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Founder Institute Mentors

Chicago Winter 2025

Founder Institute Mentors join weekly feedback sessions, host office hours, and in general provide you feedback every step of the way. In addition, through our Equity Collective, Mentors are invested in the success of your company both during and after the program.

See the list of current and past mentors for the Chicago program below.

Mentors

Abdellah

Abdellah Aouf

Chief Executive Officer, GO PLATFORM
Ablorde

Ablorde Ashigbi

CEO, 4Degrees
Adeo

Adeo Ressi

CEO, Decile Group / VC Lab
Aditya

Aditya Nath

Head of Sales NA, Mobilisights, A Stellantis Company
Aidan

Aidan Salvi

Founder, Angel Investor, Advisor, Technologist, Multiple
AJ

AJ DeLeon

CEO, Innovare
Alex

Alex Glenn

Founder, Automated.af
Alex

Alex Gorsuch

Co-founder, CTO, Ascent Integrated Tech
Alex

Alex Lambert

Venture Capital Manager, mHUB
Andrew

Andrew Lee

CEO, Esper
Andrew

Andrew Loulousis

Vice President of Strategy and Venturing, TechNexus Venture Collaborative
Ashish

Ashish Rangnekar

CEO & Co-Founder, BenchPrep
Aviv

Aviv Shalgi

CEO, Solar Simplified
Bart

Bart Carlson

CEO, Azuba
Ben

Ben Stacey

CEO, Pitchverk
Benjamin

Benjamin Seidman

Co-Founder, Mella Pet Care
Blake

Blake Allsmith

CEO, Jumpdocs.com
Bob

Bob Gillespie

Managing Partner, REACH Commercial
Bob

Bob Matteson

CEO, Relivable
Brad

Brad Schnitzer

Program Manager, Techstars Chicago
Brad

Brad Spirrison

CEO, Grown In
Brian

Brian Lee

Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Roamli
Cate

Cate Brady

Founding Director, Bulk AG Innovations
Charles

Charles Kwon

Managing Partner, Concitor
Chereesca

Chereesca Bejasa

CEO, Zenevate, LLC
Chris

Chris Sorensen

Founder & CEO, Lake Forest Venture Management
Chris

Chris Foltz

Entrepreneur In Residence, Responsible Solutions Ltd
Christina

Christina Holloway

Executive Coach, Compass Enterprises LLC
Cory

Cory Warfield

Chief Connection Officer, Coryconnects
Craig

Craig Zingerline

Founder and CEO , Growth University
Dan

Dan Ushman

Founder and CEO, TrendSpider
Daniel

Daniel Roberts

Founder, Scout Alarm
David

David Culver

Co-Founder, VentureSHOT
David

David Douglas

Founder & CEO, Yolobe Inc.
David

David Rosen

CEO, Acrelic Group
David

David Zaretsky

CEO, Chief Scientist & Co-Founder, Snips Media
David

David Hurst

CEO, Orbital Transports
Derick

Derick Jiwan

Innovation and Business Development Manager, WinField United at Land O' Lakes
Desiree

Desiree Vargas Wrigley

Chief Innovation Officer & Executive Director of TechRise, P33
Don

Don Bora

Principal Technology/Owner and Co-Founder, Eight Bit Studios
Eddie

Eddie Patzsch

Co-Founder, PartnerPortal.io
Eric

Eric Broughton

CEO, OK2Charge
Fernando

Fernando DeLeon

Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Innovare
Franklin

Franklin Kamnang Ngansop

Cofounder , Vitamin C&S Coaching
Garry

Garry Cooper

CEO/ Co-Founder , Rheaply
Gary

Gary Gaessler

SaaS Community Builder, Nylas, Co-Founder of CloudElements
Gavenraj

Gavenraj Sodhi

Senior Product Manager, Hitach Vantara
Gavin

Gavin Martin

Founding Partner, onPurpose Growth
Genevieve

Genevieve Thiers

Founder, Sittercity
George

George Powell

Founder, CEO, Easy Beauty
George

George Khalife

Vice President, U.S. Capital Formation, Toronto Stock Exchange
Greg

Greg Jaros

Founder & CEO, PocketKnock
Heather

Heather Holmes

CEO & Founder, Genivity
Jacqueline

Jacqueline Kuehl

Managing Director, Digital Marketing Concentration, DePaul University
Jason

Jason Randolph

Senior Vice President Marketing & Strategic Growth, Tradier
Jason

Jason Jacobsohn

Managing Director, Propellant Ventures
Jed

Jed Abernethy

Corporate Innovation and Startup Executive, Entrepreneur / Digital Transformation
Jeff

