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Founder First, Founder Always. Join us in 2022: Founder Institute is the #1 place in the world to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses.

Today’s economic 'New Normal' is full of reshuffling industries, and new problems in need of solutions - now is a time for entrepreneurs to act. 

Whether you need to test and validate early hypotheses before making a large financial commitment to your startup idea, or you are ready to push your startup to the next level through aggressive weekly growth sprints to refine your vision, improve key metrics, and prepare for investor diligence, Founder Institute has the proven processes and network to help you do it.

If you could use a structured process that tells you what to focus on when, and a lifetime of support from Toronto's top investors and entrepreneurs, then apply to the Toronto 2023 Founder Institute today.

We will be hosting several free startup events in Toronto over the coming weeks, where you can learn from top entrepreneurs all from the comfort of home:

  • How to Build a Moonshot: Lonestar’s Mission to the Moon: 1:00pm, Apr 01, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/340668
  • Founder Institute Online Information Session: https://FI.co/infosession
  • Pitch Lounge: Get Feedback on Your 1-Minute Pitch Idea from Startup Experts: 1:00pm, Apr 03, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/340632
  • How Early-Stage AI Startups Will Fix Global Problems: 1:00pm, Apr 10, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/340710
  • Ask an Investor Anything: Q&A with a Venture Capitalist: 1:00pm, Apr 15, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/338414
  • Founder Showcase: Startup Pitch & Networking Event: 1:00pm, Apr 18, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/338005
  • Building a Fundable Start-up Brand: 1:00pm, May 20, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/338825
  • Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 8:00pm, May 27, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/339420
  • How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas: 8:00pm, Jun 10, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/339742
  • Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 1:00pm, Jun 17, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/339954
  • Employee to Entrepreneur: How to Make the Transition to Startup Founder: 1:00pm, Jul 01, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/340266
  • Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 8:00pm, Jul 15, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/341279

Make better, faster business decisions in 2022 by sharing your latest progress, challenges, and strategies for constant feedback and evaluation from our expert mentors and advisors, every step of the way–scale your team, develop new business opportunities, and recruit an amazing advisory board with the world's largest network of international startup founders, CEOs, advisors, and investors.

The Toronto accelerator is led by some of the region's top startup leaders, including Aniket Patel (Extreme Venture Partners), Founder Institute Admin (Associate, Founder Institute), Ignacio Castro (MD, Founder Institute Boston), Sunil Sharma (MD, Techstars Canada). In addition, some of Toronto's top entrepreneurs will be participating as mentors in the program, including:

  • Aaron Baer: Partner, Renno & Co
  • Aaron Albert: CEO and Co-Founder, Mine'd
  • Abdel Ali: Investment Analyst, Relay Ventures and Alate Partners
  • Abdellah Aouf: Chief Executive Officer, GO Platform
  • Adam Spector: CEO & Founder, levy
  • Adeo Ressi: CEO, Decile Group / VC Lab
  • Alan Trieu: Senior Director, Sales , Cinchy
  • Alanna Harvey: CMO and Co-Founder, Flipd
  • Alex Norman: Partner, N49P
  • Alexander Rink: CEO, Rink Ventures
  • Alexander Mc Isaac: Principal, Strategic Investments and Women in Tech, BDC Venture Capital
  • Alexander Jager: Founding Partner, Amplifier Advisors
  • Alexander Morsink: Managing Director, Equivesto
  • Ali Nawab: Founder and CEO, Kiwi Wearables
  • Ali Ghassemi: CEO, Weaver and Loom
  • Ali Abbas, SEO Button
  • Amber Mac: President, Konnekt
  • Ambles Kwok: Head of Engineering (Toronto) / Co-Founder, Thumbtack / Therapia
  • Amir Alikhanzadeh: CEO and Co-Founder, Madlipz
  • Andrei Poliakov: CEO, APX Lending
  • Andrew D'Souza: Founder and CEO, Sfoundation
  • Andrew Hendry: Co-Founder, REALQualified
  • Anes Rachid: Manager, Innovation , City of Brampton
  • Angelo Esposito: CEO and Co-Founder, Wisk.ai
  • Anik Ghosh: CPO, Phaze
  • Anna Hu: CEO and Co-Founder, Brizi
  • April Dunford: Founder, Rocket Launch Marketing
  • Aran Hamilton: President & Co-Founder, Vantage
  • Ashley Hahn: Head of Startup Developer Ecosystem, Canada, Google
  • Ashok Prabhu Masilamani: CTO & Founder, Stratuscent
  • Aurelie Guerrieri: CMO, Open Systems
  • Aurélio Araújo: CEO, Leadfy
  • Axel Villamil: CEO, StageKeep
  • Ayhan K. Isaacs: Head of Global Growth, Founder Institute
  • Balaji Gopalan: Co-Founder and CEO, MedStack
  • Barnabe Geis: Executive Director, Centre for Social Innovation, Climate Ventures
  • Barry Hillier: Founder & CEO, eQuo/ DOS
  • Ben Zifkin: CEO, Hubba
  • Ben Sanders: CEO and Co-Founder, Davispier.ca
  • Ben Baldwin: Founder, Upteaming.com
  • Benjamin Stacey: CEO, Pitchverk
  • Bernie Li: Board Member and Investor, Antler
  • Bilal Tariq: Technical Talent Connoisseur , GuruLink
  • Bill Jouni: Partner, NGO
  • Bob Embleton: CEO, Perigee Convergent Solutions Inc
  • Bob Kyryliuk (CEO-P2P): CEO & Founder, CEO-P2P.com
  • Brad Poulos: Mr., Ryerson University
  • Braedon Hinde: Co-Founder, Purpose Equities
  • Brett Reed: Director, Global Talent and People, Localised
  • Brett Colvin: Co-founder and CEO, Goodlawyer
  • Brice Scheschuk: CEO, Globalive Capital
  • Bryan Gold: Co-Founder and CEO, #paid
  • Bryan Smith: Co-Founder & CEO, ThinkData Works Inc.
  • Bryan Duarte: Managing Partner, BlackTech Capital
  • Callum Travaglini: Strategy & Program Manager, Office of the CEO, Wealthsimple
  • Cameron Rowe: CEO, Hover
  • Caren Carrasco: Managing Partner, Benjamin David Group
  • Casey Lau: Co-Host, Rise Conference (Web Summit)
  • Cerys Goodall: COO, Vetster
  • Chad Ford: Vice President Innovation, Communica and Partner, Pactech Ventures, Director, Western Canada Founder Institute
  • Chevonae Walcott: Associate, Relay Ventures
  • Chintan Oza: Founder, Anantam Ecosystems
  • Chris Ye: Co-Founder, Uken Games
  • Chris Hobbs: President, TTT Studios
  • Chris Adams: Founder and Managing Partner, Adams Hamilton
  • Chris Anderson: General Partner, A2Z Ventures
