Adeo Ressi’s Founder Institute San Diego outpost has graduated 12 startups in its inaugural program. Announced in March 2009, the Founder Institute offers entrepreneurs and very early stage startups an environment designed to help foster their growth and education. The program, which is now active in nine cities worldwide, holds two four-month long sessions annually in each location, which include mentorship sessions from experienced tech entrepreneurs. The program also has a unique structure that allocates some equity to each of the founders involved, so that they have an incentive to work together.
The Fall 2009 San Diego semester has just graduated 12 startups. Mentors for the semester included Trip Adler, CEO, Scribd; Philip Kaplan, Cofounder, Blippy; and Peter Pham, CEO, BillShrink. The new startups include:
CloudCanvas: an online image editing suite built in HTML 5 that was previewed in the TechCrunch50 Demo Pit.
Live On Campus: an interactive publishing platform for college and university students to share campus information.
XBand Technologies: a consumer electronics device for cyclists to do advanced performance, nutrition and hydration motoring.
The Institute is currently taking applications for Founders in Paris, Singapore, Los Angeles, and Denver.