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.
That's why we are excited to announce today that applications are now open for the Toronto Spring 2025 program.
If you could use a structured process and a lifetime of support from Toronto's top investors and entrepreneurs to build something meaningful, then apply to the Toronto Spring 2025 Founder Institute today.
We will be hosting several free startup online events in Toronto over the coming weeks, where you can learn from top entrepreneurs from the comfort of your home:
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 Agentic program also get access to a lifetime of support through the Founder Institute's industry-leading post-programs.
The Toronto program is led by some of the region's top startup leaders, including Ben Stacey (Haze Shift), Ryan Micheletti (Director of Global Operations, Founder Institute), and Sunil Sharma (MD, Techstars Canada).
In addition, some of Toronto'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 Toronto Founder Institute includes:
- Aamer Siddiqui: CFO, Treefrog Accelerator
- Aaron Baer: Partner, Renno & Co
- Aaron Albert: CEO and Co-Founder, Mine'd
- Abdel Ali: Investment Analyst, Relay Ventures and Alate Partners
- Adeo Ressi: CEO, Decile Group / VC Lab
- Alan Trieu: Senior Director, Sales , Cinchy
- Alexander Mc Isaac: Principal, Strategic Investments and Women in Tech, BDC Venture Capital
- Alexander Jager: Founding Partner, Amplifier Advisors
- Ambles Kwok: Head of Engineering (Toronto) / Co-Founder, Thumbtack / Therapia
- Amir Alikhanzadeh: CEO and Co-Founder, Madlipz
- Andrei Poliakov: CEO, APX Lending
- Andrew D'Souza: Founder and CEO, Boardy
- Anna Hu: CEO and Co-Founder, Brizi
- Aran Hamilton: President & Co-Founder, Vantage
- Ashley Martis: Co-Founder & CEO, StartupFuel
- Ashley Hahn: Head of Startup Developer Ecosystem, Canada, Google
- Aurélio Araújo: CEO, Leadfy
- Ayhan K. Isaacs: Head of Global Growth, Founder Institute
- Balaji Gopalan: Independent Product Management Educator, Mentor, Consultant and Advisor, self
- Ben Sanders: CEO and Co-Founder, Davispier.ca
- Ben Baldwin: Founder, Upteaming.com
- Ben Su: Co-Founder & COO, Capita
- Bilal Tariq: Technical Talent Connoisseur , GuruLink
- Bob Kyryliuk (CEO-P2P): CEO & Founder, CEO-P2P.com
- Brice Scheschuk: CEO, Globalive Capital
- Bryan Gold: Co-Founder and CEO, #paid
- Bryan Smith: Co-Founder & CEO, ThinkData Works Inc.
- Callum Travaglini: Strategy & Program Manager, Office of the CEO, Wealthsimple
- Chevonae Walcott: Associate, Relay Ventures
- Chris Ye: Co-Founder, Uken Games
- Chris Hobbs: President, TTT Studios
- Chris Adams: Founder and Managing Partner, Adams Hamilton
- Chris Greenfield: Founder, Greenfield
- Christopher Leacock: Founder , Jillionaire LLC
- Cici Wang: Director, Snaplii
- Corey Gross: CEO, Sensibill
- Cory York: CEO and co-Founder, PowerStores
- Craig Asano: CEO, National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada
- Dan De Mers: CEO and Co-Founder, Cinchy
- Daniel Bishun: Economic Development Officer , City of Brampton
- David Winterstein: CEO, Velocia
- David Jorjani: Founder, Qatalyst Labs
- Derrick Fung: CEO, Drop
- Dinah Davis: Founder, Code Like A Girl
- Don Samoil: Managing Partner, Trusted Scale
- Drew Lindsay: Co-Founder, GuruLink
- Duncan Brown: Partner, Penrose Partners
- Dustin Betz: Director of Operations, White Rose Ventures
- Edmundas Balčikonis: CEO and Co-Founder, Eddy Travels Inc.
