During the Accelerator Kickoff, you will meet the Local Leaders and your cohort of Founders, and establish how your startup will use the program to push your business forward.
Date
Dec 18, 2025
Time
07:00am CET
Sprints
Every Founder follows the Agentic Track — an AI-personalized curriculum that adapts each sprint to be more advanced or more basic based on your stage, with powerful free AI agents to help complete the work.
The below deliverables are in addition to any custom "Epic Sprints" you may receive based on your specific challenges, and are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Office Hours - Book your first Office Hours with Local Leaders and Mentors to get guidance on the next steps for your business.
Hotseat Pitch - Prepare a one sentence verbal pitch for the weekly "Founder Hotseat", where you present to Mentors during the Feedback Sessions.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
As the Chula University Innovation Hub 2026 Founder Institute cohort gets underway, join this private VIP event reserved for FI Mentors, Local Directors, Partners, and Enrolled Founders. The event will start with a fireside chat followed by a quick introduction to the newest batch of CU Innovation Hub Founders, and an open networking session with top local entrepreneurs, advisors, and investors from the Founder Institute network.
Date
Dec 19, 2025
Time
03:00am CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Date
Jan 01, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Date
Jan 27, 2026
Time
06:00pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
In each weekly Feedback Session, Founders will pitch and outline their strategies/ progress to the Mentors for feedback, get tips and insights on the week's topic, and have multiple opportunities to ask questions. This week you'll get tips on how to develop a strong vision for your business.
Date
Jan 29, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Market Research - Utilize our market research template to collect accurate and available market information on the customer problems you are analyzing.
Personas - Build an initial Buyer Persona to better understand your target customer's needs, challenges, and buying process.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
In this Feedback Session, Founders will present any customer development progress to the Mentors to examine if they are pursuing a scalable business with a clear and actionable customer problem. The Mentors will also provide tips on how to validate your key assumptions, interview potential customers effectively, and best interpret the feedback you receive.
Date
Feb 05, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Customer Interviews - Develop a longer series of customer interview questions based on your initial interviews and key assumptions, with at least ten open-ended customer interview questions for each customer problem.
Revenue Modeling - For each remaining customer problem, develop or improve a professional landing page targeted to your initial customer archetype, and quickly build up a mailing list to receive customer feedback.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
🚀 Ready to Scale? Founder Institute Washington DC session is on Growth Mindset – Structure and Plan for Growth. We will focus on critical early stage: 👉 Before investment 👉 Right after seed round. If you're a CEO navigating these phases, this session is for you!
Date
Feb 05, 2026
Time
06:00pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
If you are interested in understanding how to protect your venture's IP Rights, then join us for Startup Legal Ask Me Anything (AMA). Ask your startup legal questions to local experts, and get informed answers. What is the most appropriate type of company to start? How do you protect your IP Rights? What agreements should you have in place when you start, and what pitfalls should you avoid? Come join the session with our sponsoring partner Wilson Sonsini and Founder Institute Alum - IP Rights 4 All guiding us.
Date
Feb 11, 2026
Time
06:00pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
If you are interested in understanding how to protect your venture's IP Rights, then join us for Startup Legal Ask Me Anything (AMA). Ask your startup legal questions to local experts, and get informed answers. What is the most appropriate type of company to start? How do you protect your IP Rights? What agreements should you have in place when you start, and what pitfalls should you avoid?
Come join the session with our sponsoring partner Wilson Sonsini and Founder Institute Alum - IP Rights 4 All guiding us.
Date
Feb 11, 2026
Time
06:00pm CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Law Firm Engagement - If you don't already have a law firm, meet with your law firm candidates and sign an "engagement letter" with your chosen firm.
Corporate Formation Agreements - If you don't already have a suitable corporation, secure all of your corporate formation agreements which govern how the business conducts itself.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
In this Feedback Session, Founders will share their pitch and revenue model with Mentors for feedback and continued refinement. You will also get tips on how to sustain your startup before receiving financing or revenue, identifying the most lucrative revenue source for your business, testing different revenue sources with your target customers, and more.
Date
Feb 12, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Revenue Models - Narrow down that problem to three potential revenue models, and thoroughly analyze the positives and negatives of each model.
Professional Pitch Deck - Use our templates to develop a professional three minute long pitch deck, based on the feedback, concepts and flow that have resonated from your Hotseat pitches.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
An entrepreneur never stops pitching, so this session focuses 100% on helping you build a great pitch. First, the mentors will share the latest best practices for pitching your startup - whether the pitch is for investors, team members, customers, partners, or otherwise. Then, you'll share your most recent pitch and receive constructive feedback on how to improve.
Date
Feb 19, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Build your Pitch Script - Practice makes perfect, especially with an early version of your pitch. The average 3 minute pitch consists of 450 words at normal talking speed. Create the written version of your script and get feedback from your peers.
Idea Review Pitch Deck - Finalize your 3-minute pitch deck for the Mentor Idea Review, using our templates and guidelines. Practice the pitch at least five times with your peers, and revise it based on feedback. Upload a final video on the deliverables page.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
This is the first big checkpoint in the program to determine your progress. During the Mentor Idea Review, you will present a longer presentation to a panel of FI Mentors for extensive review. You will receive a rating, as well as feedback on the long-term viability of your offering, revenue model, growth strategy, and more.
Date
Feb 26, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
After the Mentor Idea Review, Founders receive a larger number of custom "Epic Sprints" with deliverables based on their specific challenges. Below are high-level previews of standard deliverables.
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Advisor Candidates - You will create (or fill out) an Advisory Board in the next 5 weeks, so develop a target list of new advisor candidates based off your identified needs and gaps in knowledge/ connections.
Advisor Outreach - Leverage the FI network to get introductions to your targets where necessary, and follow our templated process to make progress on your advisory board.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Founder Institute is teaming up with AI Collective and Cognition — the AI software development platform behind Windsurf, Devin, and DeepWiki — for a hands-on evening of building, demos, and community. One platform that understands, writes, and ships code. Join us to experience it all in action and start building.
Date
Mar 03, 2026
Time
11:30pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Founder Institute is teaming up with AI Collective and Cognition — the AI software development platform behind Windsurf, Devin, and DeepWiki — for a hands-on evening of building, demos, and community. One platform that understands, writes, and ships code. Join us to experience it all in action and start building.
If you want to join virtually, check out the ZOOM link below.
Date
Mar 03, 2026
Time
11:30pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
In this Feedback Session, startup lawyers and CEOs will explain various legal agreements, startup legal components (such as equity), cap tables, how to protect intellectual property, the best practices for managing a law firm, and more. As usual, Mentors will also provide Founders with ratings and feedback on their startup pitch and progress.
Date
Mar 05, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Law Firm Engagement - If you don't already have a law firm, meet with your law firm candidates and sign an "engagement letter" with your chosen firm.
Corporate Formation Agreements - If you don't already have a suitable corporation, secure all of your corporate formation agreements which govern how the business conducts itself.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
In this Feedback Session, Mentors will provide Founders with feedback on their current go-to-market plans and progress, and cover topics like marketing messaging, unit economics, customer acquisition, and more.
Date
Mar 12, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Alternatives - Identify two alternative models (markets or "pivots") for your go-to-market solution to discover the most lucrative market opportunity. Interview at least 2 customers for each alternative.
Advisor Follow-Up - In the next Step you will finalize advisors, so begin finalization meetings with your top candidates, and set up test Advisor Test Projects where necessary following our templates.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
In this Feedback Session, Mentors will provide Founders with feedback on their current product, and/or product roadmap. Expert in product development will also discuss best practices in product management, roadmapping, managing product teams, and more.
Date
Mar 19, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Intellectual Property - If you have not already, secure and protect the intellectual property for all of the work done to date. Examine the need for patents, if applicable, following our guidelines.
