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Press Information

The Founder Institute is an early-stage startup accelerator and global launch network that helps entrepreneurs create meaningful and enduring technology companies. Through a part-time four month program, existing and prospective founders can launch their dream company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs - while not being required to quit their day job. Our unique Graduate Liquidity Pool also enables graduates and mentors to share in the equity upside of each class, creating local, teamwork-based ecosystems where great new businesses can flourish.

In just over three years of operation, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 800 companies across 40 cities and five continents - making us the world's largest startup accelerator. Our goal is to "Globalize Silicon Valley" by launching 1,000 meaningful and enduring technology companies per year in over 50 cities worldwide.

The Founder Institute was founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Adeo Ressi, and is operated out of a small office in the heart of Silicon Valley.

• Press Contact: Jonathan Greechan - Partner, Founder Institute. j (at) fi (dot) co, or 914-447-8632.
• Assets: Logos, Photos, and Headshots
• Institute Directors: http://fi.co/contents/directors
• Infographic Illustrating our Model: How the Founder Institute Globalizes Silicon Valley
• Recent Coverage of Founder Institute Companies: http://fi.co/s?category=Grad+News

Statistics*

 *Last updated July 30th, 2012

• 650 technology companies launched 
• 79% operating on or ahead of schedule, vs. 21% dormant or in the process of a pivot 
• ~2,250 jobs created
• 22% have a female founder
• ~42% of graduate companies are funded within 6 months of graduation
• >$40 MM in outside funding secured
• Geographic Breakdown:
• U.S.: 68%
• Europe: 19% 
• Asia: 9% 
• South America: 4% 
• > 5,500 total applicants
• ~25% global acceptance rate
• ~35% global graduation rate
• 900+ Mentors worldwide 
• >95% are CEOs or founders
• 35 existing locations: Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Houston, Chicago, Boston, New York, Washington DC, Santiago, Bogota, Medellin, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Singapore, Jakarta, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Sydney, Madrid, Tel Aviv, Puerto Rico, Zagreb, Mexico City, Rome, Kyiv, and Istanbul.

