The Silicon Valley Founder Institute, the local chapter of the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator, is proud to announce the newest Alumni from the Silicon Valley Virtual 2020 program.
Over 440 people applied to the program, and after an intense four months of aggressive business-building sprints and constant evaluation and feedback from investors and mentors, just 21 companies were able to make it through.
Each of these Founders have demonstrated a high level of perseverance and creativity, and their businesses have been thoroughly vetted and supported by a panel of Silicon Valley's top startup experts and investors.
And now, without further ado, we present the newest Alumni of the Silicon Valley program:
- aqsafarm - a mobile-light and resource-rich web app helping Indonesian families build local profitable and sustainable quail egg farming businesses
- Awake in Business - developing a team-based learning program to help HR leaders track and improve key behavioral drivers to increase engagement and optimize company performance
- BE LUX - aggregating the on-demand gig economy into a single voice enabled platform to serve the needs of consumers and businesses with instantaneous access to high demand services
- Chiefly – helping tech companies develop effective leaders and link individual progress to tangible business results.
- DotX - a payroll solution allowing workers without a bank account to receive salaries and make banking transactions using our mobile app
- Egal - transforming the lives of unbanked women and their families by enabling a financial safety net
- Good Desk - a software marketplace to help remote workers find nearby workplaces located inside SME offices and connect them with like minded people
- HAUS+ - making building a second unit easy and affordable for homeowners
- KA Tech - creating on-demand, immersive, Augmented Reality (AR) work instructions for public transit industry
- Liferithms - enabling lifestyle optimization for billions of millennial professionals struggling with burnout
- MMAARS - a vanguard in training career professionals to acquire practical hands-on skills to become commercial astronautics for human spaceflight and serve the new space era
- MyShoperon - providing an online platform to facilitate ecommerce receiving for high-rise buildings, alleviating their package management issues
- OLL mobi - a customer receipts intelligence platform to help Chief Marketing Officers and Managers of Customer Acquisition & Growth Marketing to drive rapid global traffic flow to their stores and increase sales
- Polly Languages - an online platform building video ecosystems for immersive language learning, based on specific topics and real-world language for learners yearning for a social space
- Resurge Industries - helping current homeowners make their homes more energy efficient by providing the education and products necessary to do so
- Reya - matching users to the best female birth control option for their unique bodies, eliminating the trial and error process.
- Samavira - an international wellness brand franchising meditation & mindfulness classes worldwide to helpi people who feel stuck in their personal development, mental health, wellness or mindset to empower themselves and start living life on their own terms
- Shanghai Jiedou EdTech - an online platform helping young children from China and the US, aged 7-12 years old, communicate on a weekly base
- SMITSU - comparing real-time Singapore insurance products within 45 seconds
- Splitter Technologies - a ghost kitchen-as-a-service helping restauranteurs build an off-premise order only restaurant quickly, efficiently, and affordably
- Tinium - a platform for digital shipping papers, to be used in hazmat transportation by road. While papers for hazmat shipping by air, ocean, and rail have already been digitized, trucking has been left behind due to regulatory demands
The Silicon Valley Virtual 2020 program would not have been possible without help, because it truly takes a city to raise a startup. We would first like to thank the Local Leaders of the Silicon Valley Founder Institute: Christina Marie Reddick (Founder, Racedu), Mercedes Bankston (Founder, Funderstar LTD), Preeti Tikekar (Founder/CEO, Membition). Our Local Leaders play an incredibly important role in building the local Founder Institute program, and creating an environment and network in Silicon Valley that is conducive to building to great companies.
In addition, the Silicon Valley Virtual 2020 program was supported by some of Silicon Valley's top technology organizations, including:
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Some of Silicon Valley’s top startup mentors helped our founders in the program, including:
- Aaron Abram: Entrepreneur with 1 exit & Advisor., Pricestack, Kangarootime, & Osurv
- Abdellah Aouf: Chief Executive Officer, GO PLATFORM
- Adam Matalon: Chief Revenue Officer, ThermaGel Innovations. Inc.