Team Analysis - Define and get extensive feedback on the requisite technical skills, soft skills, expertise, and networks will be needed in your core team.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Similar to the Mentor Idea Review, the Investor Progress Review is the second major test in the program. In this session, Founders will focus on give a long presentation their progress and traction to a panel of Investors and Advisors for a detailed review. Founders will be evaluated based on their progress in the program, the company's scalability, and more.
Date
Mar 26, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Polished Investor Pitch Deck - Create an expanded, 12-slide pitch deck incorporating any feedback from the Investor Progress Review, using our templates.
Growth - Make progress on your growth goals, and examine or adjust how your strategy and the system to keep yourself accountable is performing.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Founder Institute is partnering with Station Alpha on this public meetup celebrating fresh ideas, new beginnings, and the unstoppable energy of the startup ecosystem in the National Capital Region. At Unstuck Labs, this event brings together founders, builders, investors, operators, and the startup-curious for an evening that feels like the first warm day after a long winter - optimistic, electric, and full of possibility.
PLEASE RSVP for the VENUE: https://luma.com/0ut4hps8
Date
Mar 26, 2026
Time
10:30pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
In this Feedback Session, Founders will receive feedback from Mentors on their team plans and product progress. In addition, Mentors will discuss how to identify the roles needed to build a world-class company, how to develop a strategy to recruit, onboard and retain the best people, and more.
Date
Apr 02, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Hiring Process - Develop a hiring and onboarding process using our guidelines to add team members into your organization, and begin executing on the process.
Test Projects - Develop at least one test project for each of your top two or three roles, which should create opportunities for credible candidates to demonstrate their skills.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
In this session, Mentors will provide Founders with feedback on their current growth, branding, metrics, and strategy. Mentors will discuss various growth tactics, setting growth goals and milestones, communicating your startup's growth progress and setbacks with stakeholders and advisors, and more.
Date
Apr 09, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sales - Pursue aggressive goals to close new revenue or users, which may be signups, payments, a signed contract, a pre-payment or a signed letter of intent.
Pivot - Consider a pivot if you are not meeting your growth goals, sales, product or hiring progress targets. If you decide to Pivot, schedule a call with one of your Local Leaders to discuss your proposed pivot in the business and do the same with your advisors.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
In this session, Mentors will give you insider tip and tricks to raise funding for your startup in the current market, and in your locale. Mentors will also cover numerous topics related to fundraising, including different fundraising options, how to raise funding, and more.
Date
Apr 16, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Advisor Strategy - Set up a call with each of your advisors and briefly review your "Victory Condition", the funding strategy, hiring plan, sales plan and product plan.
Use of Proceeds - Examine the capital needs of the business, and extend your financial model to project revenues and expenses for a total of 24 months from now.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
This virtual graduation marks the completion of the core program and celebrates the progress founders have made so far. During this session, founders will reflect on their journey, recognize key milestones, and get an overview of the upcoming 3-month coaching period. Founders will also learn about the Mentor in Residence support available after graduation and the next steps leading up to the in-person graduation.
Date
Apr 30, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Meet the newest startups joining the Founder Institute Alumni at the FI Chula University Innovation Hub 2026 Graduation. In this live online event, you'll watch selected founders pitch their companies, hear an inspiring keynote, and learn what it really takes to build a fundable startup. More than a celebration, this is a showcase of real execution and a chance to connect with founders, mentors, and investors shaping the next generation of startups. MEET AT ZOOM WEBINAR: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82923237077?pwd=V6Xy6zOxTcFCIJchnpaTZiLa1R5YFG.1
Date
Apr 30, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
This in-person graduation marks the conclusion of the coaching period and celebrates the founders’ full journey. Founders will come together with peers, mentors, and guests to recognize their progress, reflect on their experience, and celebrate this milestone as a community. This session serves as the program’s final graduation event.
Date
Aug 27, 2026
Time
05:00am CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Weekly Focus
1. Accelerator Kickoff
2. Vision & Mission
3. Customer Development
4. Revenue & Business Models
5. Pitch Mastery
6. Mentor Idea Review
7. Legal & Equity
8. Go-to-Market & Scale
9. Product Development
10. Investor Progress Review
11. Co-Founders & Team
12. Growth
13. Funding
14. Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
The FI Core Program is just the beginning of a life long journey.
