The Founder Institute (http://FI.co), the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, announced today that it is exploring a new semester launch in Quito this year.
Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200 cities and 100 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 8,100 companies - including fast-rising startups across 6 continents like Udemy, Realty Mogul, iCarsClub, Itembase, goplaceit, Appota, and many more. The company's mission is to "Globalize Silicon Valley" and create sustainable startup ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.
If you'd like to help bring a semester to Quito, then fill out an Interest Form. If enough people complete this form by the Launch Deadline (may 27, 2025), then the Founder Institute will formally launch a 2015 program.
The Founder Institute is a part-time, four-month program where promising entrepreneurs can "learn by doing" and launch a company through structured training courses and expert feedback from business mentors. Plus, you are not required to quit your day job to participate, so you can begin building a business around your ideas without putting your livelihood at risk.
In order to test demand for a 2015 program, the Founder Institute will host several free startup events:
- Venture Trailblazers, featuring Elizabeth Yin (GP, Hustle Fund): 10:00am, ago 14, 2025 (America/Lima): https://FI.co/e/376868
- Founder Institute Online Information Session: https://FI.co/infosession
- Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 12:00pm, ago 18, 2025 (America/Lima): https://FI.co/e/374770
- Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 12:00pm, ago 25, 2025 (America/Lima): https://FI.co/e/375437
- Ask an Investor Anything: Q&A with Rich Maloy: 7:00pm, sep 08, 2025 (America/Lima): https://FI.co/e/376573
- Responsible AI for Startups: Frameworks You Can Apply from Day One: 12:00pm, sep 15, 2025 (America/Lima): https://FI.co/e/376082
- How to Get Investors to Notice Your Startup: AMA with Marta Marrucco: 12:00pm, sep 17, 2025 (America/Lima): https://FI.co/e/373853
- How to Come Up with Great Startup Ideas: 12:00pm, sep 22, 2025 (America/Lima): https://FI.co/e/377439
- Co-Founder Networking: Find a Business Partner: 12:00pm, oct 06, 2025 (America/Lima): https://FI.co/e/377768
- Startup Pitch Practice: Share Your Idea and Get Expert Feedback: 12:00pm, oct 27, 2025 (America/Lima): https://FI.co/e/377605
Leading the Founder Institute's efforts in Quito are David Montenegro (CEO, ORBIS Agencia de Innovación) and Luis Adriano Calero (Chairman & CEO, redPartner S.A).
Other successful entrepreneurs who have pledged their support to mentor founders in a Quito Founder Institute program include:
- Adeo Ressi: CEO, Decile Group / VC Lab
- Alan Colmenares: Cofounder and CEO, Tappsi / Tpaga / EthicalMe
- Alberto Parra: CEO and Founder, BRIX (www.brix.net.br)
- Alejandra Perdomo: Head of People, Moons
- Alejandro Gutierrez: CFO y desarrollo de negocios, Puntopay
- Alejandro Abdel Aziz: Founder & CEO, Nextonia
- Alejandro Gutiérrez: Co-founder, LinkU Ventures SAS
- América Castiblanco: Directora de Emprendimiento, Innpulsa Colombia
- Ana Maria Ortegón: Socia Gerente, OMAS
- Ana María Prieto: Asociada, B Venture Capital
- Andreea Marinescu: CEO, Tech Add-Venture
- Andres Vejarano Calderon: Socio, Abogado, Director, Invictum Capital, ANDI del Futuro, Kairos
- Andres Hernandez: Strategist and Writer, Andreherca
- Andres Cano: Angel Investor & Advisor, PYGMA
- Andres Angel: CEO, Nominapp
- Andrés Marcucci: Analista, Torrenegra Accelerator
- Andrés Barreto: Managing Director , Techstars Boulder
- Andrés Veléz: Founding CEO, Tributi
- Andrés Londoño: Head of performance, Platzi
- Andrés Bello: Director de Emprendimiento, Fundación Bolívar Davivienda
- Andrés Felipe Méndez: Cofounder, Génesis Holding
- Andrés Felipe Pantoja Castrillón: CoFounder, Legal Mentors
- Anfer Molina: CoFounder & CEO, Tuptip
- Angel Celis Botto: Co-Founder, Liftit
- Ángela Castillo Llinás: Co-Founder, HelloGuru
- Anirudh Ramanathan: CTO, SIGNADOT
- Antoine Morin: Co-founder & Creative Director, Team&Tonic
- Beatriz Dager: General Partner, ChiX Future Ventures
- Berg Moe: Chairman, Gründervekst AS
- Bernardt Vogel: Sr.Associate, VU Venture Partners
- Bibiana Ardila: Co-Founder, Taller A
- Byron Hernández: Head of IT Services, Instaleap
- Camilo Jimenez: CTO , InstaLeap.io
- Camilo Gómez: CEO, Phylo Legal
- Carina Batz: Directora Área de Proyectos y Servicios, Cámara Colombo Alemana
- Carlos Ortegon: CTO, LOOPAY
- Carlos Guayara: Cofounder, trii
- Carlos Alberto Sánchez Retiz: Coordinador de Aceleración, Torrenegra Accelerator
- Carlos Alberto Valderrama: CEO, Grupo Marco
- Carlos Andres Valencia Nieto: Machine learning Project Leader | Product Manager, Mercadolibre
- Carlos Felipe Gutierrez Camacho: Managing Partner & Co-Founder, INVX, SIMMA
- Carlos Ivan Zubieta Leon: Cto & founder Agrapp, Agrapp
- Catalina Quintana: Founder, Leancase
- Caterine Castillo: CEO, NEIVOR
- Cecilia Ezquerro: Associate, 500 Globals
- Charlie Cliff: CTO
- Chintan Oza: Founder, Anantam Ecosystems
- Chris Lascor: Owner, Global Pecunia
- Chris Foltz: Global Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Founder Institute
- Christian Fresen: Partner, RAD. Estrategias Legales
- Christian Daube: Co-Founder, Coach & COO, Torrenegra Accelerator
- Conrad Egusa: CEO, Publicize
- Daniel Puentes: Associate Founder, Partners Academy
- Daniel Otero: CEO and Founder , Muvo
- Daniel Escobar: Team Manager , Wolox
- Daniel Restrepo: CEO, Taller A
- Daniel Cardona: Mentor, Defence Academy Chennai
- Daniel Toro: Co-Founder, LinkU Ventures SAS
- Daniela Restrepo: VP, PUBLICIZE
- Darío Lanchuske: CPO, Omni Bank
- David Diaz: CLC, Mesfix SAS
- David Camargo: CTO, Bright Financial
- David Aponte: CEO & Cofounder, Financial Lab & Taxes
- David Wilson: Principal, Franklin Advisory
- David Orrego: Ex Chief Growth Officer, Rocketfy.co
- David Carvajal: Founder, Cannvest
- Diego Caicedo: CEO, OmniBNK
- Diego Rodriguez Castillo: Founder - CEO, Linxe
- Diego Alejandro Muñoz: Co founder y CMO , Tukarga.com
- Eddie Arrieta: CEO, MultiLigual Media
- Eduardo Maldonado: Co-founder and Board Member, GDX Travel
- Eduardo Rivera: CEO, LOOPAY
- Eduardo Hernández, Magma Partners
- Edward Cullen: Founder & CEO, Crescite
- Elena Dolinski: Philanthropreneur, Executive Board Member, BASE Capital
- Elodie Senatore: CEO, Heraclea
- Enrique Pons: Founder, Talago & Fincruit
- Enrique Echavarria: CEO, WeAreDataLab
- Erik Díaz: GP, Blackchiip VC
- Fabian Esteban Lopez Morales: Emprendedor incansable, GraciaLab
- Felipe Santamaria: Managing Director, Rockstart Colombia
- Felipe Rivera Reina: Head Entrepreneur
- Felipe Garzon: City Coordinator, Acámica
- Felipe Alvarez: CEO , HOBBY CREATIVO
- Felipe Cano: CoFounder, LinkU Ventures SAS
- Felipe Forero: CEO, Brooklyn2Bogota
- Fernando Núñez: VP, PUBLICIZE
- Francisco Uriarte: Puerto Rico, ESP Group
- Francisco Posada Carbo: CEO, JELOW
- Gabriel Castillo Szpoganicz: Founder & CEO, Doc Doc
- Gabriel Calderón: CEO, Tu Orden
- Gabriel Reyes: FI Alumni Team, Founder and CEO, GNOSIS CONSULTORES LLC
- Gregorio Londoño: Director, Red de Ángeles Inversionistas
- Guillermo Guzman: Local Leader, Founder Institute Colombia
- Guillermo Ramirez: Managing partner, Oxbridge Capital Partners (VC)
- Gustavo Marquez: CEO, Athena Inversion de Impacto
- Hans Christian Boehlke: Commercial Director, Celumania.com
- Hernando Trinidad Mendoza: FOUNDER, CARLOTA
- Iván Ariza: CEO, cargamos.com
- Javier Castro: CGO, OLIMPIA
- Jean Bernier: CEO y Founder
- Jehudi Castro Sierra: Asesor Presidencial, Tecnología
- Jeni Chang: Founder | Investor | Advisor
- Jennifer Timm: Head of Consulting, Agora Partnerships
- Jennifer Poole: CRO, Publizice
- Jeremy Bruck: Managing Partner, Data Valuation & Monetization
- Jeronimo Silva: Director Ejecutivo , BICTIA
- Jessica Mercedes: Country Manager, Holberton School Colombia
- Jorge Quiroga
- Jorge Quintero: CEO, The Monkey Hat
- Jorge Alvarado: CEO, Abbitec
- Jorge Rubio: CEO, Foodiverso
- Jorge Hernan Nieto Botero: Founder & CEO, Expedit & Elevat-X
- Jose Betancur: Director, Nodo
- Jose Ovalle: Investor, StartOp
- Jose Caparroso: Business reporter & cross-platform coordinator, Forbes
- José Miguel Velasco: Head of Startup Acceleration, Corporación Ventures
- Joseph DiTomaso: CEO, AllTheRooms
- Jose Rafael Donado Vallejo: CEO, S
- Juan Colmenares: Growth Lead, Graphite Growth
- Juan Angarita: CRO, HoyTrabajas.com (YC W22)
- Juan Camilo Vallejo: Co-founder, Co-CEO, & PM, Valienta
- Juan Carlos Monroy: Director área de Mercadeo Digital, Departamento de Mercadeo , EAFIT
- Juan Carlos Suarez: CEO, Qenta
- Juanita Esguerra: Abogada Senior, Sodexo
- Juan Manuel Lopera: CEO, TOMi Digital
- Juan Pablo Alvarez: Country Managing Director, EnvíoClick
- Juan Sebastian Muñoz: Head of Sales, Simetrik Inc
- Juan Sebastián Castrillon: Founder, Estratek
- Julia Figueiredo: Director Latam, Silicon Valley Bank
- Julián Arango: Managing Director, El Hub Ventures Studio, LLC
- Julián Vergara Albán: Digital Talent Acquisition , Lulo Bank
- Karen Mesa: Entrepreneurship & Innovation consultant, Independent
- Khaliq Yar Haidary: CEO, Netzone, Ltd.
- Laura Lopera: Coordinadora I+D, Sura
- Laura Jimenez Tatis: Financial Mentor, Leancase
- Laura Rudd: CEO, BabyTopia
- León Papu: Founding Partner, Marathon Lab
- Leonardo Gaitan: CEO & co-founder, Autoparti
- Lorena Sanchez Garcia: Erudit AI, COO & Board Member
- Luca Albertinazzi: Global Evangelist , Startup Grind
- Luis Betancourt: Digital Marketing Advisor, Luisbetancourt.co
- Luis Barrios: CEO, ARKANGELES
- Luisa Navarro: Co-Founder &CMO, PROCONTAR
- Luis Felipe Giraldo: Gerente de Expansión, Sociedad Operadora de Franquicias Colombia
- Luis Naranjo Duplat: CMO - Growth Hacker, Kairos
- Mads Schmidt Petersen: CEO , HippoBuild (Y Combinator W22)
- Maika Hoekman: Director, Torre Social
- Maira Betancur: Jefe de Investigación y Patentes, Grupo Bolivar
- Manuel Bardales: Co-Founder, Movitext
- Manuela Sánchez Villamarín: Co-founder & Growth, Laika
- Mara Rada: Chief Operations and Strategy, Loon (loonbio.com)
- Marc C Lange
- Marcela Lopez: Estratega de Marketing, Alexander Torrenegra
- Marco De Biasi: Startups Investor & Advisor /Program Director, FI/LGA /LAAS
- Margarita Martinez, Blackshiip VC
- Maria Camila Gonzalez: CEO, Sarta SAS
- Maria Camila Salazar Castro: CEO, Vivir a conciencia
- Maria Camila Ortegon: Coordinadora Legal, RapiCredit
- Maria Isabela Muñoz: Partner, MAS Equity Partners
- Marian Villa: Co-Founder & President, PionerasDev
- Mariana Velásquez: Founder - CEO, BRANDDU
- Mariano Doncel M.: Business Accelerator Leader and Professor of EAN University , Universidad EAN
- Maria Paula Murcia: Directora, TopCruiters
- Maribel Corrales: Regional Manager , Holberton School - Colombia
- Marlowe Mackenzie: Goal Operations Partner, Canva
- Martin Morelli
- Maryori Vivas: LatAm Director, Vermilion LLC
- Mateo Trujillo: Director, Tektana
- Michael Zaytsev: Founder, High NY
- Michael Luzner: CEO
- Miguel Vanegas, Salamandra Ventures
- Mimi Yagoub: Thought Leadership & PR , Publicize
- Nadia Stand: Co Founder, The SASI CO
- Natalia Guerrero: Psicóloga Especialista, Salud Ocupacional