  • Christopher Leacock: Founder , Jillionaire LLC
  • Corey Gross: CEO, Sensibill
  • Cory York: CEO and co-Founder, PowerStores
  • Craig Asano: CEO, National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada
  • Cristian Villamarin: CEO, Flipd
  • Dan De Mers: CEO and Co-Founder, Cinchy
  • Daniel Bishun: Economic Development Officer , City of Brampton
  • Danielle Brewin Graham: Co-Founder, The Firehood
  • David Steckel: Founder and CEO, Setter
  • David Winterstein: CEO, Velocia
  • David Jorjani: VP of Product and Engineering, Sayge
  • Denise Mc Clure: Senior Manage of Economic Development, City of Brampton
  • Derrick Fung: CEO, Drop
  • Devin Tu: Founder and CEO, Map Your Property
  • Devin Ramphal: Innovation and Technology Sector manager-City of Brampton, City of Brampton
  • Diana Goodwin: CEO and Founder, MarketBox & AquaMobile
  • Dickson Nsofor: Founder and CEO, Korapay (Techstars 2019)
  • Dinah Davis: Founder, Code Like A Girl
  • Drew Lindsay: Co-Founder, GuruLink
  • Duncan Brown: Partner, Penrose Partners
  • Dustin Betz: Director of Operations, White Rose Ventures
  • Edmundas Balčikonis: CEO and Co-Founder, Eddy Travels Inc.
  • Eileen Brewer: Director, Takween Accelerator
  • Elaine Ann: Founder/CEO, Kaizor Innovation
  • Erich Ko: CEO, Hop In Technologies
  • Ernest Yap: Founder, Covarian
  • Eropa Stein: CEO, Hyre
  • Evgeny Lazarenko: Senior Product Manager (L7 / Group PM level), Unity
  • Favour Ori: Founder, CEO, Payday
  • Fion Lee Madan: Technical Co-Founder, COO and Customer Success, Fairly AI
  • Francois Le Roux: CEO, Terrene Technologies Inc & BountyBoard
  • Frederic Voyer: Senior Product Innovation Lead, Multiple (HR, BVI & SWAAAP)
  • Gabriel Purificati Weedon: National Account Manager, Calculated Hire
  • Gabrielle Rudd: Senior Program/Ops Associate, Techstars Chicago
  • Garth Smith
  • George Bordianu: Co-founder & CEO, Balance
  • Gilberto Gandra
  • Giovanni Gerbolini: Entrepreneur, Board Member, Startup Advisor, Djot, Loyal VC, MaRS Discovery District, Independent, Covenant House
  • Graeme Millen: Director, Technology Banking, Silicon Valley Bank
  • Gurjot Narwal: CEO and Co-Founder, Gini Health
  • Gurpartap Singh Toor: Council Member, City of Brampton
  • Hamid Akbari: CEO, BlancLink
  • Hamoun Karami: CEO and Co-Founder, Smartbin.io
  • Haoyang Liang: Director of Product Development, Orbiseed
  • Harsh Pujara: Co-Founder, Actuality
  • Helen Platis: Managing Director, A Poke in the Brain Consulting
  • Hooman Aksari: CTO and Co-Founder , Artboard Studio (Techstars 2020)
  • Hussam Ayyad: Chief Accelerator Officer , Highline Beta
  • Idowu Akinde: Founder, Boolean Labs
  • Ilya Brotzky: Founder and CEO, VanHack
  • Isabel Starck: Founder/Co-Founder, Starck Coaching, SportsCarBoutique
  • Jack Liu: CEO and Co-Founder, Orbiseed (Techstars 2020)
  • Jafar Owainati: Co-Founder, Loopio
  • James Meier: CTO, Synervoz Communications
  • James Mayer: Senior Manager, Investments & Venture Services, Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation
  • Jason Atkins: General Partner, 360insights
  • Jay Krishnan: CEO, Accelerator Centre
  • Jeff Hohner: President, Tecumseh Capital Ltd.
  • Jeffery Potvin: Founder, Open People Network