Founder Institute Alumni get access to a series of advanced accelerator programs, ongoing support from our Silicon Valley Team, valuable partner and service discounts, and more to continue building the business for years to come.
Continued Support
Dedicated Alumni Support Team in Silicon Valley
Access to the world's largest network of mentors and investors (40,000+)
Private Alumni mailing lists
$2.5M+ in partner discounts
Invites to FI sessions & network events
Potential introductions to investors
Structured Post-Programs
A series of virtual advisory programs where you work with our Silicon Valley HQ team to reach next milestones
Funding Lab helps get your lead investor within 6 months
The FI Venture Network matches Alumni ready for funding with a massive pool of investors that specialize in writing 'first or second checks' of funding
During the Accelerator Kickoff, you will meet the Local Leaders and your cohort of Founders, and establish how your startup will use the program to push your business forward.
Date
Dec 18, 2025
Time
07:00am CET
Sprints
Every Founder follows the Agentic Track — an AI-personalized curriculum that adapts each sprint to be more advanced or more basic based on your stage, with powerful free AI agents to help complete the work.
The below deliverables are in addition to any custom "Epic Sprints" you may receive based on your specific challenges, and are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Office Hours - Book your first Office Hours with Local Leaders and Mentors to get guidance on the next steps for your business.
Hotseat Pitch - Prepare a one sentence verbal pitch for the weekly "Founder Hotseat", where you present to Mentors during the Feedback Sessions.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Dec 1909:00 amweek 1
CU Innovation Hub 2026 VIP Launch Mixer (In-Person)
As the Chula University Innovation Hub 2026 Founder Institute cohort gets underway, join this private VIP event reserved for FI Mentors, Local Directors, Partners, and Enrolled Founders. The event will start with a fireside chat followed by a quick introduction to the newest batch of CU Innovation Hub Founders, and an open networking session with top local entrepreneurs, advisors, and investors from the Founder Institute network.
Date
Dec 19, 2025
Time
03:00am CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Jan 0106:00 amweek 3
Break Week
Date
Jan 01, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Jan 2812:00 amweek 7
How to Price Your Solution: Insights from TikTok's Pricing Expert
Date
Jan 27, 2026
Time
06:00pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Jan 2906:00 amweek 7
Vision & Mission
In each weekly Feedback Session, Founders will pitch and outline their strategies/ progress to the Mentors for feedback, get tips and insights on the week's topic, and have multiple opportunities to ask questions. This week you'll get tips on how to develop a strong vision for your business.
Date
Jan 29, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Market Research - Utilize our market research template to collect accurate and available market information on the customer problems you are analyzing.
Personas - Build an initial Buyer Persona to better understand your target customer's needs, challenges, and buying process.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Feb 0506:00 amweek 8
Customer Development
In this Feedback Session, Founders will present any customer development progress to the Mentors to examine if they are pursuing a scalable business with a clear and actionable customer problem. The Mentors will also provide tips on how to validate your key assumptions, interview potential customers effectively, and best interpret the feedback you receive.
Date
Feb 05, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Customer Interviews - Develop a longer series of customer interview questions based on your initial interviews and key assumptions, with at least ten open-ended customer interview questions for each customer problem.
Revenue Modeling - For each remaining customer problem, develop or improve a professional landing page targeted to your initial customer archetype, and quickly build up a mailing list to receive customer feedback.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Feb 0612:00 amweek 8
Startup GROWTH Strategies 🚀
🚀 Ready to Scale? Founder Institute Washington DC session is on Growth Mindset – Structure and Plan for Growth. We will focus on critical early stage: 👉 Before investment 👉 Right after seed round. If you're a CEO navigating these phases, this session is for you!
