Build a Great Startup this Fall 2020 with the Founder Institute Montreal Startup Virtual Pre-Seed Accelerator

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 2024 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 2024 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:

Innovation Series: Connecting Corporates & Startups with Open Innovation: 12:00pm, May 09, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/345233
Founder Institute Online Information Session: https://FI.co/infosession
How to Build a Fundable Start-up Brand: 1:00pm, May 20, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/338795
Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 8:00pm, May 27, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/339403
What is the DNA of an Entrepreneur? Insights from 15 Years of Research: 1:00pm, Jun 03, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/343452
How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas: 8:00pm, Jun 10, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/339725
Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 1:00pm, Jun 17, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/339924
How to Turn your Value Proposition into a Product Market Fit: 1:00pm, Jun 24, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/341458
Employee to Entrepreneur: How to Make the Transition to Startup Founder: 8:00pm, Jul 01, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/340235
How to Acquire your First 100 B2C Customers: 1:00pm, Jul 08, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/344423
Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 8:00pm, Jul 15, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/341252
What is the DNA of an Entrepreneur? Insights from 15 Years of Research: 8:00pm, Jul 22, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/343965
How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas : 1:00pm, Jul 29, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/341672
Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 8:00pm, Aug 05, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/341881
What is the DNA of an Entrepreneur? Insights from 15 Years of Research: 1:00pm, Aug 12, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/344111
Pitch Lounge: Practice Pitching Your Business Idea to Startup Experts : 8:00pm, Aug 19, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/341749
Ask an Investor Anything: Q&A with a Venture Capitalist: 8:00pm, Aug 26, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/341807
Employee to Entrepreneur: How to Make the Transition to Startup Founder: 8:00pm, Sep 02, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/343250
What is the DNA of an Entrepreneur? Insights from 15 Years of Research: 8:00pm, Sep 09, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/344216
Startup Fundraising Q&A: Meet Investors from the FI Venture Network: 1:00pm, Sep 16, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/342369
How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas: 1:00pm, Sep 23, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/343558
Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 1:00pm, Sep 25, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/344309
Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 1:00pm, Oct 02, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/342055
Startup Fundraising Q&A: Meet Investors from the FI Venture Network: 8:00pm, Oct 14, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/342456
How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas: 8:00pm, Oct 23, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/344515
What is the DNA of an Entrepreneur? Insights from 15 Years of Research: 1:00pm, Oct 30, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/344608
Employee to Entrepreneur: How to Make the Transition to Startup Founder : 1:00pm, Nov 04, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/343345
Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 8:00pm, Nov 06, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/342158
Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 8:00pm, Nov 18, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/344699
What is the DNA of an Entrepreneur? Insights from 15 Years of Research: 8:00pm, Nov 25, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/345441
Startup Fundraising Q&A: Meet Investors from the FI Venture Network: 1:00pm, Nov 27, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/342551
Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 1:00pm, Dec 02, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/342258
What is the DNA of an Entrepreneur? Insights from 15 Years of Research: 1:00pm, Dec 04, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/345348
Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 1:00pm, Dec 09, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/344804
How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas: 1:00pm, Dec 16, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/344923
Startup Fundraising Q&A: Meet Investors from the FI Venture Network: 8:00pm, Dec 23, 2024 (America/New_York): https://FI.co/e/342636

See all upcoming events

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 7,000 Alumni raise over $1.75BN 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 Carr: CEO & Founder, Qarrot Performance
Abdullah Snobar: Executive Director , DMZ
Adeo Ressi: CEO, Decile Group / VC Lab
Afsoon Soudi: Co Founder & VP R&D, IRYStec
Alain Goubau: COO & CFO, FarmLead
Alessia Talarico: Investment Analyst, BCF Ventures
Alex Nemeroff: Co-Founder, Creative Director, Dynamo
Alex Barrett: Investment Associate, iNovia Capital
Alex Iskold: Managing Partner, 2048vc
Alex Norman: Partner, N49P
Alexandre Witkowicz: Analyst, WhiteStar Capital
Alice Dinu: VP Student Success & Research, Ready Education
Amélie Morency: CEO, The FoodRoom
Amira Boutouchent: CEO & Co-Founder, Bridgr.co
Amy Pollard: Startup Program Manager, OVHcloud
Anand Safi: Director/ Head of Data Engineering, Zinnia
Andrew D'Souza: Founder and CEO, Sfoundation
Angelique Mannella: Strategic Global Alliances, Amazon
Angelo Esposito: CEO and Co-Founder, Wisk.ai
Ariel Garten: CEO, InteraXon
Ashok Prabhu Masilamani: CTO & Founder, Stratuscent
Balaji Gopalan: Co-Founder and CEO, MedStack
Ben Yoskovitz: Founding Partner, HighlineBETA
Ben Melchionno: Associate Partner, IBM
Benjamin du Haÿs: Founder & CEO, Mobeewave
Benjamin Tuff: Managing Partner, Benjamin David Group
Benjamin Sekkat: Associate, AQC Capital
Beth Thouin: CMO-for-Hire, Beth Thouin Consulting
Bonnie Foley-Wong: Chief Investment Innovator, Pique Ventures
Bonnie Chau: Portfolio Manager, BCF Ventures
Brandon Waselnuk: Product Manager and Principle, CoVenture
Brian Church: Country Manager, Canada
Brian Zubert: Director, Thomson Reuters Labs
Brice Scheschuk: CEO, Globalive Capital
Buchi Okoro: CEO and Co-Founder, Quidax (Techstars 2020)
Caitlin Mac Gregor: CEO & Cofounder, Plum.io Inc.