  • Jelmer Stegink: Program Director, DMZ Innisfil
  • Jen Kruidbos: Founder & CEO, Blawesome
  • Jennifer Turliuk: CEO and Founder, MakerKids
  • Jeremy Potvin: Founder, World of Angus
  • Jeremy Glassenberg: Product Management, APIs, Developer Experiences, Marketplaces, API Strategist
  • Jeremy Bell: CEO and Co-Founder, Mayday (Techstars 2020)
  • Jeremy Potvin
  • Jeremy Kuo: CEO, Ever
  • Jesse Shapins: Director of Public Realm, Sidewalk Labs
  • Jessica Peters: Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer , RIDDL
  • Joe Parenteau: CEO and Co-Founder, Fable (Techstars 2020)
  • John Can Karayel: Principal, Flow Capital
  • Jon Prentice: Investment Director (Canada) , Lighter Capital
  • Jonathan Ip: Founder, Iterative Law
  • Jordan Jocius: Director, Founder Institute Waterloo-Toronto
  • Joseph Dales: Co-Founder & Director, RHA Partners
  • Juanita Lee Garcia: Executive Director, The Upside Foundation of Canada
  • Karanjot Jaswal: CTO and Co-Founder, Cinchy
  • Karen Greve Young: CEO, Futurpreneur Canada
  • Kayla Isabelle: Executive Director, Startup Canada
  • Kesem Frank: Founder, Mavennet and AION
  • Kevin Gervais: CTO @ Touchless, Co-Founder @ Auto Genius, Statflo, Touchless
  • Konata Lake: Partner
  • Kristine Beese
  • Kumar Abhishek: Head of Growth, Happay
  • Kweku Essien
  • Kyle Collier: Co-founder and CEO, Phaze
  • Laith Shukri: Sr. Market Development Manager, Silicon Valley Bank
  • Lance Cottrell: Founder, Feel the Boot
  • Laura Bryce: Co-Founder & CMO, loopt
  • Laura Lirette: General Manager, OPN
  • Leandro Faria: CEO, Starbem
  • Lidia Bit Yunan: Co-founder, Set Scouter
  • Lorraine Wiseman: Vistage Chair/ President and CEO , Vistage Worldwide, Inc./ Leading the Wise Way Inc.
  • Lucas Porter-Bakker: Head of Product and Design, PDS
  • Luke Vigeant: CEO, Inkblot
  • Luke DeCoste: Entrepreneur in Residence, Davispier.ca
  • Maarij Rehman: CEO, Envoi
  • Majdi Alnabih: CEO, ZipLunch Inc
  • Mara Rada: CEO & Chief of Strategy, Feral (thinkferal.com)
  • Marat Mukhamedyarov: Managing Partner, Good News Ventures
  • Marcello Tommasi: Co-Founder & COO, Envoi
  • Marina Tran Vu: Founder & CEO , EQUO
  • Mark Pavlidis: CTO, Flixel
  • Mark Smith: Canada Startup Ecosystem Lead, Amazon AWS
  • Mark Mitchell: Partner, Valhalla Private Capital
  • Mark Evans: Principle, Marketing Spark
  • Marty Finestone: Lawyer in Residence, Goodlawyer
  • Maryam Nabavi: Founder and CEO, Babbly (Techstars 2020)
  • Matt O'Leary: CEO and Co-Founder, Treasure Financial
  • Mercedes Bankston: Founder, Funderstar LTD
  • Michael Hyatt: Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, BlueCat Networks
  • Michael Young: CTO, Reuters News and Media
  • Michael Katchen: Founder & CEO, WealthSimple
  • Michael Kosic: Founding Partner, Loyal VC
  • Michael Collins: Founder | CEO, Periculum
  • Michael Yasny: President, Money Consultants Ltd
  • Michele Romanow: Co-Founder, Sfoundation
  • Michelle Pinchev: Founder & Lead Strategist
  • Mike Silagadze: CEO, Top Hat
  • Mike Suprovici: Head of Acceleration, VC Lab
  • Mike Hollinger, Dentons LLP
  • Mike Apted: Principal Solutions Architect - Startups, AWS
  • Milad Zabihi: CEO & Cofounder, Peekage
  • Milanyila Vargas: Economic Diversification Strategist, FMWBEDT
