Google for Startups Founders Academy

The Google for Startups Founders Academy will begin in March and conclude towards the beginning of August. The cohort will consist of ~50 startups from across the United States. 

Yes, this is a virtual immersive program. All sessions will be live and will be recorded for reference. The expectation is for founders to join the majority of the sessions live. 

Founders Academy runs for a period of 6 months with digital workshops, programming, and mentorship taking place each week. Selected founders will participate in a series of cohort-based workshops and receive customized hands-on support from Googlers, industry experts and across a wide range of topics including sales, strategy, hiring and fundraising.

In 2020 we ran the inaugural cohort for 50+ founders located in Atlanta, Georgia. After receiving extremely positive feedback from participants (85% told us this program helped grow their startup), we're excited to scale the program to support underserved founders across the country.

Revenues have varied widely across past participating startups; many have entered the program pre-revenue and others were generating profit before starting. We expect most participants will generate less than $1M/year. With or without revenue, we will consider the business' traction (users, growth metrics, industry, etc).

Funding amounts of past participants have varied widely. Many startups had not raised capital prior to the program while others had raised up to $1M before joining the Founders Academy. Part of our program is designed to help participants craft their pitch and better understand investment avenues if fundraising is right for them.

The average participating startup had 3-4 employees before participating in the Founders Academy.

Learn more about the program and how to apply in our Keyword blog post written by Founders Academy alumna Dominique Boseman, founder of SPRAISE.