- Adeo Ressi: CEO, Decile Group / VC Lab
- Aditya Kumar: Director, Founder Institute Silicon Valley
- Aki Ohashi: Vice President, Evolution Ventures
- Aleksandar Bradic: Chief Technology Officer, Supplyframe
- Alex Sok: Co-Founder/CEO, Endurance AI
- Alexey Semeney: Founder & CEO, DevTeam.Space
- Alex M. Dascalu: Lead Director, Founder Institute Central Eastern Europe
- Aline Hemmo: Consultant, Pilsoft
- Allen Martinez: Founder, Noble Digital
- Amit Bhanot: Venture Partner, Loyal VC
- Andrea Ramoino: Transformational Leader, Fintech, Payments, Digital Assets, SaaS
- Andrea Monti: Managing Director Impact and Sustainability, Founder Institute
- Andrew Lockley: Investor and Strategy Consultant, Andrew Lockley
- Andrew Miller: Andrew Lee Miller, Consultant
- Andy Park: Consulting CFO, Escalon Services
- Ankush Bagotra: Product Management Leader , Meta
- Anmol Verma: Co-founder, Finvest
- Anthony Rose: Founder & CEO, SeedLegals
- Asa Goldstein: Founder & CEO, BrandShine Creative Services
- Ashutosh Zade: Founder, Inventor / Sr. Principal , Stealth Mode
- Avery Lyford: VP Commercial Partnerships, RapidFort
- Aviv Shalgi: CEO, Solar Simplified
- Ayhan K. Isaacs: Head of Global Growth, Founder Institute
- Ben Stacey: CEO, Pitchverk
- Bob Rosin: Investor and Advisor, Bob Rosin
- Bradley Riel: IP / Legal Strategist, DeepMind
- Brandon Steelman: Founder, Clear Gene, Inc.
- Brian Proffitt: Partner, Disruptive Capital Finance
- Carlos Ignacio Sanabria: Partnerships Manager, Designli
- Caroline Arzoo: Partnerships, TurboSBIR
- Chang Chen: Founder, Hockey Stick
- Charlini De Almeida: Non-Executive Director & Trustee, CISI Future Foundation
- Chase Harmer: CEO, Wishes
- Chris Foltz: Global Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Founder Institute
- Christina Trampota: Managing Director, Innovate Grow Scale
- Christina Reddick: Founder & CEO, Racedu
- Chuck Gitkin: Founder, Marketing Road
- Ciaran Byrne: Founder, NOVARA
- Cindy Mallory: Emerging Tech Strategist, Worldwide TechServices
- Dan Arkind: Founder & CEO, JobScore
- Daniyal Ashraf: Social Media Lead, Founder Institute
- Daoud Ghannam: Managing Director, Ghamir Ventures
- Dat Le: Growth Lead, caffeine.ai | ex-Uber, Afterpay, Amazon
- David Yeng: Managing Director, Hong Kong IEC (Singapore), Managing Partner, Founders Venture Capital
- Diane Bailey: Head of Accelerator Growth, Founder Institute
- Diraj Goel: CEO, Managing Partner, GetFresh Ventures
- Dominique Kim, MPH: Health and Healthcare Transformation Leader, InnovatorMD
- Dr. Hanan El Basha: Strategic AI & Growth Advisor to SMEs & Scale-Ready Businesses, The Business Doctor
- DrWarren Linger: CEO, Certified Innovation
- Dustin Betz: Director of Operations, White Rose Ventures
- Eleni Lialiamou: Founder, Kimolian Academy
- Eli Schwartz: Director of Marketing, APAC, SurveyMonkey
- Enrico Dal Re: Head of Finance, Born
- Eravi Gopan
- Eric Hsu: Corporate Attorney
- Fabian Geyrhalter: Founder and Principal, FINIEN
- Franklin Kamnang Ngansop: Co-Founder, Vitamin CS Coaching
- Freddy Atangana: Founder and Chief Executive Director, Ekamou
- Frederic Voyer: Senior Strategy & Execution Advisor, Post-Exit Entrepreneur (multiple: SWAAAP, BVI & HR Inc.)
