Your Work Should Matter

There is no shortage of big problems facing humanity, but there is a shortage of ambitious startups trying to solve them
Our Goal is to reach 80% of our global alumni building businesses that address the UN SDGs by 2030
For Progress Company

Progress Planner

Not every entrepreneur can (or wants to) “change the world”, but every entrepreneur can do their part to make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Our new "Progress Planner" makes it easy to find achievable impact goals for your business.
Plan your Progress

Our Initiatives

The Founder Institute's mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build technology businesses that positively impact the world, no matter their location, background, race, age, or sexual orientation.
Female Founders Initiative

Female Founder Initiative

The Female Founder Initiative was created in 2016 to support the women in the Founder Institute network. Today, we are supporting women founders from all over the world.

50%
increase from 2016 to 2017 of women-founded portfolio companies from the Founder Institute
38%
of the companies the Founder Institute produced in the U.S. were women-founded in 2018
Black American Founder Fellowship

Black American Founder Fellowship

Through this program, any Black American Founder in the United States who is building a startup (or who has an idea for a startup) can apply to any Founder Institute chapter in the United States for free, and the top applicants in each program will receive free access to our pre-seed accelerator program.

Learn More
<1%
of VC-backed tech companies have Black Founders (via CB Insights)
<2%
of Partners at VC Firms are Black (via BLCK VC)
Veteran Founder Initiative

Veteran Founder Initiative

Our mission is to unite the veteran entrepreneur ecosystem to help build 100 veteran led technology companies each year.

Learn More
100+
Veteran Startups Accelerated

Our Impact

Icon Startups
4500+
Startups
Icon Startups
90+
Countries
Icon Startups
25,000+
Jobs Created

Our Impactful Companies

  • Charlotte Aschim - CEO & Co-Founder

    TotalCtrl

    Founder Institute Oslo

    TotalCtrl is a cloud-based food waste prevention system that simplifies inventory and expiry date management by providing real-time data on products.

    Responsible Consumption and Production
    Sustainable Development Goal 12
  • Pooja Viswanathan - CEO & Founder

    Braze Mobility

    Founder Institute Toronto

    Braze Mobility has developed the first blind spot sensor system that can be added to any wheelchair, offering the driver feedback regarding location and proximity of obstacles through lights, sounds and vibrations.

    Reduced Inequalities
    Sustainable Development Goal 10
  • Viola Llewellyn - President & Co-Founder

    Ovamba

    Founder Institute Johannesburg

    Ovamba is an award winning ‘TradeTech’ company that supports financial institutions who want to serve growing businesses in emerging and frontier markets.

    Decent Work and Economic Growth
    Sustainable Development Goal 8

Build Impact with Us

Let's make this special moment count
For curious

Startuppers

We have moved all in-person events to an online format for the foreseeable future, while also running several new online events every week.

See all online startup events
For aspiring

Entrepreneurs

Now is the time to build your dream company and create the post pandemic world. Apply to our pre-seed accelerator programs to build something that matters.

Apply to our program
For curious

Ecosystem Leaders

Rally your community to launch startups that will have a positive impact on the world. Apply to lead a world-class pre-seed accelerator in your city.

Apply to lead
For aspiring

Fund Managers

Organize resources locally to launch an impactful venture firm and fund businesses that will build a bright future. Apply to join our VC builder program.

Apply to join VC Lab

The Founder Institute is the world’s most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses. Since 2009, our structured accelerator programs have helped over 7,000 entrepreneurs raise over $1.75BN in funding. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 100 countries, our mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build impactful technology companies worldwide.


Copyright © 2024, Founder Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved