Now, more than ever, the world needs entrepreneurs to build the future.
At the Founder Institute, we know times are tough, but we also know that economic downturns are a great time to start a business. This isn't just conjecture - the Founder Institute was started in April of 2009 (during the "Great Recession"), and world-leading companies like Microsoft, Tesla, and Apple also took advantage of cost savings during a recession to launch and get their initial traction.
Applications for the Montreal - Toronto Spring 2025 program will close on August 2, 2020.
If you could use a structured process and a lifetime of support from Montreal's top investors and entrepreneurs to build a startup, then apply to the Montreal - Toronto Spring 2025 Founder Institute today.
Local COVID-19 Update: In an effort to #StopTheSpread and ensure everyone’s health and safety, this program is planned to be held online. Learn more on our Virtual Program FAQ page.
While the program is generic, Montreal is offering fellowships in two (2) specific streams. Those fellowships give entrepreneurs the opportunity to enrol in the program for free ($999 value):
- Supply Chain fellowship (https://fi.co/join/supplychain) in partnership with BCF Ventures and Scale Ai super-cluster.
Blog Post announcement here:
"Founder Institute Startup Accelerator launches Global Supply Chain Tech Vertical in Montreal" - Digital Health fellowship (https://fi.co/join/medstack) in partnership with MedStack.
Blog Post announcement here:
"Founder Institute Montreal Announces New MedStack Digital Health Fellowship program"
To celebrate the launch, we will host several free startup events in Montreal, where you can learn from top entrepreneurs and hear more about the program:
- How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas: 8:00pm, Apr 28, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/366685
- Founder Institute Online Information Session: https://FI.co/infosession
- Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 8:00pm, May 05, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/370046
- What is the DNA of an Entrepreneur? Insights from 15 Years of Research: 8:00pm, May 07, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/366628
- Ask an Investor Anything: Q&A with Nathan Beckord: 1:00pm, May 12, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/366436
- Lessons Learned Raising from Top Silicon Valley VCs: AMA with Rajeev Behera: 12:00pm, May 29, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/371301
- How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas: 1:00pm, Jun 02, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/370600
- How to Build Your MVP Using Artificial Intelligence : 1:00pm, Jun 04, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/371370
- Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 8:00pm, Jun 09, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/370763
- FI Alumni Panel: Meet Portfolio Companies and Ask Questions: 1:00pm, Jun 23, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/371796
- Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 1:00pm, Jun 30, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/371637
- Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 1:00pm, Jul 07, 2025 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/370364
Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200+ cities worldwide, the Founder Institute provides high-potential entrepreneurs and teams with the devoted support network and structured growth process needed to get to traction and funding. Participants in the 4-month core program also get access to a lifetime of support through the Founder Institute's industry-leading post-programs.
Since 2009, the Founder Institute has helped over 7,500 Alumni raise over $1.85BN funding, get into seed-accelerators, generate traction, recruit a team, build a product, transition from employee to entrepreneur, and more (see the FI 10 Year Impact Report here).
Launched in 2014 by Sergio Escobar and LP Maurice, the Montreal Founder Institute has produced over 55 companies that have collectively raised several million dollars in funding. Notable alumni of the Montreal program include FightCamp, Unito, Streamline Genomics, Jitbase, Allset, and many more. The 2020 Virtual program will count with the addition of Francois Poirier as Program Manager and co-Director. The Montreal program is supported by Fasken and Richter.
In addition, some of Montreal's top investors, entrepreneurs, and CEOs will be participating in the program, providing them with expert feedback and evaluation. The list of startup mentors for the Montreal Founder Institute includes:
- 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
- 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: Founder & CEO , 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
- Anik Ghosh: CPO, Phaze
- Anna Hu: CEO and Co-Founder, Brizi
- Aran Hamilton: President & Co-Founder, Vantage
- Arcui Usoara: Founder/CEO, Iaculus
- Ashley Martis: Co-Founder & CEO, StartupFuel
- 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 Stacey: CEO, Pitchverk
- Ben Sanders: CEO and Co-Founder, Davispier.ca
- Ben Baldwin: Founder, Upteaming.com
- Ben Zion Benkhin: CEO, WOMBO.ai
- 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
- Brice Scheschuk: CEO, Globalive Capital
- Bruce Hodges: Founder & CEO, Parachute (White Hat Financial)
- 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
- Craig Zingerline: Founder and CEO , Growth University
- Dan De Mers: CEO and Co-Founder, Cinchy
- Daniel Bishun: Economic Development Officer , City of Brampton
- Danielle Brewin Graham: Co-Founder, The Firehood
- David Winterstein: CEO, Velocia
- David Jorjani: Founder, Qatalyst Labs
- 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
- Don Samoil: Managing Partner, Trusted Scale
- Drew Lindsay: Co-Founder, GuruLink
- Duncan Brown: Partner, Penrose Partners
- Dustin Betz: Director of Operations, White Rose Ventures
- Ebin Elavathingal: Director, MERSTRA Foundation / Next Market
- 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: Carbon Markets and Renewable Energy Lead, SWTCH Energy
- 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 Inc.
