The Founder Institute, situated in Silicon Valley and regarded as one of the world’s leading pre-seed accelerators, is seeking South African tech startups to apply for its South African program, which will begin on March 8.
“Having committed to supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals through this programme, the Founder Institute is looking for founders and/or teams in their early stages of business (pre-seed), leveraging tech, with potential to scale globally,” says the institute. “The programme focuses on founders versus ideas in the admissions process and identifies founders of the highest potential through a collection of aptitude and personality tests that have been in development with leading social scientists since 2008. To date, over 35 000 people have applied to the programme.”
Here Is What You Need To Know
- The institute is searching for aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs who are developing sustainable solutions.
- The accelerator program assists early-stage entrepreneurs and teams in growing their businesses by providing them with a key support network of start-up specialists who share in their success.
- The Founder Institute’s aim is to globalize Silicon Valley by empowering talented and motivated entrepreneurs to start firms that will create one million new jobs. It is based in Silicon Valley and has chapters in 200 cities and 90 countries.
- Founders of the world’s fastest-growing start-ups have used the accelerator to secure money, go into seed accelerators, gain traction, recruit a team, build a product, and transition from employee to entrepreneur, according to Founder Institute.
- The accelerator claims that through its disciplined and demanding business-building process, it has assisted over 5 000 alumni in raising over $1 billion in funding and assisting them in developing breakthrough products.
- Entrepreneurs Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan formed the Founder Institute in 2009.
- At the institute’s headquarters in Silicon Valley, all business candidates from all sectors are vetted and selected.
Selected start-up founders will have the opportunity to:
- Get constant feedback and hours of mentorship with South African and international mentors, investors, alumni and entrepreneurs.
- Make progress on their business using a proven, structured process to gain traction towards getting funding.
- Get fast-tracked to asuite of post-programmes, including Funding Lab, and receive expert support for years to come.
- Expand their support network to include start-up founders, CEOs and investors from the Founder Institute’sglobal network of 5 000+ alumniand 20 000+ mentors across over 92 countries and in 200+ cities.
Entrepreneurs who want to validate an idea or who are currently in company but want to take it to the next level can apply here. The application deadline is February 28th.
For more information, prospective applicants can attend a free online information event, or check out theFAQs online.
South African startups Founder Institute South African startups Founder Institute
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer