Entrepreneurs First

Pioneer is a home for founders on day 0. We believe there are thousands (maybe millions!) of potentially great founders around the world who don't have the resources or opportunities to take the leap to start companies. We scour the Internet to find those people, bring them into our community of founders, help them incorporate, fund them, put them through a 2-month accelerator program, introduce them to experts in their field, and much more. In our 3 years since launching, we've funded 200+ founders from 50+ countries. Our Pioneers have gone on to raise from Sequoia, a16z, Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Village Global, and many more VCs & angels. We're a small team of 5 who are optimistic we can find brilliance in places the world has overlooked. OUR CHALLENGES Pioneer isn't just an accelerator - it's a generator. We want to motivate people to become the best versions of themselves, to take their crazy ideas more seriously, and to make betting on themselves less daunting. If we do what we've set out to, we'll not just fund successful startups that might not have otherwise worked out - we'll fund ones that wouldn't have existed at all. We're constantly asking ourselves: How do you reach ambitious outsiders who aren't in any mainstream communities? How do you motivate people to take the leap to work on their own projects, and keep making progress? How do you correctly identify impressive progress at scale? What can we do to make our Pioneers as successful as possible? If these problems sound interesting to you, reach out: jobs@pioneer.app. WORKING AT PIONEER We value autonomy over consensus, speed over correctness, and being different & experimental. If given the choice between a known good and a project that has a small chance of being wildly successful, we'll pick the latter. We're data-driven on our high-level numbers, but trust our instincts. We care more about output than setting rules.

People power the future. We empower their vision. We ignite the global success of companies by developing the leaders behind them. 100+ companies $600 M+ raised $1,6 B+ market value FounderFuel works to develop both the skills and mindsets of the founders shaping our future through game-changing technology. New founders learn and grow, hone their business models and stories and take their companies to the next level. Five axes that transform vision into leading companies. FounderFuel combines the value of Real Ventures’ expertise, experience and networks with an holistic approach that powers a 4-month acceleration with insightful mentors, intensive networking, expert-led seminars, personal development and coaching, culminating in Canada’s biggest Demo Day on July 11th, 2023. LEADERSHIP: Leaders inspire people to follow them, while managers instruct people to work for them. A crucial area of founder success relates to personal development and leadership coaching. In addition to developing our founder’s operational skills, our leadership track helps founders expand their self-awareness, develop resilience and ultimately learn soft skills that will help them weather all the storms of company-building through the development of themselves and the people they collaborate with to create value. NARRATIVE: A strong narrative is essential to building a venture-backed company. Founders that can communicate a compelling story and gripping vision are more successful in attracting talent, raising financing, and building high-functioning teams. Using techniques honed across hundreds of FounderFuel and Real Ventures companies, our narrative track gives founders the tools to convince others to believe - whether on stage, in board rooms, or even in an elevator. LEARNING: The startup journey is wrought with endless decision points, feedback loops, and second guesses. We believe founders who embrace curiosity and remain open and excited about challenges will see the opportunities to create disruptive business models. Leaders with bold ambitions will need to nurture genuine cultures where their people can continuously learn and unlearn without fear, which will ultimately develop the resilience required to succeed. NETWORK: Founders, and the companies they build, thrive when supported by great advisors and a strong diverse community. With hundreds of mentors, alumni, and partners, FounderFuel is a gateway to one of the premier startup networks in Canada. Our network track leverages this uniquely valuable group across 3 of Canada’s most established VC firms through mentor matching, founder talks, and high-value social encounters. EXECUTION: Acceleration is ultimately measured in business results. Using the OKR method as a base, FounderFuel helps participants set and reach ambitious goals while establishing an operational cadence that can scale. Our execution track includes weekly check-ins, mentor goal setting reviews, and expert-led seminars. The FounderFuel program also gets our companies venture investment ready! Canada’s biggest Demo Day FounderFuel culminates with Demo Day, a gathering of 1,000+ members of the Canadian tech ecosystem to hear the cohort’s pitches and celebrate the ecosystem that enables them to thrive. Four months is a short period of time. High output requires intense focus and execution. Demo Day is the clear deliverable for our work on company narrative, and motivates the CEOs to refine their value proposition and company vision. It’s is also a motivator for driving execution, since great pitches need great numbers!

Founders Forum Group is a global community and group of businesses supporting entrepreneurs at every stage of their journeys. Our invite-only forums unite founders, investors, corporate and government leaders to tackle era-defining questions in iconic locations across the globe. Our annual forums take place in London, New York, Berlin & Singapore and we're proud co-hosts of #LondonTechWeek. Fuelled by the connections and ideas forged at FF events, Founders Forum Group businesses support the needs of today’s founders via networking (Grip), education (01 Founders and Framework), professional services (Founders Keepers and Founders Law), investment (Founders Factory and firstminute capital) and philanthropy (The Centre for Entrepreneurs and Founders Pledge).

Falak Startups’ mission is to find and empower talented and ambitious seed-stage tech startup founders and help them thrive in the region’s rapidly changing entrepreneurship landscape. Our sector-agnostic offering focuses on improving startups’ product-market fit; fine-tuning their business, operating and revenue models; growing their customer base; and raising follow-on investments. We arm entrepreneurs with the necessary tools, resources, and networks to develop their strategies and scale up their businesses. Our offering entails equity investment, growth hacking, networking, mentorship, training, and a wide variety of perks and benefits. After meeting the needed KPIs, our founders are able to showcase their startups on our Virtual Stage platform, a tool for connecting with potential investors, policymakers, stakeholders, and partners. Our support is ongoing through the startups’ journey. We are a constant advisor and advocate for all our portfolio companies. Falak Startups is offering an unrivaled ticket size of up to 2,000,000 EGP and provides the support startups need to gain momentum and accelerate their growth. Falak also supports its portfolio of startups in securing follow-on investments from venture capital firms, angel investors, and/or corporates.

Parallel18 is a program of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology, and Research Trust, a private non-profit organization created with the goal of maximizing Puerto Rico’s participation and creation of jobs in the global knowledge economy by promoting investment and financing of science and technology research development. The organization manages and hosts over a dozen initiatives that range from grants and technical support to meetups and educational resources for researchers, entrepreneurs, farmers, investors, and other groups. At parallel18, we are changing the narrative of Puerto Rico’s economy by promoting a diverse business community. We believe in creating opportunities for entrepreneurs of underrepresented groups in the innovation ecosystem and support their goals of building a high-impact business that can reach the world.

We designed a unique VC model to serve student-founders. Wonder why? Student-entrepreneurs see the world through a unique lens. They are the most exposed to cutting-edge technology, innovations, and societal change. That’s why game-changing companies are consistently emerging from universities: Snapchat, Facebook, and Figma to list a few. Some people will argue you need 3 years of experience to start a company. They are wrong. With enough hard work and perseverance, you can start building a startup that will have an impact, today. If 25% of US-based unicorns are started at university, why couldn’t this be the same in the UK & EU? That’s why we exist, to select, support, and invest in high-potential founders. 10-100k investment: We know that small investments can make big differences. We help you get your product off the ground and set up your company. 12 weeks of intense support: We have our yearly accelerators, and hackathons. There’s no magic recipe but there some things you should know…We help you build your team, quickly test your ideas and create your company on solid ground. 80+ exports & mentors: A network is key when creating a successful company. We are building Initiator with the help of incredible experts, entrepreneurs and investors. Our network becomes yours.