- Erich Ko: CEO, Hop In Technologies
- Eropa Stein: CEO, Hyre
- Favour Ori: Founder, CEO, Payday
- Fion Lee-Madan: Technical Co-Founder, COO and Customer Success, Fairly AI Inc.
- Garnet Delsey: Co-Founder, Aview
- George Bordianu: Co-founder & CEO, Balance
- Gilberto Gandra: Founder, Gandra & Co
- Graeme Millen: Director, Technology Banking, Silicon Valley Bank
- Hamid Akbari: CEO, BlancLink
- Hamoun Karami: CEO and Co-Founder, Smartbin.io
- Haoyang Liang: Director of Product Development, Orbiseed
- Harsh Pujara: Co-Founder, Actuality
- Hussam Ayyad: Chief Accelerator Officer , Highline Beta
- Idowu Akinde: MD/CEO, Impact Hub Lagos
- Ignacio Castro: Managing Partner, 128vc
- Ilya Brotzky: Founder and CEO, VanHack
- Jack Liu: CEO and Co-Founder, Orbiseed (Techstars 2020)
- Jafar Owainati: Co-Founder, Loopio
- James Meier: CTO, Synervoz Communications
- James Shen: Managing Director, Pioneer Ventures
- Jason Atkins: General Partner, 360insights
- Jeff Hohner: President, Tecumseh Capital Ltd.
- Jelmer Stegink: Program Director, DMZ Innisfil
- Jennifer Turliuk: CEO and Founder, MakerKids
- Jeremy Potvin: Founder, World of Angus
- Jeremy Glassenberg: Product Management, APIs, Developer Experiences, Marketplaces, API Strategist
- Jeremy Kuo: CEO, Ever
- Joe Parenteau: CEO and Co-Founder, Fable (Techstars 2020)
- Jonah Midanik: COO & General Partner, Forum Ventures
- Jonathan Ip: Founder, Iterative Law
- Jordan Jocius: Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Founder Institute
- Joseph Dales: Co-Founder & Director, RHA Partners
- Juanita Lee Garcia: Executive Director, The Upside Foundation of Canada
- Kanchan Kumar: CEO, Truly Financial
- Kayla Isabelle: Executive Director, Startup Canada
- Kesem Frank: Founder, Mavennet and AION
- Kevin Gervais: CTO @ Touchless, Co-Founder @ Auto Genius, Statflo, Touchless
- Konata Lake: Partner
- Kristine Beese
- Kweku Essien
- Kyle Collier: Co-founder and CEO, Phaze
- Lance Cottrell: Founder, Feel the Boot
- Le Mar Vandusen: CEO , PFG Financial
- Lucas Porter-Bakker: Head of Product and Design, PDS
- Luke DeCoste: Entrepreneur in Residence, Davispier.ca
- Maarij Rehman: CEO, Envoi
- Maher Santarissy: Managing Partner, Founder Capital
- Majdi Alnabih: CEO, ZipLunch Inc
- Mara Rada: Chief Operations and Strategy, Loon (loonbio.com)
- Marat Mukhamedyarov: Managing Partner, Good News Ventures
- Marcello Tommasi: Co-Founder & COO, Envoi
- Mark Smith: Canada Startup Ecosystem Lead, Amazon AWS
- Maryam Nabavi: Founder and CEO, Babbly (Techstars 2020)
- Matt O'Leary: CEO and Co-Founder, Treasure Financial
- Matt Lee: Investor, Dr. Matt Lee Family Office
- Matthew Lombardi, Telus Global Ventures
- Mellie Chow: Venture Partner, Axion Fund
- Mercedes Bankston: Venture Partner, Loyal VC
- Michael Young: CTO, Reuters News and Media
- Michael Kosic: Founding Partner, Loyal VC
- Michael Collins: Founder | CEO, Periculum
- Michele Romanow: Co-Founder, Sfoundation
- Mike Suprovici: Head of Acceleration, VC Lab
- Mike Hollinger, Dentons LLP
- Mike Apted: Principal Solutions Architect - Startups, AWS
- Milad Zabihi: CEO & Cofounder, Peekage
- Mohan Markandaier: Managing Partner, Good News Ventures
- Moshe Mikanovsky: Product Director, Rootquotient
- Nabil Fahel: Head of Partnerships and Community, Terminal, Inc.
