Unlock the Entrepreneurial Potential of your Students
The Founder Institute works with top universities to improve their entrepreneurship curricula, launch experiential workforce development opportunities, and commercialize student projects.
Fix your University's Entrepreneurial Programming 'Gaps'
With offerings that are modular, customizable, or fully 'out-of-the-box', the Founder Institute is uniquely equipped to help universities provide the multi-stage, actionable startup offerings their students crave.
Utilize a Powerful Platform
All our uofferings are powered by FounderGen - the Founder Institute's all-in-one platform for startup acceleration and education. FounderGen provides students with world class resources and AI tools, while administrators get end-to-end program management with realtime tracking. Spend less time on busy work and more time helping students!
Four Paths to Empower Student Entrepreneurs
Inspire & Activate Your Students
Unleash the entrepreneurial spirit within your student body using our proprietary 'Entrepreneur DNA Assessment' - a fun and engaging platform that has been proven to identify and inspire new entrepreneurs, at scale.
Enhance Your Curriculum
Quickly and easily add the latest startup best practices, AI tools, and experienced founder instructors to your curriculum through our modular and customizable 'Founder Spark Bootcamps'.
Offer Founder 'Internships'
Provide students with an entrepreneurial alternative to a traditional internship through our 'Founder Practicums' - experiential workforce development programs designed to give students exposure to the founder experience inside a real startup accelerator, no idea required.
Provide Students with a Clear Next Step
Bridge the gap between the classroom and launching a startup with the Founder Capstone Accelerator - a structured, action-based program for students to launch startups inside a real accelerator alongside other founders.
Customer Stories
Want to see our impact in action? Explore detailed case studies of businesses and organizations we've helped thrive.
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Empowering Economic Growth across the Eastside Cities of Seattle with Startup 425
Startup 425, a collaborative economic initiative by the cities of Bellevue, Kirkland, Issaquah, Redmond, Bothell, and Renton, partnered with Founder Institute to create a free accelerator supporting first-time entrepreneurs in launching sustainable businesses. Leveraging FI’s proven methodology and platform, the program introduced a dedicated track for founders of traditional businesses, ensuring accessibility for a diverse range of entrepreneurs.Read More -
Reinforcing Inclusive Entrepreneurship in Bermuda with UNDP
To improve Bermuda’s gender equality and strengthen the local entrepreneurial landscape, the Founder Institute, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) launched the Rise and Scale: Bermuda Business Accelerator Program.Read More -
Supporting Afghan Women Entrepreneurs with U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
FI's program in Afghanistan evolved into a sponsored program with USAID. Its goal was to continue fostering entrepreneurship in Kabul with a focus on providing opportunities for women to launch companies. FI ran two pre-seed accelerator programs, training over 700 attendees and launching 22 new technology startups, with 35% being women-led.Read More
An Untapped Opportunity
Universities often have the IP, talent, and infrastructure to create great entrepreneurs, and great companies. However, leveraging these strengths can be ripe with challenges.
Misaligned Curricula
Entrepreneurship is best learned by doing, but most universities have not properly updated their programming to reflect the ever-changing best practices of building a business.
No Practical 'Next Step'
Universities provide valuable training, but fall short when students want to actually pursue their projects and build a real business. This builds a 'graveyard' of great ideas and plans that never move forward.
Lack of Experiential Programming
Modern workforce development requires 'on-the-job' training, but universities have not developed a suitable alternative “internship” option for students interested in entrepreneurship.
Embark on Your Journey
Transform potential into success
Start your journey today. Contact us to explore how we can partner to shape the entrepreneurial future of your institution.
Join our Mission
We believe entrepreneurs are the greatest catalyst for societal change, and there are new entrepreneurs everywhere whose potential can be unlocked to make a positive impact on the world. The Founder Institute's mission is to activate and empower communities of entrepreneurs to build ventures with a positive economic and societal impact.
About the Founder Institute
The Founder Institute is the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator. Since 2009, we have helped tens of thousands of employees and new/ idea-stage entrepreneurs validate, test, and launch startups worth an estimated $20BN. Our mission is to activate and empower talented and motivated entrepreneurs to build meaningful technology businesses worldwide
Elevate Your University's Entrepreneurial Legacy
Transform your university into a beacon of entrepreneurial success, where every student and faculty member has the opportunity to achieve greatness.
The Founder Institute is the world’s most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses. Since 2009, our structured accelerator programs have helped over 7,800 entrepreneurs raise over $1.85BN 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.
