The Founder Institute, the world’s largest pre-seed accelerator, is proud to offer the best applicants from the Bizna Kenya Community with the Bizna Kenya Fellowship to participate in our Nairobi program for free ($399 value).
Through this offer, anyone with a pre-seed startup or an idea can apply to the Founder Institute for free below, and the best applicants who are accepted will receive a fellowship to the Nairobi chapter of the global accelerator program.
Build the Future with Founder Institute and Bizna Kenya
The Founder Institute helps you get to traction and funding with a support network of startup experts that are invested in your success, and through a structured business-building process that has helped alumni raise over $950M. Through the combined benefits of the Founder Institute and Bizna Kenya we create an unparalleled global support network for early-stage founders to impact the present and influence the future:
- A combined global community of over 15,000 mentors and thousands of alumni
- Comprehensive education and structured support programs from the idea stage to the funding/ growth stage
- Over $3M in Partner Deals and Resources
Who Should Apply?
The Founder Institute focuses on helping tech or tech-enabled businesses at the pre-seed stage, including both solo-founders and teams. This includes established businesses that are pre-funding and traction, MVP and prototype-stage projects, and even part-time founders with just ideas.
What to Expect?
To apply for the Bizna Kenya Fellowship for the Nairobi Founder Institute cohort, simply complete your application below.
After completing the quick application, you will be invited to take our Predictive Admissions Assessment, which is our main criteria for evaluating applicants.
FI Nairobi is led by Sheilah Birgen – CEO, The Cord, Kitawa Wemo– Founder, Mama Ventures & Tessie Omulo– Director, Female Founders Kenya supported with 40 amazing mentors all committed to helping you build an impactful startup.
Apply to the Nairobi Founder Institute with Bizna Kenya
About Founder Institute
The Founder Institute is the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator, having helped launch over 4,500 companies across 200+ cities and six continents.
The company was founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Adeo Ressi and his colleague, Jonathan Greechan. The idea for the program spawned from operating TheFunded.com, where it became apparent that most entrepreneurs at the idea and launch stages lacked the structure, feedback, and support network needed to be successful.
News of the launch was announced on TechCrunch, the first Founder Institute program methodology was crowdsourced by over 10,000 CEO members of TheFunded.com, and the inaugural program started in May 2009 in a small classroom at Stanford University. There were originally no plans to expand beyond Silicon Valley, but upon receiving immense inbound interest to launch the program in other cities, the Founder Institute began to expand. Today the program operates across 200 + cities and is localized into 9 languages.
In total, Founder Institute Alumni have raised over $950M and are worth an estimated $30B.
Our VISION is that there are talented people everywhere whose potential can be unlocked to make an impact on the world through entrepreneurship.
Our MISSION is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build technology businesses that positively impact the world, no matter their location, background, race, age, or sexual orientation.
We BELIEVE that
- Great companies start with great people.
- Great companies can be built anywhere.
- Great companies are not built alone.
- Anyone can change the world through entrepreneurship.
- Focus is one of a founder’s greatest challenges.
- Startups are much harder than you think.
Our Program
We help pre-seed entrepreneurs and teams build get to traction and funding by establishing a critical support network of local startup experts that are invested in their success, and by providing a structured and challenging business-building process that has helped our alumni raise over $950M. Leaders of the world’s fastest-growing startups have used the Founder Institute to raise funding, building a co-founding team, get into seed-accelerators, generate traction, recruit a team, build a product, transition from employee to entrepreneur, and more.