Foundess

What Foundess does

Foundess is a non-profit community platform founded in 2024 by Stanford students Emmy Thamakaison and Pear Chotbunwong to serve technical women founders preparing for their first institutional fundraise. The platform connects members to investor networks, mentorship, and peer community through a portfolio of programs including the Hatch Accelerator (a competitive accelerator culminating in a Demo Day with 100+ investors), Hatch House NYC (a hacker house residency operated in partnership with Sam Altman-backed The Residency), and the annual '25 for 2025' recognition list honoring 25 women founders. The organization also runs high-touch in-person events — intimate dinners, rooftop socials, yacht parties, campus takeovers, and pop-up cafes — across New York, San Francisco, and Cambridge (Harvard).

The business model is freemium at the member level: community access, events, and accelerator programming are free to founders. Revenue is generated indirectly through corporate sponsorships (Carta anchors the recognition dinners), event partnerships (Framer, Isshiki Matcha, Phia, Carotlyn's Cafe), and co-development arrangements (The Residency). The company's go-to-market motion is community-led: growth is driven by Instagram, a Substack newsletter, word-of-mouth, and event-driven member acquisition rather than paid marketing. Target customers are technical female co-founders and CEOs — primarily GenZ — whose products are viable but who face structural barriers to capital access (the platform cites that women receive only 2% of VC funding).

The underlying technology is minimal: Foundess operates a marketing website (foundess.com) with a Tally.so membership form, an Instagram presence, and a Substack newsletter. There is no mobile app, no disclosed API or SDK, no proprietary software product, and no AI/ML capabilities. Operational scale is small — 16 employees per firmographics (the core team comprises 5 members per source notes, with the remainder likely event staff and program contractors) — and there are no disclosed funding rounds, investors, or revenue figures, consistent with a bootstrapped community non-profit in its second year of operation.

Name

Foundess

Legal name

Foundess

Website

https://foundess.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Foundess is a non-profit community platform founded in 2024 that connects technical women founders to investors through free programming including the Hatch Accelerator, Hatch House NYC residency, and '25 for 2025' recognition list, monetized via corporate sponsorships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Founder community platform

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Venue Sourcing & Site Coordination (HSACAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Venue Sourcing & Site Selection (HSACADAC)

Keywords

• Women founder community
• Startup accelerator program
• Investor readiness support
• Founder networking events
• Women in tech community

Headquarters

HQ city

Manhattan

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Free Community Membership: The core community membership is free for founders. Revenue model appears to be supported by corporate sponsorships, event partnerships, and brand collaborations rather than direct membership fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Foundess operates a free, community-led platform for technical women founders that combines an online membership with offline programming. Its substantive offerings are the Hatch Accelerator (a competitive program culminating in a 3-day retreat and Demo Day for investors), Hatch House (a hacker-house residency in NYC for 12 founders), and the annual 25 for 2025 recognition list. The community is gated only by a free application form and is monetized via corporate sponsorships and event partnerships rather than membership fees.

Product overview

Foundess is a community platform for women in startups that operates a portfolio of programs including the Hatch Accelerator (a competitive accelerator program with Demo Day), Hatch House (a hacker house residency), and the annual '25 for 2025' recognition program. The platform connects technical female founders with investors through exclusive events, networking opportunities, and educational resources to help them become investor-ready and raise their first fundraise on favorable terms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hatch Accelerator: An accelerator program for women founders that ran with 700+ applicants from 15 countries, culminating in a 3-day retreat and Demo Day in San Francisco where startups raised over $3M collectively.
• Hatch House
• 25 for 2025