- Nelson Irias: CEO, DataLabs
- Nicolai Eslava Barajas: CEO, Estratek Ventures
- Nicolas Contreras: CEO, PappCorn
- Nicolas Becerra: Founder & CEO, Due Legal
- Nicolás Poveda: CEO & CoFounder
- Oscar Andres Arango: CEO & Director, Yampi & Seniors Club
- Pablo Molina Candel: CTO, CoverWallet
- Pablo Navarro: Partner, Marathon
- Pablo Ramirez: CEO y Founder, Litmoi
- Pablo Molina: CEO, Mirapaltecho
- Pedro Lopez Sela, FrissOn Capital
- Pilar Fernandez Hermida: Founder i-Expand (We help Health Tech companies go global), i-expand
- Rafael Tihanyi: Director of Revenue, Graphite Growth
- Raíssa De Mello João: Cofounder & CEO, Vaki
- Ramón Rodríguez: Co-Founder and Chief Investors Relations, RIDERY LLC
- René Lomelí: Partner, 500
- Ricardo Mejia B.: Co-Founder, PappCorn
- Ricardo Peña Ruiz: Founder, Binnstart e Innfluence
- Robert Urbina: Director, Tarjetas y Transacciones en Red TRANRED, C.A.
- Rodrigo Alfonso: Co-founder, Sekure
- Rosario B Casas: Co Founder, XR Americas, LLC / Business Creative Partners SAS
- Ryan Micheletti: Head of Global Operations, Founder Institute
- Samuel Grossman: Partner, IRIE VC
- Sandra Rubio: CEO, IMIX
- Sandy Gómez: Director, FI Caracas
- Santiago Rojas: Managing Director, Cube Ventures
- Santiago Aparicio, FitPal
- Santiago Garzón: CTO, StartOp
- Santiago Suarez: CEO & Partner, Addi & YCombinator
- Santiago Quimbaya Barreto: Investment Analyst, Ventures Corporation
- Sebastian Caro: CEO, Tocaro Capital
- Sebastian Leon: Founder, Facebook
- Sebastián Jaramillo: LATAM Commercial Director, Rappi
- Sebastián Gallo: Head of Operations, Torre
- Sergio Espinosa Rivera: CTIO, Akadia Life
- Sergio Pachón: Co Founder, Kiwi Campus
- Shirlhey Sánchez: CEO & Co-Founder, Colombia Proptech
- Simon Chamorro: CEO-CoFounder, Valiu
- Sjoerd Martens: Head Of Account Management at Publicize , Publicize
- Talha Bin Shuja: Startup and Business Consultant, High Hope International
- Tomás Ríos: CEO, Starter
- Torrey Smith: Co-Founder & CEO, Endiatx
- Trevor Longino: Founder & CEO, CrowdTamers
- Uri Melamed: Managing Director , EyP S.A.S. / Irie VC
- Valentina Giraldo Henao: Founder, LaValentina Design
- Victor Dey: Mentor - Enterprise Media at Oxford Entrepreneurs, University of Oxford
- Walied Albasheer: Managing Partner, Intuitio Ventures
- William Duran: Investment Director, Enter Capital
- Ximena Villalobos: Co-Founder & CGO, PROCONTAR
- Yasu Guerra, Sky Ride Group, S.A
- Yatan Blumenthal Vargas: Co-founder, Berlin Hardware Accelerator
- Yemi Oluseun: Growth & GTM For FinTechs, The Change Hive
- Zully De La Rosa: CTO, Finaktiva
- And many more to be announced.
Help bring the Founder Institute to Quito and fill out an Interest Form today.
About The Founder Institute
The Founder Institute (www.FI.co) is the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies. In the Founder Institute's four-month, part-time program, promising startup entrepreneurs "learn by doing" and launch a company through structured training courses, practical business-building assignments, and expert feedback from a large network of business mentors. Plus, aspiring founders are not required to quit their day job to participate, so they can begin building a business around their ideas without putting their livelihood at risk.
Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200 cities and 100 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 8,100 companies, which have created over 30,000 new jobs. The company's mission is to "Globalize Silicon Valley" and create sustainable startup ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.
The Founder Institute was founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Adeo Ressi.
(modern business center in Quito Ecuador South America image by Shutterstock)