Date
Feb 05, 2026
Time
06:00pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Feb 12
Refund Deadline
Feb 1212:00 amweek 9
AMA - Intellectual Property Rights
If you are interested in understanding how to protect your venture's IP Rights, then join us for Startup Legal Ask Me Anything (AMA). Ask your startup legal questions to local experts, and get informed answers. What is the most appropriate type of company to start? How do you protect your IP Rights? What agreements should you have in place when you start, and what pitfalls should you avoid? Come join the session with our sponsoring partner Wilson Sonsini and Founder Institute Alum - IP Rights 4 All guiding us.
Date
Feb 11, 2026
Time
06:00pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Feb 1212:00 amweek 9
AMA - Intellectual Property Rights
If you are interested in understanding how to protect your venture's IP Rights, then join us for Startup Legal Ask Me Anything (AMA). Ask your startup legal questions to local experts, and get informed answers. What is the most appropriate type of company to start? How do you protect your IP Rights? What agreements should you have in place when you start, and what pitfalls should you avoid?
Come join the session with our sponsoring partner Wilson Sonsini and Founder Institute Alum - IP Rights 4 All guiding us.
Date
Feb 11, 2026
Time
06:00pm CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Law Firm Engagement - If you don't already have a law firm, meet with your law firm candidates and sign an "engagement letter" with your chosen firm.
Corporate Formation Agreements - If you don't already have a suitable corporation, secure all of your corporate formation agreements which govern how the business conducts itself.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Feb 1206:00 amweek 9
Revenue & Business Models
In this Feedback Session, Founders will share their pitch and revenue model with Mentors for feedback and continued refinement. You will also get tips on how to sustain your startup before receiving financing or revenue, identifying the most lucrative revenue source for your business, testing different revenue sources with your target customers, and more.
Date
Feb 12, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Revenue Models - Narrow down that problem to three potential revenue models, and thoroughly analyze the positives and negatives of each model.
Professional Pitch Deck - Use our templates to develop a professional three minute long pitch deck, based on the feedback, concepts and flow that have resonated from your Hotseat pitches.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Feb 1906:00 amweek 10
Pitch Mastery
An entrepreneur never stops pitching, so this session focuses 100% on helping you build a great pitch. First, the mentors will share the latest best practices for pitching your startup - whether the pitch is for investors, team members, customers, partners, or otherwise. Then, you'll share your most recent pitch and receive constructive feedback on how to improve.
Date
Feb 19, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Build your Pitch Script - Practice makes perfect, especially with an early version of your pitch. The average 3 minute pitch consists of 450 words at normal talking speed. Create the written version of your script and get feedback from your peers.
Idea Review Pitch Deck - Finalize your 3-minute pitch deck for the Mentor Idea Review, using our templates and guidelines. Practice the pitch at least five times with your peers, and revise it based on feedback. Upload a final video on the deliverables page.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Feb 2606:00 amweek 11
Mentor Idea Review
This is the first big checkpoint in the program to determine your progress. During the Mentor Idea Review, you will present a longer presentation to a panel of FI Mentors for extensive review. You will receive a rating, as well as feedback on the long-term viability of your offering, revenue model, growth strategy, and more.
Date
Feb 26, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
After the Mentor Idea Review, Founders receive a larger number of custom "Epic Sprints" with deliverables based on their specific challenges. Below are high-level previews of standard deliverables.
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Advisor Candidates - You will create (or fill out) an Advisory Board in the next 5 weeks, so develop a target list of new advisor candidates based off your identified needs and gaps in knowledge/ connections.
Advisor Outreach - Leverage the FI network to get introductions to your targets where necessary, and follow our templated process to make progress on your advisory board.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Mar 0405:30 amweek 12
Open Build: DC - ONLINE
Founder Institute is teaming up with AI Collective and Cognition — the AI software development platform behind Windsurf, Devin, and DeepWiki — for a hands-on evening of building, demos, and community. One platform that understands, writes, and ships code. Join us to experience it all in action and start building.