- Francois Le Roux: CEO, Terrene Technologies Inc & BountyBoard
- Franklin Kamnang Ngansop: Cofounder , Vitamin C&S Coaching
- Frederic Voyer: Senior Strategy & Execution Advisor, Post-Exit Entrepreneur (multiple: SWAAAP, BVI & HR Inc.)
- 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: Founder, Gandra & Co
- 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
- Harnoor Singh
- 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, Impact Hub Lagos
- Ignacio Castro: Managing Partner, 128vc
- Ilya Brotzky: Founder and CEO, VanHack
- Isabel Starck: Founder/Co-Founder, Starck Coaching, SportsCarBoutique
- Jack Liu: CEO and Co-Founder, Orbiseed (Techstars 2020)
- Jaden Pereira
- Jafar Owainati: Co-Founder, Loopio
- James Meier: CTO, Synervoz Communications
- 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
- 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
- Joe Parenteau: CEO and Co-Founder, Fable (Techstars 2020)
- Jon Prentice: Investment Director (Canada) , Lighter Capital
- Jonah Midanik: COO & General Partner, Forum Ventures
- Jonathan Ip: Founder, Iterative Law
- Jordan Jocius: Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Founder Institute
- Joseph Dales: Co-Founder & Director, RHA Partners
- Juanita Lee Garcia: Executive Director, The Upside Foundation of Canada
- June W Choi: Managing Partner, Serval Ventures
- Jyoti Singh: Marketing Director, We Love Digital Marketing Inc.
- 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
- Leandro Faria: CEO, Starbem
- Leena Dixit: Founder and Mentor, Nativ Chefs and InFED
- Leonidas Papadopoulos: CEO, Viable
- 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
- Manny Jassal: Founder, Defiant Regime & Extra Sauce Agency
- Mara Rada: Chief Operations and Strategy, Loon (loonbio.com)
- Marat Mukhamedyarov: Managing Partner, Good News Ventures
- Marcello Tommasi: Co-Founder & COO, Envoi
- Marina Tran Vu: Founder & CEO , EQUO
- Mark Smith: Canada Startup Ecosystem Lead, Amazon AWS
- 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
- Matt Lee: Investor, Dr. Matt Lee Family Office
- Matthew Thurston: Chief Arctictect, Arctic Wolf
- Mercedes Bankston: Founder, Funderstar LTD
- Michael Young: CTO, Reuters News and Media
- Michael Katchen: Founder & CEO, WealthSimple
- Michael Kosic: Founding Partner, Loyal VC
- Michael Collins: Founder | CEO, Periculum
- Michele Romanow: Co-Founder, Sfoundation
- Michelle Pinchev: Founder & Lead Strategist
- 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: AGI Integration in Economic Development, The World
- Mitt Korot: President & CEO, Toronto Technologies Inc.
- Mitul Shah: Senior Associate, Vertu Capital
- Mohan Markandaier: Managing Partner, Good News Ventures
- Mohd Shahnawaz
- Monish Sinthala: Mr, PYRAMIDIONS INC
- Mucahit Gayiran: CEO and Co-Founder, Artboard Studio (Techstars 2020)
- Muhammad Rashid: Director, Business Development, Finastra
- Mustafa Saeed: Co-Founder, Luella
- 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
- Nana Obeng: Fractional COO /Strategic Partner, Highpoint Consulting
- Natalie Smith: Senior Associate, Whitecap Venture Partners
- Neerav Sood: CEO, Simple AI
- 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
- Parvinder Shergill: CFO, Trust Bridge Consulting Inc.
- 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: Managing Director, Alystic Holdings
- Reza Farhani: CEO, Katalyze AI
- Richard Hyatt: Co-founder, BlueCat Networks
- Richard Cristina: Co-founder (MentorLabs), Founder (Bloom), Bloom
- 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
- Sanjit Singh: COO, Various Companies
- 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
- Sheikh Masud Iftekher: Key Account Controller, Ericsson Indonesia
- 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
- Steve Dixon: SMB Leader (Canada), Apple
- Steve Brovchenko: Growth Lead, Amazon
- Stjepan Zelic: CEO, Hypefy
- Suhas Ghante: Entrepreneur, SVEthos
- Sunil Sharma: Managing Director, Founder Institute 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
- 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 Longino: Founder & CEO, CrowdTamers
- Tugi Günes: Programs Lead, DMZ
- 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
- Vladimir Pletyukhin: Founder and Creative Director, Launch Deck
- 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: Founder, Parachute | Director Partnerships and Business Solutions, StackAdapt
- Yemi Oluseun: Growth & GTM For FinTechs, The Change Hive
- Zainab Williams: Founder
- And many more to be announced.
The Founder Institute focuses on helping tech or tech-enabled businesses at the pre-seed stage, including both solo-founders and teams. This includes established businesses that are pre-funding and traction, MVP and prototype-stage projects, and even part-time founders with just ideas. FI's mission is to create sustainable startup ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.
Join us in Montreal to build a great company in 2020.
Apply to the Montreal - Toronto Spring 2025 Founder Institute today, or learn more at FI.co/overview.
