The small room: two days, 300 hand-picked founders and investors. Your meetings booked before you land. Everything off the record.
The big room: STEP San Francisco. 50+ speakers, four stages, 50+ countries.
Most events make you choose.
FounderX doesn't.
Your ticket gives you access to both events.
FounderX is the only event where I walk away with five warm investor intros and three potential co-marketing partners. Every single year, it delivers.
FounderX is the one event I refuse to miss. It feels less like a conference and more like a reunion of the most interesting people in the startup world. Every year I leave with new friends, new deals, and at least one story I can't tell publicly!
Mark is the founder of Zynga, the social gaming company he built into a billion-dollar business and took public in 2011, and he later co-founded the investment firm Reinvent Capital with Reid Hoffman. An American internet entrepreneur, he also founded Freeloader, Tribe.net, and Support.com, and made early investments in Facebook, Twitter, and Napster.
James is co-founder and managing director of Obvious Ventures, where he invests in "world positive" startups spanning food, health, and breakthrough technology — including early bets like Beyond Meat and Diamond Foundry. He has over twenty-five years of experience building and leading technology companies from early-stage ideation to global market leadership, including as former CEO of Ofoto, Xoom, and Xmarks
Adeo is the CEO of Decile Group, powering the next generation of venture capital firms worldwide — including through VC Lab, which helped launch over 50% of all new manager firms in recent years — and Chairman of the Founder Institute.
Jonathan is the Co-Founder & CEO of the Founder Institute, the world’s largest AI-native company builder spanning 200+ cities and 100+ countries, who has advised thousands of startups on marketing and growth and spoken at startup conferences on four continents.
Arlette leads UNCTAD’s Empretec programme and the Empretec Women in Business Awards, drawing on 30+ years at the organization — including as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary-General — to build internationally recognized programs that turn individuals into founders at scale
Rajeev is the founder and CEO of Every, the all-in-one back office for founders — spanning incorporation, banking, payroll, accounting, and taxes — who has raised over $100M across a decade of building venture-backed companies, including as founder and CEO of Reflektive.
Bobby spent 10 years at Microsoft and served as Chief People Officer at a global consulting firm before founding Bobby Bakshi Consulting, where he builds the human judgment that turns AI into ROI — driving 35%+ gains in team trust, engagement, and collaboration for his clients.
Ore is Venture Development Lead at Base44, where he helps run the company's Accelerator Program, guiding "vibe coders" and solopreneurs in turning early-stage products into scalable ventures. He's known for enriching entrepreneurial programs with sessions that motivate participants to build fast and bring their own ideas to life, and has been recognized as someone worth meeting for his work driving Base44's accelerator.
Founders, investors, accelerator and program directors, EDOs, trade missions, corporate innovation teams, and university partnership offices. Anyone whose work touches how startups get built, funded, or launched. If you connect your market to the global startup economy, you belong in the room.
FounderX is a working session, not a conference. 300 people, off the record, three days of hands-on workshops and closed-door roundtables. No keynotes until Day 3, when you get 50 of them. Most attendees come back every year.
Yes. Every track has hands-on workshops designed for non-technical leaders. The EDO track in particular is built for ecosystem builders learning AI alongside their work. Walk in curious. Walk out with tools you can use Monday.
No. Attendees book their own travel.
Your pass includes full access to STEP San Francisco: 50+ speakers, four stages, attendees from 50+ countries. Most conferences, you arrive knowing nobody. You'll arrive knowing 300 people. Learn more at stepsf.com.
If you are a Local Leader, Mentor, or Alumni of the FI Network, check your email or login to your dashboard to find a special access code.
Several economic development organizations are planning to bring a delegation. Please reach out to us at (partners@fi.co) or you can book a time with our Head of Partnerships here.
Thank you for your interest in sponsoring FounderX 2026. We are only onboarding a handful of partners. This makes sure our incentives are aligned. Please reach out to us at (partners@fi.co) or you can book a time with our Head of Partnerships here.
Six concrete outcomes most EDOs will leave with:
(1) A playbook to launch 10x more founders from your region. Hands-on workshops on FI's Validate, Develop, and Launch curriculum applied at regional scale.
(2) A direct line into Silicon Valley. Off-the-record relationships with operators, investors, and program leaders that take regional teams years to build cold.
(3) A working understanding of how AI is being used. See, touch, and use the same tools your founders are using — Claude, Cursor, Replit, Harmonic, Granted AI, and more.
(4) Upskilled staff who can lead in the age of AI. Practical AI training built for non-technical public-sector teams, with prompt templates and workflows your office can deploy Monday.
(5) Exposure for your founders. Bring a delegation so your strongest companies meet 50+ first-check investors and learn the agentic stack alongside global peers.
(6) A peer network of ecosystem leaders globally. Three days with other directors solving the same problems — what works, what doesn't, what comes next.
If you have more questions. Please reach out to us at (partners@fi.co) or you can book a time with our Head of Partnerships here.
Day 2 will take place at STAK Space (1950 Franklin, 1950 Franklin St, Oakland, CA 94612, United States). All other locations will be shared privately.
Boardy is an AI "super-connector" that helps you meet the right people at FounderX and beyond. You share your LinkedIn, and Boardy gives you a quick call to learn what you're building and who you're hoping to meet. From there, it makes warm introductions to relevant founders, investors, and operators in its network — only ever connecting you when both people agree. Start before the event to line up conversations, and keep using it after to stay connected. Every attendee gets 12 months of Boardy Pro for free!
Recommended Hotels near the Day 2 Venue (1950 Franklin St, Uptown Oakland)
Kissel Uptown Oakland, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt — 2455 Broadway, Oakland. 4-star. ~0.5 mi / 10-min walk from the venue.
Oakland Marriott City Center — 1001 Broadway, Oakland. 4-star. ~0.8 mi / 15-min walk, next to BART.
Claremont Resort & Club — 41 Tunnel Rd, Berkeley. 5-star resort. ~15-min drive.
Fairmont San Francisco — 950 Mason St, San Francisco. 5-star. ~25-min drive across the Bay Bridge.
Alternatively you may explore various options on Booking.com or Airbnb.
Oakland International Airport (OAK) is the recommended airport. It's typically less congested than San Francisco International (SFO), has shorter security lines, and is well connected to the East Bay and San Francisco via public transit.