Date
Mar 03, 2026
Time
11:30pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Mar 0405:30 amweek 12
Open Build: DC
Founder Institute is teaming up with AI Collective and Cognition — the AI software development platform behind Windsurf, Devin, and DeepWiki — for a hands-on evening of building, demos, and community. One platform that understands, writes, and ships code. Join us to experience it all in action and start building.
If you want to join virtually, check out the ZOOM link below.
Date
Mar 03, 2026
Time
11:30pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Mar 0506:00 amweek 12
Legal & Equity
In this Feedback Session, startup lawyers and CEOs will explain various legal agreements, startup legal components (such as equity), cap tables, how to protect intellectual property, the best practices for managing a law firm, and more. As usual, Mentors will also provide Founders with ratings and feedback on their startup pitch and progress.
Date
Mar 05, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Law Firm Engagement - If you don't already have a law firm, meet with your law firm candidates and sign an "engagement letter" with your chosen firm.
Corporate Formation Agreements - If you don't already have a suitable corporation, secure all of your corporate formation agreements which govern how the business conducts itself.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Mar 1206:00 amweek 13
Go-to-Market & Scale
In this Feedback Session, Mentors will provide Founders with feedback on their current go-to-market plans and progress, and cover topics like marketing messaging, unit economics, customer acquisition, and more.
Date
Mar 12, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Alternatives - Identify two alternative models (markets or "pivots") for your go-to-market solution to discover the most lucrative market opportunity. Interview at least 2 customers for each alternative.
Advisor Follow-Up - In the next Step you will finalize advisors, so begin finalization meetings with your top candidates, and set up test Advisor Test Projects where necessary following our templates.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Revenue Modeling
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Mar 19
Join the Equity Collective
Mar 1906:00 amweek 14
Product Development
In this Feedback Session, Mentors will provide Founders with feedback on their current product, and/or product roadmap. Expert in product development will also discuss best practices in product management, roadmapping, managing product teams, and more.
Date
Mar 19, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Intellectual Property - If you have not already, secure and protect the intellectual property for all of the work done to date. Examine the need for patents, if applicable, following our guidelines.
Team Analysis - Define and get extensive feedback on the requisite technical skills, soft skills, expertise, and networks will be needed in your core team.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Mar 2606:00 amweek 15
Investor Progress Review
Similar to the Mentor Idea Review, the Investor Progress Review is the second major test in the program. In this session, Founders will focus on give a long presentation their progress and traction to a panel of Investors and Advisors for a detailed review. Founders will be evaluated based on their progress in the program, the company's scalability, and more.
Date
Mar 26, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Polished Investor Pitch Deck - Create an expanded, 12-slide pitch deck incorporating any feedback from the Investor Progress Review, using our templates.
Growth - Make progress on your growth goals, and examine or adjust how your strategy and the system to keep yourself accountable is performing.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Legal & IP
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Mar 2704:30 amweek 15
STARTUP SPRING 🌸
Founder Institute is partnering with Station Alpha on this public meetup celebrating fresh ideas, new beginnings, and the unstoppable energy of the startup ecosystem in the National Capital Region. At Unstuck Labs, this event brings together founders, builders, investors, operators, and the startup-curious for an evening that feels like the first warm day after a long winter - optimistic, electric, and full of possibility.
PLEASE RSVP for the VENUE: https://luma.com/0ut4hps8
Date
Mar 26, 2026
Time
10:30pm CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Apr 0206:00 amweek 16
Co-Founders & Team
In this Feedback Session, Founders will receive feedback from Mentors on their team plans and product progress. In addition, Mentors will discuss how to identify the roles needed to build a world-class company, how to develop a strategy to recruit, onboard and retain the best people, and more.
Date
Apr 02, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Hiring Process - Develop a hiring and onboarding process using our guidelines to add team members into your organization, and begin executing on the process.
Test Projects - Develop at least one test project for each of your top two or three roles, which should create opportunities for credible candidates to demonstrate their skills.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Branding & Design
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Apr 0906:00 amweek 17
Growth
In this session, Mentors will provide Founders with feedback on their current growth, branding, metrics, and strategy. Mentors will discuss various growth tactics, setting growth goals and milestones, communicating your startup's growth progress and setbacks with stakeholders and advisors, and more.
