It is time to build the future. Applications Now Open to Founder Institute Santiago

Now, more than ever, the world needs entrepreneurs to build solutions to solve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity.

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.

That's why we are excited to announce today that applications are now open for the Chile 2026 program.

If you could use a structured process and a lifetime of support from Santiago's top investors and entrepreneurs to build something meaningful, then apply to the Chile 2026 Founder Institute today.

We will be hosting several free startup online events in Santiago over the coming weeks, where you can learn from top entrepreneurs from the comfort of your home:

Chile Events:

¿Por qué tu producto no vende? (y no es culpa de ventas): 6:00pm, jul 08, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/400257
Presenta tus ideas a inversores y expertos : 6:00pm, jul 15, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/401743

Global or Regional Events:

The AI-Native Founder Revolution: Build Your Company Faster Than Ever : 12:00pm, jul 08, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/401672
Venture Trailblazers featuring Tim Draper: 11:00am, jul 09, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/402091
Go From Idea to Working App with AI, Featuring Adeo Ressi: 1:00pm, jul 09, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/402211
Stop Overthinking and Build a Great Startup Idea: 12:00pm, jul 20, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/390581
[Restricted] VIP Pitch Lounge: Pitch Live and Get Feedback from Investors & Advisors: 12:00pm, jul 28, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/401210
Learn from AI-Native Solo Alumni: How FI Grads Built Without a Co-Founder: 12:00pm, ago 04, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/391133
From Idea to Action: The Startup Mindset : 8:30am, ago 10, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/393310
Stop Guessing, Start Raising: An Investor Q&A : 8:30pm, ago 10, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/392815
Build a Startup Idea Investors Won’t Ignore: 8:00pm, ago 18, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/391251
FounderX Silicon Valley 2026: Global Conference in San Francisco: 8:00pm, ago 25, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/399779
What Makes Investors Say Yes: Startup Funding AMA: 12:00pm, sep 01, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/392927
How to Build a Strong Pipeline of Entrepreneurs for your Innovation Hub: 1:00pm, sep 15, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/398328
Break the Idea Loop and Decide What to Build: 9:00pm, sep 21, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/391531
From Idea to Traction: Lessons From Global FI Alumni: 9:30pm, oct 05, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/390857
From Dreamer to Doer: Build the Founder Mindset: 1:00pm, oct 13, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/393440
From Founder to Funded: Interactive Q&A with Top Startup Investor: 2:00pm, nov 03, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/393065
From “Maybe” to Momentum: Building a Great Startup Idea: 10:00pm, nov 17, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/391397
From First Idea to First Funding: Global Alumni Stories: 2:00pm, dic 01, 2026 (America/Santiago): https://FI.co/e/390994

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.

The Santiago program is led by some of the region's top startup leaders, including Cristobal Henriquez (Director General / Socio Fundador, VentureCapital Investment Group / @ Founder Institute), Javier Hasbun (Entrepreneur, Financial Advisor, Teacher and Musician | CEO at Tu Firma Digital | Board Member at Venture Capital | Partner Digital Ventures LA, VC), Robinson Soto (Director en VC Group | Financiamiento, innovación y desarrollo de negocios | Director Local, Kofradi).

In addition, some of Santiago'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 Santiago Founder Institute includes:

Adeo Ressi: CEO, Decile Group / VC Lab
Alejandra Ganter: Founder, Chucao Consultores
Alejandro Pantoja: Director ejecutivo / CEO, OpenBeauchef
Alejandro Cova: Especialista en MKT B2B & B2C, ACM Group
Alex Harasic: Business Development Manager - Startups & Venture Capital, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Alexandra Fontalba C.: Estrategia Comercial B2B, Customer Journey | Marketing, .
Alfredo Zepeda: Consultor Estratégico, Director Independiente
Alois Bencina Kusmanic: CEO, Inversiones Atardecer
Andres Jara Baader: CEO, Alster Legal
Andres Gallardo: Director Ejecutivo, Desafío Latam
Andres Ginestar: Director Ejecutivo, Talentoso
Andrés Leiva: CEO, Videsk
Andrés Arce Maillard: Tecnología / Políticas Públicas / Govtech, VcM USS
Ariel Arrieta: Cofounder & CEO, Nextperience Labs
Beatriz Cereceda Caneo: CEO, Ordenar.me
Boris Gonzalez Ojeda: Director | Presidente de ARIA Los Ríos, EfectoVisual
Bruno Villalobos: Director de Inteligencia Artificial , SUBE IA
Camila Navia: CEO, Berking Biotechnology
Carla Donoso Christiansen: Directora, Comunicaciones estratégicas, marketing y asuntos corporativos
Carla Leal Vega: Founder & CEO | AI, Education & Human Potential Innovator | Startup Mentor, NeeKids
Carlos Sandoval Castillo: Consultor Estratégico, Innovación y Transformación Digital
Cássio Falcón: Global Growth Marketing Manager, Founder Institute HQ
Catalina De La Parra: Dra. en Artes, Facilitadora de capacitaciones para equipos.
Cecil Acevedo: Co-Founder, HardDrones.com
Christian Ohnes: Head Chile, Squads Venture
Christian Cáceres Fuentes: Consultor Estrategia & Finanzas Startup, Mentor Triple Impacto
Claudia Garrido: CEO, h2o
Claudia Barriga Carrera: Founder, Clo & Co
Cristhian Vasquez: CEO, NovaMind
Cristian Frenkel: CEO, Metaversia: Marketing para eCommerce y Negocios B2B
Cristian Tala: Inversionista VC, Ángel y Emprendedor | , El Ecosistema Startup
Cristian Varas: Co-Founder, ADDAM
Cristian Amunategui: Senior Legal Adviser, EMS Chile
Cristian Zepeda Vera: Director - Advisor , Startups
Cristian Campomanes Gutiérrez: Head de Ecosistemas e Impacto, Maxxa
Cristian Leal Durbahn: Asesor Estratégico en Desarrollo de Negocios, Gestión tecnológica
Cristobal Henríquez: Director General, VC Group
Cristobal Leturia: Co-Founder, Laura Inc - IA
Cristóbal Camino: CEO, Nube Cowork
Daniel Ibarra: CEO, GOPLACEIT.COM
Daniel Gómez: CEO, Centech
Daniel Schwarze Fraile: Strategy & operations lead, Stablecoin & Blockchain
Derie Fuentes Messina: CSO, Berking Biotechnology
Eduardo Steffens: Director de empresas, Inversionista
Eduardo Zavala Pulgar: Founder, V73 Studio
Eilyn Roca: Proyectos e innovación, Franquicias Internacionales
Elena Vega Opazo: CEO, Marketing Simple LAB
Enrique Villarroel: Founder, La Ruta Silver
Eric Tureo: CEO, TureosGroup
Esteban Fernandez: Founder, Palo Negro Biotech
Esteban Valenzuela Villena: Emprendedor y Mentor, M-Sport
Evelio Gonzalez: CEO, Symatech
Evelyn Patricia R. U.: CEO, Lex Work
Fabian Mella Lukacs: Founder, NeoVC
Fabian Acuña Hernandez: Founder, 9punto5
Fernando Hoffmann Rencoret: 🚀 Brand Manager | Marketing, Branding y Negocios Digitales | +8 años conectando marcas con personas | MBA, Café Marketero
Francisca Castillo Castro: Founder and CEO, Neocrop Technologies
Francisca Salinas: Directora Ejecutiva, Fundación Antonio Hitschfeld
Francisco Musso: CEO, Sales World
Francisco (Chopan) Catrileo: Co-Founder, Palta Labs
Francisco Salas Correa: CEO & Founder, Innovantgroup.io
Franco Zapata: Managing Partner, Zapata
Gabriel Gurovich: Founder, Starter || Sought-after Speaker || Disruptor de Empresas
Gabriel Cid: Founder & Excecutive Chairman, Capitalizarme
Gerardo Lagger: CTO & Product, Siembro
German Velasco Perez: CEO, E-Mov
German Alberto Godoy: Máster en Evaluación de Proyectos, Mentor de Impacto
Gonzalo Ortega Diaz: CEO, KININ
Gonzalo Migliaro: Director Ejecutivo, Nine Sapiens
Gustavo Cortinez Aure: Founder, SweetSpot
Héctor Jorquera: Director, Vinculamos Latam
Héctor Troquian Sandoval: Founder and CEO, AuroCar
Hernan Sebastian Bustos Toledo: Líder en Innovación, Educativa y EdTech
Hussam Sufan: CEO, SearchBrand.ai
Isabel Torres Vidal: Directora Innovación Abierta, Socialab
Ivan Pino Saavedra: CEO, Plant Based Biotech
Ivan Fierro: CEO, Casa W
Javier Cueto: Managing Partner, Imagine Ventures
Javier Hasbun: Managing Partner, VC Group
Javier Caruso: Founder & CEO , Webstarted
Javier Cortes: Socio Fundador | Tax & Legal | IA Tech, Cortés Del Río
