A startup accelerator program started in Silicon Valley that has chapters around the world is launching in Wisconsin next year.
Founder Institute Wisconsin will run a 15-week accelerator program for pre-seed startups, with the first cohort scheduled to start in March 2023. It will be a primarily virtual program with optional opportunities to meet in person, Founder Institute Wisconsin co-director Jeffrey Daniel said.
The effort to bring Founder Institute to Wisconsin spun out of the nonprofit Visioning a Greater Racine, which runs Tech-Prize entrepreneurship competitions.
Founder Institute Wisconsin is meant to complement other Wisconsin startup resource providers including gener8tor, the MKE Tech Hub Coalition and StartingBlock Madison, Daniel said.
"I hope it's not been viewed by anybody that this is a competitive effort," Daniel said. "It's a fill-in-the-gap kind of effort."
For instance, an early-stage Wisconsin startup might first go through the MKE Tech Hub Coalition's free FOR-M incubator program or one of gener8tor's free gBETA programs, and then participate in Founder Institute Wisconsin to prepare for a seed-stage accelerator program like Techstars or Y Combinator, Daniel said.
Daniel moved to southeast Wisconsin from Michigan around 2015 for a job at Johnson Controls. He's now president of the products group at the Georgia-based green energy firm Blueflux Power.
Founder Institute Wisconsin costs $699 for early applicants or $899 otherwise and is fully refundable before the third session. About halfway through the program, startups are also asked to give up 2.5% of future equity in their company through an equity warrant.
Early applications for the first Founder Institute Wisconsin cohort are due by Dec. 11 and the final deadline is March 5, 2023.
Program mentors include NVNG Investment Advisors managing director Carrie Thome, Huntington National Bank Small Business Administration business development officer Arlene Martin and Jason Jacobsohn, general partner at Chicago venture capital firm Propellant Ventures.
Founder Institute started in 2009 and has helped more than 6,500 entrepreneurs raise more than $1.75 billion in funding, according to the company. It operates on six continents in more than 200 cities.