- Naqui Shaikh: Co-Founder, Doksi
- Neha Khera: Venture Partner, 500 Startups
- Nicole Verkindt: Founder and CEO, OMX
- Noah Dolgoy: CEO, Tread
- Noah Wallach: Founder, Hope OS
- Onyeka Akumah: CEO, Treepz
- Pamela Draper: CEO, Bitvo
- Parthasarathi Raghavan, Root Quotient
- Paul Parsons: Partner, Metaii
- Peter Ma: Co-Founder, MixPose
- Philippe LeBlanc: CEO, Flixel Photos Inc
- Phillip Gales: CEO, inate.ai
- Pooja Viswanathan: CEO, Braze Mobility
- Preet Singh: Founder, Designx
- Rain Takahashi: Founder and CEO, Jauntin
- Ravin Shah: Co-CEO & Founder, QuickTapSurvey
- Raymond Luk: CEO, Hockeystick
- Reuven Cohen: Managing Director, Alystic Holdings
- Richard Hyatt: Co-founder, BlueCat Networks
- Robert Whiteside: Director, Founding Partner, Treemark Capital
- Ron Gentile: Founder, Moodfit
- Ron Benegbi: CEO, Uplinq Financial Technologies
- Roy Pereira: CEO and Founder, Zoom.ai
- Russell Brand: CEO & Founder, Responsible Solutions Limited
- Ryan Micheletti: Head of Global Operations, Founder Institute
- Ryan Perera: CEO and Co-Founder
- Sameer Sortur: Founding Partner, SquareCircle Ventures
- Sameer Khan: Sameer Ahmed Khan, Social Champ, Inc
- Sami Dalati: Cofounder, Brizi
- Sanjay Nediyara: Founder and CEO
- Sara Bentham: Director, Georgian College Entrepreneurship Centre
- Saroop Bharwani: CEO and Co-Founder, Senso (Techstars 2018)
- Sean Yo: Product Management Fellow, ISPMA
- Sergey Kalnish: CEO, SmartHire
- Seun Sanni: COO, PayFi
- Sharoon Thomas: CEO and Founder, Fulfil.io
- Shibin Muhammed: Portfolio Manager, Techstars Canada
- Sina Roshan: Cofounder & CPO, Peekage (Techstars 2020)
- Slawek Potasz: CEO, CarScanner
- Sodruldeen Mustapha: Co-founder and CTO, Raenest
- Steve Dixon: SMB Leader (Canada), Apple
- Sunil Sharma: Managing Director, Founder Institute Toronto
- Tarun Sachdeva: GM, Wattpad
- Tauseef Riaz: Cofounder ConsidraCare, Stock Target Advisor and Mashkraft, ConsidraCare.com
- Thomas Park: Partner, BDC Deep Tech Fund
- Tom Lowden: Head of Labs, US East and Canada, WeWork Labs
- Tony Sabeta: Partner / Patent Agent, Aird & McBurney LP
- Tovit Neizer: Chief Storyteller and communication strategist, Yellow Bricks
- Tracy Leparulo: Founder, Untraceable
- Trevor Longino: Founder & CEO, CrowdTamers
- Tyler Bryden
- Uchi Uchibeke, Chimoney
- Vatsal Shah: Co-founder, CTO , Speak Ai
- Victor Wong: Managing Director, Operations, Flipp
- Vikas Gupta: CEO, AVARA
- Will Greenblatt: Co-Founder & Managing Director, OutLoud Speakers School
- Yemi Oluseun: Growth & GTM For FinTechs, The Change Hive
- 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).
Join us in Toronto and help build the future.
Apply to the Toronto Spring 2025 Founder Institute today, or learn more at FI.co/overview.
---
