Sponsorship FAQ

No. Sponsorship is recognition and access — not equity, not a security, and not a promise of financial return. Sponsors are not buying a stake in the company, a share of revenue, or any expectation of money back. It is support that earns recognition and access in return, and nothing more.

To be unambiguous: nothing on the sponsorship pages is an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security. If what you actually want is to invest, that is a separate conversation and a separate process — we'll point you the right way.

Sponsorship backs the work of making AI in high-stakes decisions accountable and defensible — and the founder building the category in the open. The product is live in production at decrec.summitcognitive.ai, with a public key and ledger anyone can verify against, so this is operating work, not a research grant.

The campaign in motion right now is funded through a small circle of cash and in-kind supporters — not an investment round. It backs the Web Summit Lisbon talk and the opening of Summit's first European office, including the EU founders wall and launch announcement. It is one option among the many ways to sponsor; it just happens to be the one underway. Forward-looking plans like the European office and the talk are plans, not commitments.

Yes — and it counts the same. If you can contribute goods or services instead of cash — design, video, lodging, travel, EU legal or fixer services, translation, or cloud and hardware credits — your contribution is matched to the equivalent cash tier and earns the same recognition and rewards as a cash sponsor at that level.

In-kind support, like cash sponsorship, is recognition and access — not equity and not a security. Tell us what you'd contribute and we'll confirm the matching tier.

Yes. Sponsorship is deliberately broad, with proposed pathways tailored to different kinds of institutions:

Universities and academic labs can co-fund a paper, benchmark, dataset, or named fellowship, with named credit on the resulting research — sponsorship of scholarship, not equity.

Foundations and philanthropic funders can back accountable-AI and decision-assurance public-interest work as a grant or gift, with named acknowledgment — framed as support, not an investment.

Government and mission partners can co-fund a pilot or provide SBIR/OTA matching support. This is structured as co-funding or match — distinct from the not-an-investment sponsorship framing and aligned with existing SBIR/OTA programs. See the ways to sponsor for each pathway.

Summit Cognitive, Inc. is a Delaware C-Corporation, not a tax-exempt charitable organization — so a sponsorship should not be assumed to be a charitable tax deduction. Depending on your situation, a sponsorship may instead be treated as a business or marketing expense, but that varies by jurisdiction and circumstance.

Tax treatment depends on facts we can't determine for you, so please confirm specifics with us and your own tax advisor or counsel before relying on any deductibility. [[ TK — confirm with Brian/counsel ]]

Recognition scales with your level of support, and access is the throughline. Depending on tier, that includes your name or logo on the sponsor page and event recaps; a named place on the EU founders wall and launch announcement for European-office supporters; a signed, personalized first edition of Brian's forthcoming book; and Warrant podcast extras such as a named thank-you, bonus segments, early access, or a feature at the top tiers.

At the center is Founder's Voice — a recognized early-backer standing with a direct line to Brian: periodic founder calls and first look at what Summit ships. To be clear, Founder's Voice and every reward are recognition and access only — not equity, not a security, and not a promise of financial return. See what sponsors receive and the tiers for the full breakdown.

That's a separate conversation and a separate process. Sponsorship is not an on-ramp to equity, and nothing on these pages is an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security. If you're exploring investment rather than sponsorship, reach out to hello@summitcognitive.ai and we'll direct you appropriately.

Any confidential materials are shared on a request-access basis through that separate process, with the appropriate securities and forward-looking disclaimers — never published on these public pages.