Caroline Pelletier: Vice President Screening and Investment Support, Anges Quebec
Carter Laren: Founder/CEO, Inara Ventures
Cesar L. Patricio: CEO & co-Founder, WorkMesh.co
Charles Tiné: Founder and ex-CEO, SafeBrands
Chevonae Walcott: Associate, Relay Ventures
Chris Arsenault: Managing Partner, iNovia Capital
Chris Atkinson: CEO & co-Founder, FleetOps
Chris Anderson: General Partner, A2Z Ventures
Claude Théoret: Founder, Nexalogy
Clement Cazalot: Managing Director, Self
Code Cubitt: Managing Director, Mistral Venture Partners
Craig Asano: CEO, National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada
Daleyne Guay: Founder & CEO, DGIT Management
Danial Jameel: Founder/CEO, Forbes 30under30, Ready Education
David Dufresne: Partner, Panache VC
David Sciacca: COO, LIFT session
David Nadezhdin: Co-founder/CEO, Master Your Rush
Dax Da Silva: Founder/CEO, LightSpeed
Deborah Hayek: Senior Product Owner (Manulife's Innovation Lab), Manulife
Dennis Van Staalduinen: President & Executive Strategist, Brandvelope Consulting
Diana Cheptene: Senior Product Manager, Shopify
Diana Sciortino: Investment Analyst, BCF Ventures
Dickson Nsofor: Founder and CEO, Korapay (Techstars 2019)
Doyle Buehler: CEO, Department of Digital
Dr. Alexandra T. Greenhill: CEO, Careteam Technologies Inc.
Eleonore Jarry Ferron: Investment Associate, BrightSpark
Elizabeth Wasserman: Co-Founder & CEO, Mate1.com Inc.
Ella Hilal: Director of Data, Shopify
Eric Brat: Director, co-Lead, Creative Destruction Lab (Montreal)
Eryk Warren: Co Founder & CTO, Unito
Ethan Song: Co-Founder & CEO, Frank & Oak
Eva Lau: co-Founder, Two Small Fish Ventures
Fab Dolan: Head of Marketing, Google, Canada
Francis Wenzel: Founder & CEO, TickSmith
Francois Poirier: COO, Parcours entrepreneurial Rémi Marcoux
François Arbour: CEO / VP Music & Video, Premiumbeat / Shutterstock
Frantz Saintellemy: President & COO, Leddartech
Frederic Voyer: Senior Product Innovation Lead, Multiple (HR, BVI & SWAAAP)
Frederic Scherer: CEO & co-Founder, Jitbase
Frederick Townes: Co-Founder & CTO, Boundless Life
Geoffrey Bernard: Senior Director, Growth, Analytics & Data Science, La Presse
George Korkejian: Venture Manager, BCF Ventures
Gian Carlo Di Tommaso: Chief Operating Officer
Giselle Bisson: Managing Director, Chain Reaction PR
Graeme Barlow: CEO, Quantum Liquid Cooling Inc.
Graeme Millen: Director, Technology Banking, Silicon Valley Bank
Greg Isenberg: Digital Marketer and Angel Investor
Ha Nguyen: VP, McRock Capital
Hakim Tamgalt: CTO & Co-Founder, Crema App
Hakim Merah: Senior Manager, Acceleration & AI Ecosystem
Hussam Ayyad: Chief Accelerator Officer , Highline Beta
Ian Jeffrey: VP Product Marketing Marketing, PasswordBox
Idowu Akinde: Founder, Boolean Labs
Isaac Souweine: Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Real Ventures
Isaac Adejuwon: CEO & Founder, Metricsflow
James Slifierz: CEO, SkyWatch Space Applications
Javier Gotschlich: Head of Partnerships - Hubspot for Startups, HubSpot
Jay Ferst: Managing Partner, Ferst Capital Partners
Jean Agenor: Founder and CEO, Waxdale Ecosystem Inc.
Jean Benoit Richard: COO, Alexsei
Jean David Begin: Co-founder & CEO, Guestful
Jean-François Ouellet: Associate Professor, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, HEC Montréal
Jeffrey Hoffman: Chairman
Jeremy Geiger: CEO, Funding Lab LLC
Jerome Soucy: People & Operations, Hykso FightCamp
Jessica Korthuis: Founder & CEO, SOHUIS
Joanne Wong: Partner, REDDS Capital
Joel Yaffe: Founder, GuestDriven, iTechnique, Potcoin, Glace des Arts
Joel Semeniuk: Vice President of Growth and Innovation, Communitech
John Espinoza: Co-founder , Unito
Jonathan Brun: Vice-President, White Star Capital
Jonathan Druker: Director of commercialization and innovation, PME MTL
Jonny Caron: Launch Specialist, Unbounce
Jose Martins: Director , Founder Institute Boston
Josette Renée Landry: CEO, Streamline Genomics
Juan Cabrera: Designer & Marketing Consultant, jcabrera.studio
Julien Denaes: Co-Founder , Alpin
Justin Sherratt: Founder, Sortbox
Justin Evans: Co-Founder, LANDR Audio
Karina Costa: Director, Anywhere Accelerator
Kevin Swersky: Research Scientist @ Google Brain, Google Austria
Khalil Zahar: Founder & CEO, FightCamp
Kookai Chaimahawong: VC Associate, Pangaea Ventures
Kyell Vyncke: VP Sales & Marketing, TrackTik
Laviva Mazhar: Investment Analyst, Luge Capital
Leah Mazur: CEO & Founder, Loop Digital Marketing
Lee Silverstone: Co founder/ EVP strategic partnerships, Mystral Venture Partners
Leo Lax: Managing Director, L-Spark/Wesley Clover
Lisa Cashmore: Vice President, Start and Scale, Communitech
Lorne Lieberman: Managing Partner, Jant Ventures
Louis François Hogue: Strategic, Advisor
Louis Philippe Maurice: Louis Philippe Maurice - Founder/CEO, Busbud (Montreal FI), Busbud
Luc Filiatreault: Luc Filiatreault - VP Venture Development, OpenText (Barcelona FI), OpenText
Luc Bégnoche: Founder & CEO, DiversifAI
Lucas Francioli: Founder & CEO, MoveMate
Madusha Cooray: Manager, Developer Relations, Google Canada
Magaly Charbonneau: Principal, iNovia Capital
Mano Kulasingam: Venture Partner, Good News Ventures
Mara Rada: CEO & Chief of Strategy, Feral (thinkferal.com)
Marat Mukhamedyarov: Managing Partner, Good News Ventures
Marc Alloul: Managing Partner W2/W3, W Investments
Marc Boscher: Founder & CEO, Unito
Marc Chriqui: Angel Investor & Former CEO, Raymark (acquired by Mi9 Retail)
Marc Antoine Ross: Angel Investor & Chief Innovation Officer, Diagram Ventures
Marcos Carvalho: Co-Founder & Head of Demand Generation, Boundless Life
Marcus Daniels: Co-Founder & CEO, Highline VC
Mariah Lichtenstern: Founder-CEO, DiverseCity Ventures
Marina Cortes: Venture Partner, Hike Ventures
Martin Sendyk: President & CEO, Lytica
Matt Smith: C-Level Tech Startup Expert, Consulting
Matthias Bedard: Co-Founder & CTO
Matthieu Houle: VP Digital Media, Yellow Pages Canada
Mauro Repacci: Co-Founder & CEO, Boundless Life
Mazen Elbawab: Project Lead Programmer - Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft
Mehdi Mehni: Co-Founder & Head of AI Engineering, INTO AI
Mehdi Merai Merai: CEO, Dataperformers
Melissa Belbeck: Senior Associate, Whitecap Venture Partners
Meryeme Lahmami: Associate, Strategic Investments & Women in Tech, BDC Capital
Michael Katchen: Founder & CEO, WealthSimple
Michael Smith: Failed tech entrepreneur, lawyer, angel investor, Various
Michel Jamati: CTO, Lexop
Mike Silagadze: CEO, Top Hat
Mike Kirkup: CTO, enCircle
Mike Blicker: Co-founder & CEO, WealthTab
Mike Cegelski: Managing Partner & Angel Investor, Panache Ventures
Mike Apted: Principal Solutions Architect - Startups, AWS
Mohan Markandaier: Managing Partner, Good News Ventures
Mohannad El Barachi: Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, SweetIQ Analytics Corp.
