Being selected for the Founders Space Accelerator program made for great excitement and a healthy tinge of fear in the Tuse camp. We were the first South African startup to be a part of the program and were unaware of what to expect. Almost immediately, the warmth of the Founders Space team put us at ease. The video lectures from Captain Hoff, as well as Naomi’s willingness to personally help us navigate a myriad of administrative challenges, instantly made us feel at home.

This comfort was essential to allowing us to fully focus all our energies on the incredibly intense four week program. We were exposed to cutting edge information from some of the world’s foremost authorities on subjects as varied as company law, raising capital, sales and influence, human resources, presentation skills, business model generation, company culture, and immigration amongst many others. It truly was an immersive experience that prepared us for the road ahead, and if our results since the end of the program are anything to go by, we can very safely say that Founders Space succeeded in this objective.

After pitch day, we closed a seed round with Draper Dark Flow, have been selected to pitch at the Global Technology Symposium in San Francisco, gained our first 2 paying commercial clients and have been invited to exhibit our wares at a number of trade shows around the African continent. I have also been invited to talk at the Sustainability Summit in Cape Town this May, on my observations of “Reciprocal Meritocracy” which I learnt about in the program. Read More...

The Founders Space program is an intense, educational experience for startups that could make all the difference between failure and success. The curriculum is comprehensive and timely, and the instructors and mentors are global experts in their own right. I greatly appreciated their lessons and the personal mentoring I received.

They don’t only educate you, they give you real opportunities to pitch to investors and we received several great contacts and leads that are going to make a big difference in our company as we move forward.

Matt Ream
Co-Founder of MDChronic.com

Founders Space was exactly what we needed to jump start ShipRiot. The mentorship and level of expertise they brought to the room, as well as their reputation in the start up community, was all of the highest level. We knew going into the program that everything we’d developed around our business plan, product roadmap, and marketing would all be fair game for critique and reconstruction. And that was definitely the case!

They pushed us to have an MVP before demo day (something we thought wasn’t doable in that time period) and we ended up making it happen! They also provided very insightful feedback based on their years in the startup community and pushed us to think how investors are thinking in this current market. When we left Founders Space after demo day, everything we brought into the program was much more polished, defined and developed.

The experience was further enhanced by the other startups we got to know and work with in the program. They were handpicked from all around the world and across the country. We developed a great community, and I don’t doubt we’ve made some lifelong friends in the process. I would recommend Founders Space to anyone who is looking for a focused and driven space to build their tech dream. Read More...

Founders Space and it’s program are high-level education for maximum value.

The program was a great experience. Working together with talented mentors day-by-day has changed the way we perceived our business, allowing us to improve and to well define our targets for the near and long term future.

One of the most exciting and intense experience of my life. Read More...

I found Founders Space incredibly helpful for our B2B startup, Rakuna, in many practical ways.

Before joining the program, we were just Minnesota transplants and had no connections to the Bay Area’s network. The program definitely helped us to extend our network and spread our name to potential investors.

We learned from Captain Hoff how to gauge an investor’s interest and how to close the investment opportunity. Right after graduating the program, we were able to put that learning into action by closing a small seed investment. Read More...