Last February, I argued that the Founder Institute model of growing home-grown startups and entrepreneurs may very well work in Singapore. Yesterday the seed-stage mentoring and incubator program announced its expansion to Paris, Los Angeles, Denver and… Singapore!
The Founder Institute basically conducts a four-month training program for both new and seasoned entrepreneurs of high-tech companies, with weekly sessions guided by well-known CEOs. Program participants can look towards fund-raising opportunities at fair market value, and incubation in a startup environment where equity is shared among all participants in the companies formed.
Already, mentors confirmed for the Spring 2010 semesters include Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, Chuck E. Cheese, and uWink, Aaron Patzer, founder and CEO of Mint.com, Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, Philip Kaplan, co-founder of Blippy, founder of Adbrite and F’d Company, and Ross Levinsohn, founder of Fuse Capital and former President of Fox Interactive, amongst others.
“We have discovered a formula to help passionate founders create meaningful and enduring companies in different markets around the world,” says Adeo Ressi, CEO of TheFunded.com and the Founder Institute. “We leverage leading social science methods to identify top talent, and then we offer an intense startup curriculum focused on teamwork and guidance from leading local and global CEOs. Our unique approach has allowed the Institute to scale almost ten times larger than comparable incubators or accelerators.” He expects to graduate some 500 startup companies worldwide this year.
Anyone starting a technology company in Singapore is invited to apply here. The deadline for early admissions is February 15th, with all applications due by February 28th, 2010.
Too Many Incubators, Too Few Startups?
With its official introduction into Singapore, Founder Institute will be the first Western incubator in Singapore. What does this mean for the other incubators and angel funds here, such as the recent launch of Angel’s Den in Singapore, or the newly minted and MDA-backed Joyful Frog Digital Incubator started by Meng Weng Wong, Hugh Mason and Soon Loo?
Will it be a case of too much *money*, too few ideas? Only time will tell.