  • Mitt Korot: President & CEO, Toronto Technologies Inc.
  • Mitul Shah: Senior Associate, Vertu Capital
  • Mohamed Sheta: Founder & CEO, AiZtech
  • Mohan Markandaier: Managing Partner, Good News Ventures
  • Monish Sinthala: Mr, PYRAMIDIONS INC
  • Mucahit Gayiran: CEO and Co-Founder, Artboard Studio (Techstars 2020)
  • Muhammad Rashid: Director, Business Development, Finastra
  • Mustansir Paliwala: Strategy & Business Development, EQUANS Services Inc.
  • Mykyta Ponomarenko: Sales, RealSage
  • Nabil Fahel: Head of Partnerships and Community, Terminal, Inc.
  • Nadia KANOUN: CEO, Senior Adviser, Trainer & Coach, IHSCEN for Startups
  • Natalie Smith: Senior Associate, Whitecap Venture Partners
  • Neha Khera: Venture Partner, 500 Startups
  • Nicholas Sopuch: Talent Associate , Entrepreneur First
  • Nicole Verkindt: Founder and CEO, OMX
  • Niket Shah: Co-Founder, Acceler8 Labs
  • Noah Dolgoy: CEO, Tread
  • Noah Wallach: Founder, Hope OS
  • Osamede Arhunmwunde: CEO, GIGX Technologies
  • Pako Tshiamala: Founder & CEO, Blink Equity
  • Pamela Draper: CEO, Bitvo
  • Pardeep Grewal: Fellow, OnDeck
  • Paul Parsons: Partner, Metaii
  • Peter Ma: Co-Founder, MixPose
  • Philippe LeBlanc: CEO, Flixel Photos Inc
  • Phillip Gales: CEO, inate.ai
  • Pooja Viswanathan: CEO, Braze Mobility
  • Preet Singh: Founder, Designx
  • Rahul George: Director Delivery, mDrift Technologies
  • Rain Takahashi: Founder and CEO, Jauntin
  • Ramya Pingali: Founder + CEO, The Email Studio Inc
  • Ravin Shah: Co-CEO & Founder, QuickTapSurvey
  • Raymond Luk: CEO, Hockeystick
  • Reuven Cohen: Founder, Award Pool
  • Richard Hyatt: Co-founder, BlueCat Networks
  • Richard Cristina: Co-founder (MentorLabs), Founder (Bloom), Principal Director (Founder Institute)
  • Richard Findlay: Cleantech Specialist Advisor, RFCL Innovations Inc.
  • Robert Whiteside: Director, Founding Partner, Treemark Capital
  • Robin Lindner: Co-Founder, KWFamous
  • Rokham Sadeghnezhadfard: Founder, TheRedPin.com
  • Ron Gentile: Founder, Moodfit
  • Ron Benegbi: CEO, Uplinq Financial Technologies
  • Roy Pereira: CEO and Founder, Zoom.ai
  • Russ Armstrong: Head of Business Development, Boast.AI (Boast Capital)
  • Russell Brand: CEO & Founder, Responsible Solutions Limited
  • Ryan Micheletti: Head of Global Operations, Founder Institute
  • Ryan Perera: CEO and Co-Founder
  • Samarth Chandola: Founder and CEO, Founder First Fund
  • Sameer Sortur: Founding Partner, SquareCircle Ventures
  • Sameer Khan: Sameer Ahmed Khan, Social Champ, Inc
  • Sami Dalati: Cofounder, Brizi
  • Sanjay Nediyara: Founder and CEO
  • Sara Bentham: Director, Georgian College Entrepreneurship Centre
  • Sara Bingham: Associate Director, Laurier Women Entrepreneurship Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University
  • Sarah Stockdale: CEO, Valkerie
  • Saroop Bharwani: CEO and Co-Founder, Senso (Techstars 2018)
  • Sean Yo: Product Management Fellow, ISPMA
  • Sergey Kalnish: CEO, SmartHire
  • Seun Sanni: COO, PayFi
  • Seymur Rasulov: CEO and Co-Founder, Whelp
  • Sharf Zafar: Director, RBC Royal Bank of Canada
  • Sharoon Thomas: CEO and Founder, Fulfil.io
  • Sheetal Jaitly: CEO, TribalScale
  • Shibin Muhammed: Portfolio Manager, Techstars Canada
