Graduation Keynote Address:
- AJ DeLeon - Co-Founder & CEO @ Innovare: AJ is a former educator, school improvement coach, and data strategist in Chicago Public Schools as well as a former consultant at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He was recognized as a 2016 National EPic alumnus of Education Pioneers, was an inaugural fellow of The Surge Institute, and is an admirer of the art of Frida Kahlo. Innovare is a data and continuous improvement ed-tech venture that supports education and nonprofit leaders with the software and support they need to impact students and communities.
We proudly announce the following new companies:
Astarta - An AI-powered platform offering holistic maternity care—combining expert-led education, personalized support, and on-demand consultations to help women navigate pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and early motherhood with confidence and ease.
Brook & Boulder - Provides AI-powered market intelligence to midsize real estate investment firms, helping them identify high-growth markets and streamline pre-deal sourcing to improve deal flow and returns.
HapyTap - A feel-good gifting platform that sparks emotional connection by helping people send gifts even during just-because moments with a simple tap, turning everyday kindness into a joyful scalable habit.
iGrow - A gamified micro-learning platform that helps students and young professionals build essential life skills, through interactive, real-world simulations that traditional education fails to provide.
KnowCents - A lead generation platform that helps $100K+ savers discover smarter, higher-yielding financial opportunities—including tokenized cash products—and connects them with vetted, crypto-friendly advisors.
MomSub - A marketplace app that finds and manages the ideal nanny based on location, schedule and budget and serves working parents who need a hard-to-find weekly caregiver willing to commit to part-time long-term child care at an affordable rate.
Tapestree - Reimagines the memory quilt as a community-powered gifting experience—where personalized fabric patches are easily created, shared, and assembled into a lasting tapestry that honors the recipient’s life, relationships, and accomplishments.
TripCircle - Helps Gen Z and Millennial travelers plan and commit to group trips by combining collaborative saving, shared decision making, and booking tools into one stress free experience that eliminates scattered apps and coordination headaches.
About Founder Institute: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.