Products and services

• Foundess Community Platform Free community membership connecting technical female founders with investors, mentors, and peers through online resources and exclusive offline events. Open to individual women builders preparing for or pursuing their first institutional fundraise.
• Hatch Accelerator A multi-week accelerator program for women founders that includes mentorship, a 3-day in-person retreat, and a Demo Day pitch event with 100+ attending investors. Targeted at technical women founders preparing for their first institutional raise.
• Hatch House A hacker-house residency program providing co-living and co-working space for 12 ambitious founders to live, build, and brainstorm together in Brooklyn, NYC. Launched in partnership with The Residency (Sam Altman-backed).
• 25 for 2025 An annual recognition program honoring the most impactful women builders across AI, biotech, and consumer brands (Enterprise, Healthcare, Frontier, Impact, Lifestyle categories), with honorees selected by a panel of high-profile VC judges and celebrated at sponsored dinners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 700+ founders applied to Hatch Accelerator from 15 countries within first year of operation
• +3 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• CartacoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Carta serves as the sponsor for Foundess 25 for 2025 recognition dinners in both NYC and SF. Carta-sponsored events bring together 20+ women founders collectively raising $210M+ in venture funding and $3.3M+ in grants. The partnership provides sponsorship for exclusive dinners recognizing accomplished women founders.
• The ResidencyflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Sam Altman-backed The Residency partnered with Foundess to launch Hatch House NYC - a hacker house residency for 12 ambitious founders. The Residency provided backing for Foundess to operate its first physical co-living/working space for founders. This was a key strategic initiative combining both organizations' resources for founder support.
• FramerminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFoundess partnered with Framer to host the Founders & Creatives Cafe event - a pop-up cafe with 50+ hand-selected founders and creatives featuring pastries from Carotlyn's Cafe. Joint event marketing to Framer's user base.
• Isshiki MatchaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerIsshiki Matcha partnered with Foundess for the NYTW Matcha Cafe pop-up event during New York Tech Week, celebrating women founders. Joint event hosted to engage the startup community.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Backstage Capital: VC fund and accompanying community/program portfolio (Backstage Academy, founder spotlights) investing in underrepresented founders. Comparable combination of capital access plus a community and recognition layer for the same underserved founder segment.
• Springboard Enterprises: Accelerator-style program supporting women-led technology and life sciences companies through investor introductions, mentorship, and cohort-based programs. Most analogous on the accelerator/programmatic side; similar focus on preparing female founders for institutional capital.
• All Raise: Mission-driven nonprofit dedicated to increasing the representation of women in venture capital and startup leadership through community programs, events, and mentorship. Most directly comparable community-over-product model addressing the same gender-funding gap Foundess targets.
• Dreamers & Doers: Invitation-only membership community for high-impact women creators and founders, offering curated experiences, mentorship, and recognition. Closely parallel curated-membership, experience-led model with comparable founder demographic.
• Pipeline Angels: Network of women angel investors and female founders of color running cohort-based programs, masterclasses, and pitch events to increase access to capital. Overlaps with Foundess's investor-readiness and first-raise focus for women and non-binary founders.
• Women Who Code: Global nonprofit community (sponsorship-supported) running events, mentorship, and recognition programs for women in technical roles. Closely comparable operational model: free community, sponsorship revenue, events-led engagement, technical women audience.
• Female Founder Collective: A membership-based community and network founded by Rebecca Minkoff to support women entrepreneurs across stages via programming, events, and partnerships. Comparable free-membership, events-and-recognition business model serving the same women founder audience.

Broad incumbents

• Female Founders Fund: Early-stage venture fund investing specifically in women-led businesses, with portfolio support that includes community programming and introductions. Operates in the same ecosystem as Foundess, providing capital to the same founders Foundess preps to raise.
• Techstars: Global accelerator network running mentor-driven accelerator programs and demo days in multiple verticals and geographies. A scaled analog of the accelerator-with-Demo-Day format that Foundess's Hatch Accelerator mimics.
• Y Combinator: Largest US startup accelerator running cohorts, Demo Days, and founder community at global scale. While not women-specific, Hatch Accelerator maps directly onto the YC-style accelerator-with-Demo-Day template and competes for technical founders' first-raise attention.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/joinfoundess
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/foundess

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Foundess