The Founder Institute, the World's Largest Startup Accelerator, is committed to narrowing the gender gap in high-tech startups.
In 2011, we introduced the Female Founder Fellowship program, which would allow females to apply to the Founder Institute for free, and also provide free Course Fees to our best female applicants in each city ($1000 value). At the time, only 16% of Founder Institute companies were founded by females.
Since introducing the program, our overall number of female-founded companies has increased 62%, to a total of 26%. This is more than twice as high as most other startup accelerators, but there is still plenty of work to be done.
If you or someone you know could use expert training and feedback to launch a technology company, then apply to the Founder Institute today;
- Denver Founder Institute (Fellowships Available! Apply by June 23rd)
We have now graduated over 150 female-led companies across the globe, including notable ones like CakeHealth, Zirtual, Fashioning Change, Realty Mogul, Skimble, Memetales, Ecobold, Kindara,Piggybackr, Wedding Party, Kindara, Writer.ly, and many more.
“When I entered the Founder Institute, I had zero confidence in myself as an entrepreneur. Once I finally set foot in the classroom, I was hooked, and thrilled with the realization that the other Founders were no different than myself, and that the mentors were very human and completely approachable. The Founder Institute gave me the confidence, and the skills, needed to effectively run and scale my company. The feedback I’ve received from mentors who have been through the same challenges I am facing as a startup has been invaluable. But maybe more importantly, going through the program helped me to redefine myself as an entrepreneur."
The Founder Institute is a 4-month, part-time accelerator program, where aspiring company founders can receive expert training, feedback and support to launch a technology company - without quitting their day job. In four years of operation, the Founder Institute has launched over 800 companies across 42 cities and 5 continents.
“I want to see a point in the not too distant future where 50% of all the new startups are founded by women or have women in the founding team."
Any female who applies by the Early Application Deadline in their locale is automatically eligible for the Female Founder Fellowship. The Institute will then select the most extraordinary, qualified applicant for each chapter, and give them the opportunity to enroll in the program for free ($1000 value). The recipient of the Female Founder Fellowship will be recognized as a female with the utmost potential to become a succesful technology entrepreneur, and they will be notified within 72 hours after the Early Application Deadline.