Date
Apr 09, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sales - Pursue aggressive goals to close new revenue or users, which may be signups, payments, a signed contract, a pre-payment or a signed letter of intent.
Pivot - Consider a pivot if you are not meeting your growth goals, sales, product or hiring progress targets. If you decide to Pivot, schedule a call with one of your Local Leaders to discuss your proposed pivot in the business and do the same with your advisors.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Apr 1606:00 amweek 18
Funding
In this session, Mentors will give you insider tip and tricks to raise funding for your startup in the current market, and in your locale. Mentors will also cover numerous topics related to fundraising, including different fundraising options, how to raise funding, and more.
Date
Apr 16, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
Sprints
Below are just high-level previews of the 10-15 deliverables you'll complete through Working Groups and Office Hours:
Deliverables
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Advisor Strategy - Set up a call with each of your advisors and briefly review your "Victory Condition", the funding strategy, hiring plan, sales plan and product plan.
Use of Proceeds - Examine the capital needs of the business, and extend your financial model to project revenues and expenses for a total of 24 months from now.
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Financial Planning
Team & Advisors
Fundraising Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Apr 3006:00 amweek 20
Virtual Graduation (Pre-Coaching Period)
This virtual graduation marks the completion of the core program and celebrates the progress founders have made so far. During this session, founders will reflect on their journey, recognize key milestones, and get an overview of the upcoming 3-month coaching period. Founders will also learn about the Mentor in Residence support available after graduation and the next steps leading up to the in-person graduation.
Date
Apr 30, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Pitching
Customer Development
Leadership Development
Sales & Customer Acquisition
Product Development
Team & Advisors
Fundraising & Prep
Post-Program Onboarding
Apr 3006:00 amweek 20
Virtual Graduation: Meet the New Alumni
Meet the newest startups joining the Founder Institute Alumni at the FI Chula University Innovation Hub 2026 Graduation. In this live online event, you'll watch selected founders pitch their companies, hear an inspiring keynote, and learn what it really takes to build a fundable startup. More than a celebration, this is a showcase of real execution and a chance to connect with founders, mentors, and investors shaping the next generation of startups. MEET AT ZOOM WEBINAR: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82923237077?pwd=V6Xy6zOxTcFCIJchnpaTZiLa1R5YFG.1
Date
Apr 30, 2026
Time
12:00am CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
Aug 2711:00 amweek 37
In-Person Graduation (Post-Coaching Period)
This in-person graduation marks the conclusion of the coaching period and celebrates the founders’ full journey. Founders will come together with peers, mentors, and guests to recognize their progress, reflect on their experience, and celebrate this milestone as a community. This session serves as the program’s final graduation event.
Date
Aug 27, 2026
Time
05:00am CET
The Agentic Track
Personalized by AI to your startup's needs — more advanced or more basic — with powerful free AI agents to help you complete the company building work.
Sprints
week 38+
Post Programs
The FI Core Program is just the beginning of a life long journey.
Founder Institute Alumni get access to a series of advanced accelerator programs, ongoing support from our Silicon Valley Team, valuable partner and service discounts, and more to continue building the business for years to come.
Continued Support
Dedicated Alumni Support Team in Silicon Valley
Access to the world's largest network of mentors and investors (40,000+)
Private Alumni mailing lists
$2.5M+ in partner discounts
Invites to FI sessions & network events
Potential introductions to investors
Structured Post-Programs
A series of virtual advisory programs where you work with our Silicon Valley HQ team to reach next milestones
Funding Lab helps get your lead investor within 6 months
The FI Venture Network matches Alumni ready for funding with a massive pool of investors that specialize in writing 'first or second checks' of funding
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The Founder Institute is the world’s most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses. Since 2009, our AI-native company-building programs have helped over 9,000 entrepreneurs raise over 2BN in funding. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 100 countries, our mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build impactful technology companies worldwide.
Virtual