  • Shiju Radhakrishnan: Founder, CEO, Unremot
  • Shiva Bhardwaj: Founder, CEO, Pitstop
  • Slawek Potasz: CEO, CarScanner
  • Sodruldeen Mustapha: Co-founder and CTO, Raenest
  • Stephen McCabe: Co-Founder, Northern Devs
  • Steve Dixon: SMB Leader (Canada), Apple
  • Suhas Ghante: Entrepreneur, SVEthos
  • Sunil Sharma: Managing Director, Techstars Toronto, Founder Institute Toronto
  • Tariq Haddadin: Program Director, Techstars Toronto
  • Tarun Sachdeva: GM, Wattpad
  • Tasti Zakarie: Head of Engineering, Social Capital
  • Tauseef Riaz: Cofounder ConsidraCare, Stock Target Advisor and Mashkraft, ConsidraCare.com
  • Test Test, City of Brampton
  • Thomas Park: Partner, BDC Deep Tech Fund
  • Tobey Wood: Engagement Manager, 1863 Ventures
  • Todd Finch
  • Tom Lowden: Head of Labs, US East and Canada, WeWork Labs
  • Tony Sabeta: Partner / Patent Agent, Aird & McBurney LP
  • Torrey Smith: Co-Founder & CEO, Endiatx
  • Tovit Neizer: Chief Storyteller, Yellow Bricks
  • Tracy Leparulo: Founder, Untraceable
  • Trevor Coleman: Founder - SVP, New Product Development , InteraXon
  • Tugi Günes: Programs Lead, DMZ
  • Tyler Cassack: Associate
  • Tyler Bryden
  • Uchi Uchibeke, Chimoney
  • Vasily Nikonov: Founder & CEO, Velvet.Capital
  • Vatsal Shah: Co-founder, CTO , Speak Ai
  • Victor Wong: Managing Director, Operations, Flipp
  • Vikas Gupta: CEO, AVARA
  • Wade Larson: CEO and Co-Founder, EarthDaily Analytics
  • Will Greenblatt: Co-Founder & Managing Director, OutLoud Speakers School
  • Will Moore: Senior Manager, PR and Communications, 1Password
  • William Johnson: Writer and Publisher, Canadian Tech Journal
  • Yang Yu: CEO and Founder, KitchenMate
  • Yatin Jain: Founder & Consulting Partner, Jivaso Technologies
  • Yehia Elkhouly: Partnerships and Business Solutions, StackAdapt
  • Yemi Oluseun: Founder/ CEO - Fintech, SaaS Business Growth, Automation & Change Management, The Change Hive
  • Yossi Hasson: Managing Director, Techstars Blockchain Accelerator (NYC)
  • Zachary Friedman: Founder and COO, Secure Digital Markets
  • Zainab Williams: Founder

  • And many more to be announced.

Since 2009, Founder Institute’s highly-structured accelerator programs have helped over 7,000 entrepreneurs to grow quickly, know what to do next, and make key connections through the largest community of startup advisors in the world. 

It all starts with our renowned ‘FI Core’ accelerator, which pushes founders at the idea and pre-seed stages to reach the milestones needed for investment and sustained growth. Alumni of FI Core then receive free access to our advanced ‘Founder Lab’ accelerators for years to come, and can get matched with prospective investors in the FI Venture Network - a collection of global funds actively investing in the earliest rounds of funding.

The results speak for themselves: FI Alumni have raised over $1.75BN in funding, and are building impactful businesses across 200+ cities and 100+ countries all across the globe. (see the FI 50 Report here).

Join us in Toronto to get funded and build a global business. 

Apply to the Toronto 2023 Founder Institute today, or learn more at FI.co/overview.  

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