On August 4th 2022, Founder Institute hosted a special Founder Showcase for Day 3 of our FounderX global summit, featuring 6 up-and-coming startups, powered by Dell for Startups, and featuring 3 luminary entrepreneur keynote speakers—more than 1000+ entrepreneurs, investors and tech execs around the world registered to join the virtual pitch and networking event!
The following 6 companies were chosen to pitch from among hundreds of startup applicants around the world, because all demonstrate very promising early traction—these 6 companies hail from across 3 continents and 5 different cities. Watch the founder pitches + investor Q&As, as well as the three amazing keynote speaker sessions, all from the epic August 2022 Founder Showcase @ FounderX event:
Clusiv Founder & CEO Lukas Simianer
Clusiv, based in Austin Texas and a portfolio company of the Veteran Fund, is an e-learning platform with assistive tech for the blind and visually impaired, helping organizations digitize vocational training and improve employment outcomes.
Free the Freela Founder Sarah Lucena
Free the Freela (FI Sao Paulo) helps companies hire the best freelancers for their business, by curating the best Latin talent so hiring managers can find high-quality freelancers with security.
Mavuno Co-Founder & CEO Johannes Rohrenbach
Mavuno (FI Berlin) is an AgTech platform offering African smallholder farmers access to satellite imagery for precision agriculture, as well as BNPL financing on organic inputs.
Trova CEO Michael Fodera
Trova (FI Boston) is a workplace experience platform that helps foster community and connection for employees, by bringing their whole selves to work and discovering 'their people'
RefundWiz Founder & CEO Subodh Karmarkar
RefundWiz (FI San Diego) is is an easy and accurate tax filing solution, committed to providing life-changing financial wellness to underbanked communities everywhere.
V-Tay Co-Founder Sannssi Cisse
V-Tay (FI Berlin) is a matching platform that helps you find the right accountability partner for you, so that you always have the support to make your dreams come true.
Meet the Showcase Featured Investor + Expert Panelists:
- Chuck Ng is a serial entrepreneur & active investor, currently Partner at PreAngel Partners, and serving on the Donation Committee for Berkeley Frontier Fund. Ex-PayPal and JP Morgan, as well as a Berkeley & INSEAD alum, Chuck is also President of the Asia Society Northern California and President of Berkeley Chinese Alumni International Association.
- Danny Tamez is the Founder & CEO of Gum and a Venture Partner at Wefunder and at GoingVC. He is also the Venture Designer at Tamez Labs, and was previously the Founder & CEO of ilmatic, a top Pick at TechCrunch Disrupt 2019.
- Burak Büyükdemir is the founder of Startup Turkey, Startup Istanbul, and Etohum, the leading accelerator and seed investor organization in Turkey. Etohum selects 40 startups every year, trains, mentors, and seed invests startups each year, now with a portfolio of 100+ companies.
- Ozan Sonmez is a Co-Founder of SAGE HQ, Zillion Pitches, and YellowX OU; and currently serves as a Global Ambassador for UC Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. With a career across the innovation ecosystem, Ozan's focus today is on building startup communities of student entrepreneurs, and fostering the next generation of innovators.
- Shin Nagpal is the Senior Technical Program Manager at Amazon Alexa, and previously held various engineering and management roles at Vesper and Qualtre. An innovative, customer-centric engineering leader with 10+ years of experience, his diverse technical expertise spans hardware, software, and AI/ML.
- Aaron Welker is the Global Strategic Programs Marketing Lead at Dell Technologies, where he was formerly Dell's US Strategic Programs Marketing Lead and Digital Marketing Affiliate Lead. He previously served over 4 years in the United States Marine Corps as his Reserve Company Executive Officer and Platoon Commander.
+See 3 Startup Luminary Keynote Sessions:
We were also pleased to welcome to the FounderX+Showcase stage three amazing keynote speakers: Andrew Filev, Jenny Fielding, and Patrick Lee—see all three of their insightful talks below!
Keynote Interview with Andrew Filev (Founder & CEO of Wrike)
Andrew Filev is the founder and CEO of Wrike, a collaborative work management platform that was acquired by Citrix for $2.25BN in 2021. Andrew has more than 20 years of experience in the technology sector. He was named an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 Award Finalist in Northern California and Bay Area News Group 40 Under 40 nominee.
Keynote Interview with Jenny Fielding (Co-Founder & GP of THE FUND)
Jenny Fielding is Co-Founder & GP at TheFund.VC, a first-check venture fund and community of 400 founders and operators, currently active across eight funds and 200+ portfolio companies. Previously, Jenny was MD of Techstars NY for nearly 8 years, a Kauffman Fellow, and the Head of Digital Ventures at BBC.
Patrick Lee Closing Keynote on Founder Focus (Rotten Tomatoes Co-Founder, former CEO)
Patrick Lee is a veteran entrepreneur, who has started six startups (three exited) across three countries; including Rotten Tomatoes, where he was a Co-Founder and former CEO. Patrick is currently a Managing Partner at PKO Investments, a syndicate that invests in startups at the intersection of tech+entertainment.
The next FounderX global conference is already in its very early planning phases, most likely to take place in mid-2023, and possibly as an in-person event. To learn more about the FounderX global summit, visit FounderX.com
The Founder Showcase is Silicon Valley’s leading international startup pitch event, helping seed-stage startups learn, launch, and connect to investors. These free online events feature presentations from up-and-coming pre-seed startups across the globe, and attendees can learn from world-leading venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.
Previous startups of the Founder Showcase event have gone on to raise more than $1.5+ billion in funding, and include industry titans like Udemy, Relay Rides, Thumbtack, Realty Mogul, Kaggle, and many more. In addition, each Showcase features several networking sessions to connect with the featured companies, and other attendees from across the global startup ecosystem.
Since 2008, speakers like Elon Musk and startups like Udemy and Thumbtack have presented on the Founder Showcase stage. Learn more at FounderShowcase.com.
