The Founder Institute
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| Corporation | |
| Industry | Business Incubator |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Palo Alto, California |
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Key people
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Adeo Ressi (Founder & CEO) Jonathan Greechan (Partner) |
| Website | fi |
The Founder Institute is an American business incubator, entrepreneur training and startup launch program that was founded in Palo Alto, California in 2009. Although based in Silicon Valley, The Founder Institute maintains chapters in over 80 cities and more than 40 different nations across the globe. It offers a four-month part-time program for new and early-stage entrepreneurs that helps them develop their business ideas and form a company. Among the key requirements for graduation is the creation of a fully operational company by the end of the four-month program. As of 2014, over 1,300 companies had been created from the program, 89% of which were still operational.
The Founder Institute was founded in 2009 by Adeo Ressi in his garage in Palo Alto, California. It was created with his friend and business partner Jonathan Greechan as a response to the 2008 market crash and the attendant failures of numerous startups. From the outset, its primary goal was to provide a safe place for companies to materialize and entrepreneurs to hone their skills. Ressi also wanted to "globalize Silicon Valley" and make entrepreneurial training available to people around the world. One of the earliest visions of The Founder Institute was to launch 1,000 companies per year. Graduates were given access to a "shared liquidity pool," where all participants in the program share equity in the companies formed. The first class graduated in October 2009 in Silicon Valley and was composed of 66 entrepreneurs and 54 companies.
By the middle of 2010, The Founder Institute had chapters in ten cities throughout the world, including New York City, San Diego, Berlin, and Singapore. In May 2010, the chapters in New York and D.C. graduated a total of 25 new startups. By the end of 2011, it had more than 20 locations worldwide and had graduated 483 entrepreneurs with 415 total companies. It also maintained around 700 mentors. In addition, The Founder Institute announced that it had become that "largest incubator in the world." Adeo Ressi started the Female Founder Fellowship program to help address the dearth of women in the tech industry. Women founders accounted for roughly 20% of all startups and graduates at The Founder Institute in 2011. By 2012, that percentage had increased to 36%.
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