Build a Fundable, Global Startup in Portland

The Founder Institute is the world's most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses.

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Hybrid

Program Dates

Oct 20, 2026 Jan 05, 2027

Early Deadline

Sep 8, 2026

Early Entrance Fee

$1099 $1399

The Agentic Experience

You don't have to do it alone. Alongside other like-minded entrepreneurs, you will build your business in a structured, proven process.

Proven Process to Build Quickly & Cheaply

In development since 2009

Updated frequently based on global feedback

Highly Structured and Sequential

Clear growth sprints with weekly deliverables

Engineered to reduce complexity and help you focus

Constant Feedback from Mentors

10 Weekly Feedback Sessions and Office Hours on your pitch, progress, and data to help you make the right decisions

Office hours provide individual, personalized time with industry experts

Learn more about FI Agentic

Session Calendar

Below are the dates for the upcoming program

Onboarding

Oct 13, 2026

06:00pm PDT

Kickoff

Oct 20, 2026

06:00pm PDT

Vision

Oct 20, 2026

07:00pm PDT

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Featured Grad

From our Silicon Valley chapter, Udemy is the global leader in online learning, with nearly 200,000 courses. The company went public on the NASDAQ in October 2021, raising $421 million.

The real question is: can the Founder Institute be game-changing for your business? The answer is yes. Without FI, Udemy may have never raised any money.

Gagan Biyani

Udemy (IPO, 2021)

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Events

Join us for an upcoming event - local or global - to meet other founders and experts. Learn what you need to know now to scale your startup.

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Ecosystem Highlights

We're your local chapter! We live here and we want to grow along with you. Leverage our deep connections in the Portland startup ecosystem to propel your business forward.

Connect with Top Partners and Investors

Network with local Founders

Raise your startup's status in the ecosystem

Mentors

Our Mentors bring real-life experience and expertise so you can make timely decisions quickly.

Renata George

Managing Director @ Zenmen VC

Jiaxi Zhu

Head of Analytics @ Google

Tiago Gavassi

Founder @ PANIC LOBSTER

Ashwin Sivakumar

Chief of Digital Business Strategy @ JugularSocial Group

Eric Hsu

Corporate Attorney

Michael Gorback

Partner @ K&L Gates LLP

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FI Partners

Quickly increase connections to other ecosystem organizations, investors, and industry experts.

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The Founder Institute is the world’s largest agentic company builder, turning ideas into fundable startups, and startups into unicorns. Since 2009, the Founder Institute program has helped over 9,000 entrepreneurs build 9,000+ companies, including unicorns like Udemy and Esusu, raise over 2BN in funding, and grow a portfolio worth an estimated $20BN. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200+ cities and 95 countries, our mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build impactful technology companies worldwide. Learn more about the Founder Institute.