, We Insure, FOCUS, Zogo, Evil Geniuses, Bruce Markets, and Poker Power.

We're founder-led and operated to this day. So we know all too well the grit and resilience it takes to win, and that access to the right networks and distribution can better your odds. PEAK6 Trials filters for that grit and resilience, and provides founders with direct access to that network and distribution.

About Jenny Just & Matt Hulsizer
Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer are the Co-founders and Managing Partners of PEAK6, a financial services company proudly based in Austin, Texas. They co-founded PEAK6 in 1997 with $1.5M in seed capital as a proprietary options trading firm. Since then, they have grown it into a multibillion-dollar fintech empire.

Jenny's passion specifically lies in helping women take big swings. She currently serves as a Champion for JOURNEY to Lead and on the Women and Public Policy Board at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her success has earned her a number of accolades; most recently, she was selected as a 2025 CNBC Changemaker. Matt's passion lies in discovering underfunded opportunities and coaching up-and-coming talent. Over the past two decades, Matt and Jenny have created, turned around, or invested in more than 200 companies.

About Riyanka Ganguly
Riyanka Ganguly is the Head of AI Strategies at PEAK6, a financial services company proudly based in Austin, Texas. Riyanka began her career in Beijing at ByteDance (parent company of TikTok) in M&A while earning a Masters in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University through the Schwarzman Scholars program. She then went on to invest in private equity and alternative assets at Blackstone Tactical Opportunities before joining the founding team of Kim Kardashian's SKKY Partners. Riyanka is a graduate of Harvard Business School and founded a company building AI solutions for FP&A teams before joining PEAK6 in 2025.

SOURCE PEAK6