- Gabe Zichermann: CEO, Failosophy
- Gabriel Isserlis: Founder , Tutti
- Gary Gaessler: SaaS Community Builder, Nylas, Co-Founder of CloudElements
- Guillermo Guzman: General Partner, AIDA Ventures
- Harsh Rajnikant Patel: CEO, Evolve8 Studio
- Ignacio Castro: Managing Partner, 128vc
- Ivelin Ivanov: Venture Advisor, Founder Institute
- Janne Saarikko: Director, Food Ecosystems Accelerator, Founder Institute
- Jason Jacobsohn
- Jason Randolph: Head of Marketing, JuiceX
- Jeni Chang: Managing Director, Founder Institute San Francisco
- Jennifer Love: CEO, LivWeal Institute
- Jiaxi Zhu: Head of Analytics, Google
- Joaquin Ayuso De Paul: CEO, Rayo
- Johanna Behm, Envire
- Jonathan Greechan: Co-Founder & CEO, Founder Institute, GP Founder Capital
- Jonathan Zaremski: Exec. for Product, Product Marketing, and Strategy, Consulting & Stealth Startup
- Jonathan Okanlawon: Co-Founder/Board Executive , Global Croft Ltd
- Judith Sanon: Founder & Digital Transformation Consultant, J0D8
- Junada Sulillari: Lecturer/Start-up mentor, "Fan S. Noli" University
- June W Choi: Managing Partner, Serval Ventures
- Karan Mangat: CEO, Skill Beyond Boundaries
- Karin Wellbrock: Executive Leadership Coach and Co-Founder., Kay Group K.K.
- Karl Shaikh: Founder , Interpreters-On-Call
- Kevin Siskar: CEO & Cofounder, Finta
- Kimberly Minafra: Division Chief - Partnerships Development and Agreements , NASA Ames Research Center
- Kristin Miller: Founder, InMotion Albums
- Lance Cottrell: Founder, Feel the Boot
- Leena Palav: Board Member, Strategy Advisor, Interim COO/CFO, -med devices, health tech, consumer products, robotics
- Linda Carlberg: CEO/Founder/CCO, SpotSyt Inc.
- Logan Grizzel: Partner, MUUS Climate Partners
- Lubna Forzley: Founder & CEO, Stories
- Luke Willoughby: Account Executive , Prolific
- Maaike Doyer: Founder, Epic Angels
- Madeline Duva: Board Member, Fluxx.io
- Mahati Kumar: Senior Staff Software Engineer , Meta
- Malte Krohn: Consultant, Faciltator & Coach, mindfulstartup.school
- Manpreet Kohli: Senior Principal, Adobe
- Mara Rada: Chief Operations and Strategy, Loon (loonbio.com)
- Marcos Polanco: CEO, Prelatent
- Mark Frohnmayer: Founder, Arcimoto
- Martín Martinez: Founding & Executive Director, Founder Institute Texas
- Matthew Willis: CRO, MedTechnologies
- Matthew Schwab: Founder, Omnitecht
- Mercedes Bankston: Venture Partner, Loyal VC
- Michael Zaytsev: Founder, High NY
- Mike Sherbakov: General Partner, The Veteran Fund
- Mohammed Kashif: Senior Quality Assurance Automation Engineer, Department of Motor Vehicles
- Mona Defrawi: CEO & Founder, Radivision
- Monica Phillips: President, Spark Plug Labs
- Monika Bleszynski: CEO, Greenshoot Materials
- Mu Zhou, PhD: Head of Pathology AI, SenseTime
- Naeem Zafar
- Nicholas Johnson: Founder, Orange Charger
- Nilay Jayswal: 5+ Years in B2B Growth Marketing (APAC, EMEA, LATAM) | Experienced in Advertising, Analytics and Automation | Mentor at GrowthMentor | TEDx Speaker, GrowthMentor
- Nishanth Bharadwaj Sankaran: Sr Mechanical Design Engineer, Tesla
- Niyati Gupta: Product Design Lead, Netflix
- Noah Wallach: Founder, Hope OS
- Oleh Shkinder: Senior Product Manager, Stockpile
- Olga Padulosi: Marketing & Partnerships, AppFollow
- Patricia O'Donnell: Former VP Strategy and Partnerships, Deserve
- Patricia Picco: Business Impact Lead, Aily Labs
- Paul D'souza: President and CEO, The D'Souza Group
- Paul O'Brien: Author, Startup Ecosystems
- Pete Biggam: Director / Mentor / Advisor, Founder Institute
- Peter Ma: Co-Founder, MixPose
- Prashanthi Ramamurthy: Engineering Leader, Adobe
- Preeti Tikekar: Founder/CEO, Membition
- Priyanka Sanghvi: Product Leader, Zoom
- Rafael Kartaszynski: CEO, TechEdge Dynamics
- Rahul Dey: Product Lead, Glean
