The Founder Institute is the world's premier pre-seed startup accelerator, having helped launch over 3,500 companies across 180+ 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, mentorship, and camaraderie needed to be successful. Founder Institute Finland was established in 2012 by Petri Lehmuskoski, a serial entrepreneur, VC and super angel. Since 2019, Founder Institute Finland has been the Global Center of Excellence for Food Ecosystems, developing and running vertical programs. The first local vertical program was run in Helsinki early 2019 and the first global virtual program fall 2020. Today the program operates across 180 + cities and is localized into 9 languages. In total, Founder Institute Graduates have raised over $800M and are worth an estimated $20B.