Jeff Lyons

Operating Director, City Capital Advisors, LLC
Jeff

Jeff Hyman

Chief Talent Officer, Strong Suit Executive Search
Jeff

Jeff Weber

Founder, Chalenj
Jeffrey

Jeffrey Coney

FI Mentor
Jeremy

Jeremy Baras

Director of Business Development, Startup Space
Jill

Jill Miller

CEO, Lunum
Joe

Joe Bezdek

Co-founder, DivX, Inc.
Joe

Joe Born

CEO, Aiwa Corp.
Joe

Joe Lee

CEO, Inverse
John

John Dallas

CEO, Enclave Academy and Hillview Partners Network LLC
John

John Ernst

Chief Growth & Technology Officer, Founder, Advisor, Entrepreneur, Executive
June W

June W Choi

Managing Partner, Serval Ventures
Karim

Karim Djerboa

Business Development Specialist, MAVENTERSE
Katie

Katie Hench

Co-Founder, Infiniteach
Kelly

Kelly Fitzsimmons

Co-Founder, Custom Reality Services
Kevin

Kevin Taylor

Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, Stetson University
Kim

Kim Rubenstein

Cofounder, Chief Research + Product, Compatibility
Kord

Kord Kutchins

Principal, Base-K Venture Partners
Laurence

Laurence Hayward

Partner, Independence Equity
Lavina

Lavina Ramkissoon

AI Ethics and Technology Policy, African Union
Louis

Louis Morales

President, The Catnip Times
Marisa

Marisa Bryce

CEO, Lightning Snow
Mark

Mark Achler

Managing Director, Math Venture Partners
Mark

Mark Phinick

Founder, Let's Make It Rain
Marsha

Marsha McVicker

Founder & CEO, Lyla
Marshall

Marshall Stanton

Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, Catalina Marketing Corporation
Matt

Matt Mandell

Principal, PayNerd.com
Matthew

Matthew Miller

Director, Product Strategy & UX, Digital Intent
Matthew

Matthew Willis

COO Americas & General Counsel, Green Planet Group
Meghan

Meghan Hoover

CEO, SceneSave
Michael

Michael Carruth

President/Founder, Fiodan Corporation
Michael

Michael Kramer

Founder and CEO, ManageHub, Inc.
Michael

Michael Kelly

CEO , DeveloperTown
Michael

Michael Carney

President, MWC Accounting
Michael

Michael Lamb

Co-Founder & President, nativeMSG
Mike

Mike Kritzman

Founder & CEO, SkillNet
Mike

Mike Anguiano

Founder, SupplyHive
Mindi

Mindi Knebel

Founder & CEO, Kaizan Health
Mohammad Hossein

Mohammad Hossein Tavangar

Director , Founder Institute Germany
Neil

Neil Kane

Founder & President, Illinois Partners, LLC
Nicholas

Nicholas Freemen

Co-founder & Chief Growth Officer, Innovare
Nicole

Nicole Loftus

Founder & CEO, Pop Venture
Parminder

Parminder Batra

CEO, TraknProtect
Patricia

Patricia Riskind

Head of Global Healthcare, Qualtrics
Peter

Peter Tapling

Managing Director, PTap Advisory, LLC
Phil

Phil Leslie

Managing Partner, Workbox Ventures
Pinaki

Pinaki Saha

Founder & CEO, Anshar Labs
Rajesh

Rajesh Voddiraju

Founder & Group President, HealthiPASS Inc
Reva

Reva Minkoff

Founder and President, DigitalGroundUp Inc. and Digital4Startups Inc.
Rinku

Rinku Patel

CxO Executive Business Partner and Advisor, OSKMG LLC
Ronald

Ronald Franczyk

CTO & Partner, Red Foundry
Ross

Ross Kimbarovsky

Founder and CEO, crowdspring
Ryan

Ryan Jeffery

MR, gener8tor
Sagar

Sagar Pande

Co-founder, Blaze Power
Sanjaykumar

Sanjaykumar Patel

Founder & Principal IP Attorney, EXCELON IP - Patent & Trademark Attorneys
Scott

Scott Issen

President & CEO, Future Founders
Shaniqua

Shaniqua Davis

CEO and Founder, Noirefy
Shawn

Shawn Park

Founders Team Associate, P33
Stephen

Stephen Meade

Founder & CEO, MonetaPro
Sukhi

Sukhi Singh

Managing Director, SSS Ventures
Ted

Ted Greene

Partner, Old Willow Partners
Timothy

Timothy Kelley

CEO, TeleRay
Tokiah

Tokiah Kennedy

Head of Platform (S4P), Spotify
Tom

Tom Giles

Founder, Megatron Ventures
Ujjwal

Ujjwal Gupta

Cofounder & COO, BenchPrep
Vern

Vern Chan

Certified Startup Coach, Your Pivot
Vladimir

Vladimir Pletyukhin

Founder and Creative Director, Launch Deck
William

William Furlong

Founder & CEO, SquareStack
William

William Mortimore

CEO, Project Foundry
Yarin

Yarin Gaon

Strategy & Marketing Specialist, Y.G.
Yemi

Yemi Oluseun

Growth & GTM For FinTechs, The Change Hive

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