The Founder Institute's East Coast Outposts Graduate 25 Startups

Leena Rao

Leena Rao is currently a Senior Editor for TechCrunch. She recently finished graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City. She graduated from Columbia University in 2003, where she was... → Learn More

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

The inaugural East Coast semesters of Adeo Ressi’s startup incubator Founder Institute have graduated 25 new companies from the New York and Washington DC classes. 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 two East Coast semesters had 48 Mentors and over 100 investors to help companies through the four month apprenticeship and training program. Mentors for the East Coast Program include Munjal Shah, Craig Kanarick, Scott Heiferman, Max Haot, and Pat Keane. Here are five of the 25 startups (the remainder are not ready for public launch at this time):

Heliograph provides a simple plug-in that speeds up your web site by as much as 80% by caching larger files, such as images, on servers close to your users around the world.

CouplesSpark aims to help couples resolve their conflicts through a neutral online voting platform.

Profitably’s web-based service connects to business applications, such as Quickbooks, and makes recommendations for small business owners to increase revenues and drive down costs.

Simple.PR allows businesses to distribute information and promotions beyond social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.

WhatsFun.com is an online and mobile event calendar that makes it easy to find, share, promote and remember local events.

The Bay Area semester is also accepting applications now; interested parties can apply here.

Website: fi.co
Launch Date: April 16, 2009

The Founder Institute is a global network of startups and mentors that helps entrepreneurs launch meaningful and enduring technology companies. Through a four month pre-seed incubator program, you can launch your dream company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs, while not being required to quit your day job. Their unique Bonus Pool also shares equity upside with all participants, creating local, teamwork-based ecosystems where great startups can flourish. Since 2009 the Founder Institute has helped...

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