Notable Press Coverage

• Adeo Ressi: 'De volgende Facebook komt uit Europa' (datanews, 12/13/12)
• Un método para emprendedores real 'como la vida misma' (TicBeat, 12/6/12)
• Founder Institute: tutelando startups antes de que la idea salga del horno (Yorokobu, 11/23/12)
• Can an Hour-Long Aptitude Test Predict Startup Home Runs? Adeo Ressi Thinks so (Forbes, 11/21/12)
• Founder Institute Quietly Expands into the Middle East with a Focus on Supporting Female Entrepreneurs (TechCrunch, 11/8/12)
• Adeo Ressi's Founder Institute Sprouts Startups Around the Globe (Forbes, 11/5/12)
• What is the Right Threshold of Crazy? (NBC News - Bay Area, 11/2/12)
• "The very idea of VC money is at odds with the (success of the founder.” Interview with Founder Institute founder Adeo Ressi (Whiteboard Mag, 10/29/12)
• Adeo Ressi, The Founder Institute za Netokraciju: Ukoliko niste ambiciozni, što će vam startup? (Netokracija, 10/26/12)
• A Silicon Valley Insider Actually Has A Plan To Get More Women In Tech (Business Insider, 10/25/12)
• Il Founder Institute sbarca a Roma (Wired Italy, 10/14/12)
• 'Startups' boricuas inician una nueva era empresarial (El Nuevo Dia, 10/07/12)
• Turning a Small Business into a Big Success (ABC News, 9/21/12)
• Coverage on the Founder Institute's release of "Convertible Equity"
• New Tack in Early-Stage Tech Investing (Wall Street Journal, 10/03/12)
• Adeo Ressi Introduces 'Convertible Equity', Covertible Debt Without Debt (Forbes, 08/31/12)
• Start-up Savior? Killing Convertible Debt (Fortune, 08/31/12)
• 'Convertible Equity': A Plan to Keep Early-Stage Startups out of Debt (VentureBeat, 08/31/12)
• Convertible Equity: A Better Alternative to Convertible Debt? (TechCrunch, 08/31/12)
• Startup Fever Grips Chicago Companies, From Blues to Law Firms (Chicago Business, 10/01/12)
• Founder Institute Graduates 650th Startup; Wants to Globalize Silicon Valley (VentureBeat, 09/28/12)
• Startup firma - sinonim za uspješan poduhvat (Aljazeera, 09/15/12)
• Advice for Budding Entrepreneurs: Don't Give Up (Mashable, 08/15/12)
• Institute Gives Tech Startups a Leg Up (Financial Review, 08/13/12)
• Adeo Ressi on Entrepreneurs and Startup Culture (BusinessWeek, 08/09/12)
• The Founder Institute's Requirement? Create a Company (New York Times, 07/29/12)
• With 538 Startups Launched, Founder Institute Plans to Double its Presence to 10 Cities (The Next Web, 07/26/12)
• CEO Coach: Adeo Ressi (PandoDaily, 07/13/12)
• Incubator Focuses on Founders First, Then Companies (Inc., 06/27/12)
• El Founder Institute presenta una nueva generación de emprendedores (TicBeat 06/09/12)
• Tell us why your Town Should be the Next Silicon Valley (VentureBeat, 06/05/11)
• Entrepreneurs See the World Differently (FounderLY, 05/31/12)
• Here are the Winners of the One-Sentence Pitch Competition (TechCrunch, 04/24/12)
• Startups: Time for Another One-Sentence Pitch Competition with the Founder Institute (TechCrunch, 04/21/12)
• Jakarta Founder Institute Graduates Its Fall Batch of Startups (Tech in Asia, 02/10/12)
• Prepared by the Founder Institute - (Dutch - TechBusiness.nl, 01/31/12)
• GrantSnap gets the Highest-Rated Pitch at Founder Institute Graduation (Dutch) -  (Dutch - Knack.be, 02/09/12) 
• With 415 Graduates, Founder Institute Claims to be the Largest Incubator (TechCrunch, 12/04/11)
• Entrepeneurship is Not Confined to the Young (Spanish - Dinero.com, 09/29/11)
• Free Startup Docs: How Much Equity Should Advisors Get?  (TechCrunch, 09/26/11)
• Cautious Optimism: Startups will Come Out Ahead (VentureBeat, 08/23/11)
• Is There a Peak Age for Entrepreneurship? (TechCrunch, 05/28/11)
• Startups Now Take the Money and Maintain Control (New York Times, 04/07/11)
• The Adeo Ressi Impact in Columbia (Tropical Gringo, 03/05/11)
• Take an Online Crash Course in Entrepreneurship from the Founder Institute (ReadWriteWeb, 02/18/11)
• Founder Institute Aims to Launch 175 Female Led Businesses in 2013 (TheNextWomen, 02/16/11)
• New Female Founder Fellowship at the Founder Institute (Women 2.0, 02/11/11)
• Founder Institute Kicks Off Global Female Founder Fellowship Program (TechCrunch, 02/11/11)
• Founder Institute on a Roll – Amsterdam Now Open Too (TechCrunch, 01/24/11)
• How Latin American Startups are Tapping Silicon Valley (VentureBeat, 01/21/11)
• Founder Institute Expands to South America, Should Your Country be Next? (TechCrunch, 01/19/11)
• Founder Institute's Adeo Ressi Says You Can't Teach Entrepreneurship (VentureBeat, 12/30/10)
• Madlibs for Pitching - How to Perfect the One Sentence Pitch (TechCrunch, 11/03/10)
• Founder Institute looks to incubate 50 Seattle startups (TechFlash, 10/08/10)
• Founder Institute – How to Launch in 10 Steps With Less Than $2000(TechCrunch, 08/29/10)
• Exporting Silicon Valley (The Fifth Conference, 08/20/10)
• Predicting Entrepreneurial Success – Got What it Takes? (CNN Money, 07/28/10)
• Want to Know How You Rank As an Entrepreneur? Take the Founder Institute Test (TechCrunch, 07/21/10)
• Founder Institute is Training Minds for a Great Idea (Denver Post, 05/14/10)
• Adeo Ressi's Founder Institute coming to town in July (Boston.com, 05/07/10)
• Adeo Ressi's Advice to Entrepreneurs at Founder Institute Lunch (The Huffington Post, 04/23/10)
• The Founder Institute Goes Global (VentureBeat, 01/20/10)
• Founder Institute on Track to Graduate 300 Startups Per Year, Expands to New York (TechCrunch, 11/05/09)
• The Founder Institute's Adeo Ressi on his Plans to Leave No Entrepreneur Behind (VentureBeat, 10/12/09)
• TheFunded Founder Creates a Startup Camp for Young CEOs (TechCrunch, 03/03/09)