About Founder Institute
Founder Institute, an accelerator and incubator program founded in 2009, is based in Palo Alto, United States. With a presence in 29 countries, it has supported around 101 startups in sectors like Enterprise Applications, Retail. As of Jul 2026, Founder Institute has 1 unicorn under its belt and has witnessed 17 portfolio exits. Most notable companies in
its portfolio include Udemy, Esusu and Aonic. The program is backed by a team of 39 people who primarily support Seed startups based in United States. Its latest investment was a Undisclosed Seed round in Futureproof on Dec 02, 2025 along with Tweener Fund.
Key Metrics
Founded Year
2009
Location
Palo Alto, United States
Sectors of Investment
Stages of Investment
Seed
Locations of Investment
Unicorn in Portfolio
Founder Institute's List of Top Investments
Founder Institute has a portfolio of 101 companies, one of which is a Unicorn. Their most notable investments are in Pynk and Vault Dragon.Their portfolio spans across United States, Australia, Canada and 26 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, Retail, Consumer and 26 other sectors, across stages such as Seed stage. Here is the list of top investments by Founder Institute:1. Udemy
Provider of a marketplace offering online courses. It offers courses in various disciplines such as business, IT and software, photography, marketing, music, finance, and more. The courses can be taken at any pace and the course content can be created by instructors according to their choice. It also offers corporate online learning platform, that provides training solutions to corporates. Its mobile app is available for android and iOS devices.
Key facts about Udemy
- Founded Year: 2010
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Annual Revenue: £0 - £1M as on Oct 31, 2024
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $274M
- Employee Count: 9,288 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Harmony Venture Partners, Carriage House Rock and 68 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series E, Nov 18, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
2. Esusu
Online platform offering credit-building solutions through rent payment reporting. It captures rental payment data and reports it to credit bureaus to boost credit scores. This helps the tenants to build and establish their credit scores and also helps property owners to attract new tenants. It also reports property management analytics and more.
Key facts about Esusu
- Founded Year: 2018
- Location: New York City (United States)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series C
- Total Funding till date: $200M
- Employee Count: 159 as on Mar 31, 2026
- Investors: SoftBank Group, Serena Ventures and 34 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Dec 11, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. Aonic
Drone provider for enterprises. It offers solutions for agriculture, surveys and mapping, construction, security surveillance, and more.
Key facts about Aonic
- Founded Year: 2016
- Location: Subang Jaya (Malaysia)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $14.3M
- Employee Count: 188 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Metric Capital, Founder Institute and 10 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Mar 03, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
4. FightCamp
FightCamp offers an app and tracking device for boxing based workouts. The user can attach the trackers to the boxing gloves. The user can select a workout from the library of boxing type workouts. The punches and workouts are tracked in real-time and the progress is tracked.
Key facts about FightCamp
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: Costa Mesa (United States)
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $98.5M
- Employee Count: 41 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: CAA, New Enterprise Associates and 31 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Jun 30, 2021, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
5. TravelCar
App-based platform for car parking & rentals at airports, train stations, and city centers. The company enables the traveling car owners to avail free parking services & in turn, rents out their vehicle (on a P2P basis) while they are away. Users can search and rent cars via the app. Car owners are paid for sharing their cars and the cars are insured for damages/theft. Its mobile app is available for iOS & Android devices.
Key facts about TravelCar
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: Paris (France)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $16.8M
- Employee Count: 15 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Founder Institute, PSA Group and 5 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Feb 23, 2017, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Founder Institute's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Founder Institute has invested in 101 companies over the last 15 years, with an average of 1 new investment annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 1 investment. Its most recent first time investment was in Futureproof.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2025 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2022 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2021 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
2020 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Founder Institute's Investments by Stage
Founder Institute has made 10 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $2.01M.Founder Institute's Investments by Sector
Founder Institute has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Retail, Consumer, Enterprise Applications, FinTech and High Tech. Notably, it has invested in 94 Tech companies, 64 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 52 Software companies and at least 44 companies focusing on Consumer (B2C).Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Retail | 4 |
Consumer | 3 |
Enterprise Applications | 3 |
FinTech | 2 |
High Tech | 2 |
Others | 6 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Founder Institute's Investments by Geography
Founder Institute has made most investments in United States (4), followed by Canada where it has made 1 investment.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 4 |
Canada | 1 |
Jordan | 1 |
Netherlands | 1 |
Singapore | 1 |
Others | 2 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Founder Institute's recent investments
Founder Institute has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Founder Institute:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec 02, 2025 | United States | Seed | 5841 | ||
May 31, 2022 | Netherlands | Seed | 3672 | [+2] | |
2021 | Jordan | Seed | 7927 | - | |
Jan 20, 2021 | Switzerland | Seed | 7242 | - | |
Oct 01, 2020 | United Kingdom | Seed | 4129 | [+1] |
Unicorns in Founder Institute's Portfolio
Founder Institute has 1 unicorn in its portfolio - Esusu. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Esusu which became a unicorn in 2022, 4 years before Founder Institute first invested in it.Here is a list of unicorns in Founder Institute's portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
78 | Online platform offering credit-building solutions through rent payment reporting | 2018 | New York City | Series C | f{sllty |
Acquired companies in Founder Institute's Portfolio
17 companies from Founder Institute's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Udemy in Dec 2025 by Coursera for $*****.Here are Founder Institute's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec 17, 2025 | - | - | 9361 | |
Jun 26, 2025 | - | - | 6495 | |
Apr 24, 2025 | - | - | 4684 | |
Feb 16, 2023 | - | - | 5863 | |
Apr 13, 2022 | - | - | 8744 |
Team profile of Founder Institute
Founder Institute has a team of 39 members including 13 Partners, 1 Venture Partner and 1 Principal located in United States, India and 11 more locations. Founder Institute's team sits on the board of 1 company.Here is a list of top team members in Founder Institute:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Colombia | - | - | |
Partner | Toronto | |||
Partner | Mountain View | - | ||
Partner | Singapore | - | - | |
Partner | Colombo | - | ||
Partner | Argentina | - | - | |
Partner | Kuala Lumpur | - | - | |
Partner | Chicago | - | ||
Partner | Mexico City | - | - | |
Partner | Las Condes | - |
Co-investors of Founder Institute
Over the past 15 years, 23 investors have co-invested in Founder Institute's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Founder Institute: Techstars, SanomaVentures and 4 others have invested in rounds before Founder Institute. There is 1 company where Techstars has invested before Founder Institute and 1 company where SanomaVentures has invested before Founder Institute.
- Top Co-investors of Founder Institute: 6 investors entered a company along with Founder Institute. These include investors like Loyal (1 company).
- Invested after Founder Institute: A total of 11 investors have invested in Founder Institute's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include RagingBull (1 company) and Golden Equator Capital (1 company).
Recent News related to Founder Institute
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Founder Institute opens applications for SA startup acceleratorDisrupt Africa•Oct 16, 2020•Founder Institute