Nadeem Ghafoor: VP, Canadensys Aerospace Corporation
Nadine Zerrini: Corporate Innovation Leader, Harvard University
Nancy Eperjesy: CEO & co-Founder, Mettle (acquired by Adobe Systems)
Naomi Goldapple: Head of AlayaLabs, AlayaCare
Narjes Boufaden: CEO & co-Founder, Keatext
Neha Khera: Venture Partner, 500 Startups
Nicolas Jacques Bouchard: Principal, Panache Ventures
Oshri Cohen: Fractional CTO, Oshri Cohen Technology Consulting
Pablo Srugo: Principal, Mistral Venture Partners
Pam Alfred: CEO, AskPAM
Parm Gill: Managing Partner, Gill Group
Paul D'souza: President and CEO, The D'Souza Group
Paul Ortchanian: Vice-President, Product Development, WatchMojo.com
Peggy Van De Plassche: Managing Partner & Board Member, Roar Growth & Invest Canada
Phil Rivard: Director of Ventures, NEXT Canada
Philip Cutler: President & CEO, GradeSlam
Pierre Sabbagh: Founder & CEO, Roof AI
Pierre Luc Laparé: Co-Founder, Golf Avenue
Prathna Ramesh: Managing Director & Chief Compliance Officer, Maple Leaf Angels
Przemyslaw (Marco) Janeczek: Managing Partner, Infinite Venture Partners
Rachel Sheppard: Digital Strategist & Startup Mentor - Helping Female Founders Launch & Grow Their Businesses Around the Globe, Founder Institute HQ
Raff Paquin: Director, Data, LightSpeed
Raffi Tchakmakjian: CEO, LIFT session
Raymond Luk: CEO, Hockeystick
Rob Attwell: Founder, COO/CFO, Careteam Technologies Inc.
Russ Armstrong: Head of Business Development, Boast.AI (Boast Capital)
Sanjay Singhal: Co-Founder and CEO, 500 Startups
Sanjay Zimmermann: Investment Associate, White Star Capital
Sebastien Roy: Director, Data Science, Wheels Up
Shahab Samimi: Senior Associate, 7 Gate Ventures
Shahzad Khan: CTO, Gnowit Inc
Shiva Bhardwaj: Founder, CEO, Pitstop
Siddharth Srivastava: Vice-President, McRock Capital
Sophie Boulanger: CEO, BonLook
Steven Abrams: Partner, IT Venture Fund, BDC Capital
Suzanne Grant: cofounder and ceo, iBIONICS
Taylor Sicard: Co-Founder, BVGrowth
Thomas Punch: VP Business Development, WatchMojo.com
Tim Jodoin: Founder - President, Edispin Inc.
Tom Lowden: Head of Labs, US East and Canada, WeWork Labs
Trevor Coleman: Founder - SVP, New Product Development , InteraXon
Trevor Longino: Chief Marketing Officer, Unito
Udit Bhatnagar: Investment Associate, McRock Capital
Ulrich Soeffing: Data Science Manager, MarketMuse
Vanessa Cherenfant: Managing Director, Sadax Technologies
Vaughn DiMarco: Director, INVEST-AI
Vicken Kanadjian: Co-Founder & Managing Director, Cesium Inc.
Yishel Khan: CEO & Founder, DOT Mind Unlocked
Yona Shtern: Founder/CEO, Beyond The Rack
Yuri Navarro: Executive Director, National Angel Capital Organization

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.