Jorge Pizarro: Director Comercial | Experto en Comercialización Tecnológica | FINTECH | Profesor Adjunto MBA UC | Automatización de cobranza y recaudación B2B & B2C | Reducción de morosidad | Pagos sin fricción | Open Finance, UPAGO
Jose Kont: Director Ejecutivo, Cuantico VP
José Alvarez: Deal Partner , Ganas VC
José García Herz: Managing Partner, MKF Ventures
José Coloma Canales: Co-Founder, Vendify
José Ricardo Muñoz Mansilla: CEO, XConsultores
Juan Carlos Silva: Co-Founder, Roombeast
Juan Eduardo Fantini: Partner & Chief Investment Officer, CIO Invest
Juan I. Reimann: Director | Recruitment Expert, Founder & Investor
Juan Luis Larroucau: Co-Founder, AIM Manager
Juan Pablo Cappello: Principal, Greenberg Traurig
Juan Pablo Merino: Founder, REX Labs
Juan Pablo Valenzuela Guerrero: Líder Ecosistema y Herramientas , Hubtec Chile
Karina López Fuentealba: Founder & CEO, ENACTIVA
Katherine Olguín Gómez: CEO, Patagonia Startups
Kim Maturana, UPGirl
Konrad Peschka: Founder, Konredus
Leo Gmeiner: Founder, School Guardian
Leyla Cardenas Tavie: Decana Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile
Lorena Quiroz: Comunicación Estratégica, Hubtec Chile
Lorena Martinez Parra: Gestora Tecnológica Comercialización y Desarrollo Spin-Offs, Universidad de Concepción
Luis Mourgues: Corporate Venture Lead, Transelec
Luis Jara Guillén: Start Up Specialist, Banco BCI
Luis De La Cruz: CEO, Setup Partners
Luis Alberto Alvarado: CEO, Surpay
Luis Felipe Meneses Faúndez: Dirección Estratégica como Servicio DaaS | Especialista en Crecimiento #Growth y Arquitectura Estratégica desde el #Nosotros | Creador de #humanb #ProductPeopleLedGrowth #CompraLocal y el Trébol de la Buena Suerte , humanB
Maca Lara: Founder, Kipus
Manuel Fernandez: CEO , GoVentas
Manuel Rengifo: CEO, Emprende-T
Marcelo Guital: CEO and Founder, Guital & Partners
Marco Antonio Alvarez: Chairman of the Board, CCAF La Araucana
Maria Eliana Manquez: CEO, Clinica 2020/Visum
Maria Ines Miranda: CEO, Innovature
Mario Godoy Zanni: Estratega y business intelligence, M&A
Marlon Fernandez: CEO, Fintech Multipréstamo
Matías Gonzalez Duarte: CEO & Founder, Brincus.com
Mauricio Espinoza Quilodran: Co founder - Director, Mentor.IA Creativa
Mauricio Ovando: CEO, SET
Mauricio Gonzalez: Consultor y profesor de finanzas, Conductor de Capital en Juego
Maximilian Klapp: CEO, Turingo
Micaela Di Julio: Head of Marketing at Cromodata, Founder of Areté
Neudo Buelvas: Co-Founder, Infood Protein
Nicolás Millán: CEO and Founder, #GetFair
Oscar Casal: Founding Partner, Mondios Partners & CFO Rebel Factory
Pablo Gonzalez Rogers: CEO, GUX Technologies
Pablo Chandía Bascuñan: Articulador de Innovación Estratégica, IA Aplicada
Pablo Diaz: Co-Founder, Multivendor Network Academy
Pablo Ramirez Montes: Socio, Dalgarrando & Cía
Paolo Ottaviani: Sr. Program Manager - Southern Europe | Program Director - Visa Innovation Program Europe | Venture Partner Biometric Ventures, Tenity | Biometric Ventures | Visa Innovation Program Europe
Patricia Vera Barrientos: Estrategia e Innovación, Deportista de montaña
Patricio Pizarro: Founder, Nube Cowork | Trinity Partners
Patricio Villegas Rehbein: Director, Verifika
Paula Broitman: Assistant Professor, P. Universidad Católica de Chile
Paula Bertone: Co-Founder & CRO, GROW
Pilar Valenzuela Toledo: Consultura Estratégica en Innovación, Valiente Consultores
Raimundo Mujica Sotomayor: CEO, Quimun
Ramon Gutiérrez: CEO, Be You
Raymundo Diaz Flores: Founder, Ventaja
Ricardo Ibañez Villaroel: Fundador, Grupo Defensa
Ricardo Icarte C.: Managing Partner, Austral Angels
Roberto Camhi: CEO, Mapcity
Roberto Musso: President, Digevo
Robinson Soto Fuentes: Director, VC Group
Rocio Azparren: CEO, Webstarted
Rodrigo Covarrubias, NOMADE Foodtech
Rodrigo Carrillo: Mentor y Asesor Internacional en Innovación e IA Generativa, Sube IA
Rodrigo Ibañez Coronado: Gestor de Redes, Innovación y Transformación Digital
Rodrigo Sainz: Founder and CEO, Blockchain Summit Latam
Rodrigo Aravena Muñoz: Director de proyectos, Economía Circular
Sebastián Felipe Antimán García: CEO, TechBio Innovations
Tim Delhaes: CEO, Restacked.ai
Tomas Bercovich: CEO and Founder, Zhetapricing
Tomás Vial Tagle: CEO, Nova Agro
Tomás Ortega: Founder, Mushroom Protocol
Veronika Fischer: Experta, Desarrollo de Negocios y Mentoría
Víctor Pérez-Cotapos: VP of Payments, ComunidadFeliz

And many more to be announced.

Since 2009, the Founder Institute has helped over 9,000 Alumni raise over 2BN 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).