- Raikirat Sohi: Senior Manager Software Engineering, Walmart Global Tech
- Raj Sahu: Founder and CEO at , Utobo Inc
- Rajesh Setty: Rajesh Setty - Serial Entrepreneur and Author, WittyParrot
- Raluca Bujoreanu: Product Innovation, Strategy & Leadership; Venture Builder
- Rawle Annandsingh: Managing Director, Founder Institute Caribbean
- Resad Zacina: Chief Growth Officer, Ministry of Programming
- Rich Maloy: Managing Partner, SpringTime Ventures
- Ron Gentile: Founder, Moodfit
- Russell Brand: CEO & Founder, Responsible Solutions Limited
- Ryan Micheletti: Head of Global Operations, Founder Institute
- Ryan Kelley: Shareholder, Corporate & Securities, Greenberg Traurig, LLP
- Sameer Sortur: Founding Partner, SquareCircle Ventures
- Sandy Gómez: Director, FI Caracas
- Sanjai Marimadaiah: Managing Director, Spinnovation LLC
- Scott Ford: Co-Founder & CEO, SparkRockets
- Scout Tweedie Yates: Regional Manager , The Founder Institute HQ
- Shruthi Lakshmi Saravanan: Founder, Izome Learning
- Sneha Lundia Agrawal: Founder & CEO, Step2Growth
- Spyros Georgiadis: Founder & Principal, NeocAI
- Srdjan Kovacevic: Vice President, Sizmek, Inc.
- Sree Lekshmi: CEO, Stealth Mode Startup
- Stefano Tresca: Chairman, Sixth Society
- Stéphane Nasser: Co-Founder, OpenVC
- Steve Bennet: Managing Director, Bodega Partners
- Steven Morley: Business Advisor, Success4Execs
- Steven Rooney: CEO, Intelligent Vehicle Briefs
- Sush Bapna: General Partner, 10Ten Ventures
- Tanvi Shah: Principal Product Manager, Upwork
- Tim Seears: Angel Investor, Fourth State Ventures
- Tom Charman: Co-Founder/CEO, Rassa
- Torrey Smith: Co-Founder & Engineering Fellow, Endiatx
- Trevor Longino: Founder & CEO, CrowdTamers
- Tyler Durman: CEO & Founder, Ignition Growth Consulting
- Victor Chapela: Founder & CEO, Contextful
- Vincent Mao: Managing Partner/Global Tech Strategist, Bouken Capital/VC firms/Google/Meta
- Vishal Reddy: The Entrepreneurologist , entrepreneurology.network
- Vladimir Pletyukhin: Founder and Creative Director, Launch Deck
- Waqar Hashim: Founder , Smartware Advisors
- Will Hunter: CEO, Thred
- Yemi Oluseun: Growth & GTM For FinTechs, The Change Hive
In the Founder Institute's pre-seed accelerator program, early-stage entrepreneurs and teams build their business alongside a critical support network of local startup experts that share equity in their success, and through a structured and challenging business-building process that has helped alumni raise over 2BN.
After Graduation, the new Silicon Valley Founder Institute Portfolio Companies now have a fast-growing company that has been fully validated by experienced startup founders, with access to the Founder Institute's global network and post-graduate support programs to continue building their business.
Leaders of the world’s fastest-growing startups have used the Founder Institute to raise funding, get into seed-accelerators, generate traction, recruit a team, build a product, transition from employee to entrepreneur, and more. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200+ cities and 100+ countries, the Founder Institute’s mission is to Globalize Silicon Valley and empower talented and motivated entrepreneurs to build companies that will create one million new jobs.
The next Silicon Valley Founder Institute program is being planned now. If you are interested in being notified when applications open, visit FI.co/apply/silicon_valley.
Alumni of the Founder Institute are creating some of the world's fastest growing startups, having raised over 2BN in funding, and building products people love across over 200 cities worldwide.
See the most recent news from our Grads at FI.co/news, or learn more about their stories at FI.co/journey.
