Nordic Startup News Early Stage Startup News From The Nordics
The Founder Institute launches their first chapter ever in Iceland. After an exploratory trial uncovering a large number of interested aspiring entrepreneurs looking for training and membership, the program has now decided to officially launch in Reykjavik.
The Founder Institute is a four month accelerator program. Participating entrepreneurs are promised a “learning by doing”-process in which they will encounter structured training, expert feedback and support from experienced mentors. All with the goal of launching strong and successful companies.
The program is part-time giving a great opportunity for full-time professionals to test and build their ideas before quitting their job in order to become entrepreneurs.
Local driving forces
One of the driving forces behind getting Founder Institute to Reykjavik is Startup Iceland. Founded by Bala Kamallakharan Startup Iceland is an initiative to build a startup community in Iceland. Bala Kamallakharan is positive that the program will bring great benefits with it to the Icelandic startup environment.
“With a Reykjavik chapter, we would bring the Silicon Valley mindset to Iceland. This will enable us to build stronger links and relationships with the startup community in Silicon Valley, and other global startup communities as well,” Bala Kamallakharan explains
Another fireball behind the initiative is Gisli Olafsson, who has been active in the software industry since he sold his first program at age 14. Among other things he now leverages his expertise by being a board member and advisor of several startup companies.
“I have seen so many founders fail because they don’t get the right support during the early phases of getting their idea and company formulated. This is particularly true in a small country like Iceland where there are fewer role models to learn from. The Founder Institute will provide Icelandic founders with necessary mentorship in a structured manner” Gisli Olafsson explains.
Up to the actual program the Iceland Founder Institute will host a series of free startup events for the general public in Reykjavik. The first one is a “Startup Pitch Bootcamp” event on Thursday evening, April 9th. You can see the full list of upcoming events here.
Founder Institute
The Founder Institute is the world’s largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 50 countries, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 1,563 companies in 5 years. The company’s mission is to “Globalize Silicon Valley” and build sustainable startup ecosystems that will create one million new jobs worldwide.
Applications for the program are open now, and anyone interested in launching a technology company can apply here.
