Founder Gym was named Google for Startups Partner of the Year
Founder Gym is a global community that prides itself on connecting underrepresented founders with resources and opportunities that help grow and scale their companies. Through our six week FG Cohort experience, we have graduated 10 FG Cohorts with 357 founders in 18 countries on six continents. Our motto is “We all go up together!” because we believe that creating a deeply connected, world-class community will help all underrepresented founders — current and future generations — be successful. We are always seeking new ways to serve our founders and grow the global FG Community.
When we announced our partnership with Google for Startups (GFS) in February 2019, Founder Gym became a member of their global partner network, which greatly expanded our community’s access to Google products, campuses, and resources.
Additionally, we were proud to bring our expertise and network to this new partnership. As Genna McKeel, Global Partnerships Lead at Google for Startups, and Nicole Froker, Partnerships Manager at Google for Startups, explained:
“At Google, we know that accessing the right resources at the right time is crucial for a startup’s success. That’s why we’ve been a proud partner of Founder Gym from the beginning. The program is truly unique in the ecosystem — their strong network of world-class investors and educators paired with their curriculum equipping founders with the tools to effectively raise funding sets up founders for long-term success in their journey to grow their companies.”
Recently, we had the opportunity to attend Google for Startups Trailblazers, an annual event that brings together the entire global partner network to exchange key learnings and collaborate to create better solutions for startups and the founders that lead them.
As new partners, we were thrilled to attend our first Trailblazers in the Bay Area. Fun fact: New partners are required to wear these fun “Noogler” hats, just like new employees in the early days of Google.
For two days, we strategized, bonded and had a blast together. We caught up with Christie Pitts, General Partner at Backstage Capital, who sent several strong founders our way and always shares FG opportunities with the Backstage community. We celebrated Patriot Boot Camp’s founders with PBC CEO Jen Pilcher, Director of Programs Sherry Rice, and Community Manager Danya Devine. With Gaza Sky Geeks Director Ryan Sturgill and Incubation and Acceleration Program Manager Iyad Altahrawi, we excitedly exchanged updates about founders we had supported together from our respective corners of the globe.
We chatted with Program Manager Alexandrea “Drea” Alphonso, the Google employee who dedicates 20% of her time every week to helping Founder Gym. Drea creates exclusive trainings for our FG Alumni that are led by Google employees with specific domain expertise, and she creates solutions to make it easier for our community to access Google products and services.
Drea is pictured below to my right with two other brilliant members of the Google team: Madison Jacobs, Editor-in-Chief at Google for Startups, and Nia Froome, Senior Global Account Manager at Google. Nia, like Drea, uses 20% of her time to support a Google for Startups Partner program called Black Founders Exchange. Madison has been instrumental in crafting marketing campaigns that feature our FG Alumni and their companies. Nia brings her years of expertise to Black Founders Exchange, an incredible program that eight of our FG Alumni have participated in: Dr. Nana B. Afoh-Manin Founder of Shared Harvest Fund [FG Cohort 5]; Thkisha Sanogo, Founder of MyTAASK [FG Cohort 6]; Naya Powell, Founder of Spa Utopia [FG Cohort 6]; Erica Plybeah, Founder of MedHaul [FG Cohort 6]; Regina Gwynn, Founder of TresseNoire [FG Cohort 6]; Dr. Reginald Parker, Founder of Social Solar [FG Cohort 6]; Derrick Parson, Founder of GRASPIE [FG Cohort 6]; and Kimberly Wilson, Founder of HUED [FG Cohort 6].
On the second night of this action-packed summit, we were so humbled to learn that we had been voted as the Google for Startups Partner of the Year by our peers in the Google for Startups network.
This network includes impactful organizations like Backstage Capital, Patriot Boot Camp, CcHUB, 1871, Gaza Sky Geeks, and American Underground so to be recognized by such an outstanding group, was an honor. You can see my acceptance speech here.
Since launching our flagship partnership in February 2019, we worked with the Google for Startups Network to support founders in the following ways:
- Provided 37 founders with full-tuition scholarships to participate in FG Cohorts 6–11. Donna Sanders, Founder of Social Solar, FG Cohort 10 Graduate and Patriot Boot Camp nominee, shared her experience after the FG Cohort:
“If you’d like to LEARN from the best trainers in the startup ecosystem, CREATE great fundraising documents, and JOIN a community of excellent founders, Founder Gym is the way to go!”
- Leveraged the power of Google Experts to train FG Alumni on how to maximize their Google Cloud credits and use Google Analytics and Google Ads to grow their business. FG Alumni love these trainings! As one founder explained:
“It was so helpful to have someone break down this complex information in a one-hour session. Thank you!”
- Connect founders with exclusive Google for Startups mentorship programs and events around the world.
With this news, we are thrilled to announce that we are continuing our partnership with Google for Startups in 2020. Below are the exciting details about how we will work together to serve more founders:
- Founder Gym will continue to collaborate with over 50 partners and six international Google campuses to connect FG alumni to exclusive opportunities
- Google for Startups partners will nominate founders from their networks to receive full-tuition scholarships to participate in the 2020 FG Cohorts
- FG Alumni will have access to the best of Google’s products and connections in the form of mentorship, programming, and tech trainings
We love working with the Google for Startups team and look forward to another deeply impactful year with our network partners. Special thanks to Genna McKeel, Global Head of Partnerships at Google for Startups, and Nicole Froker, Program Manager at Google for Startups. We work very closely with them to maximize our impact and sincerely appreciate their hard work, guidance, and commitment to serving all founders in the Google for Startups network.
Are you a founder affiliated with the Google for Startups Partner Network and want to learn more about how to qualify for a full-tuition Founder Gym Cohort scholarship for FG Cohort 12 and 13?
The Founder Gym Cohort is a 6-week virtual program led by Silicon Valley experts that train founders on how to raise money to scale their tech startups. The entire cohort experience is 100% virtual, so founders can participate from anywhere in the world. Cohort Trainers are announced as they are confirmed. FG Cohort 12 and Cohort 13 operate from January 27 — March 6, 2020, and the application deadline is Sunday, January 5, 2020.
Founders who are nominated by Google for Startups Partners are eligible to receive a full-tuition scholarship. We review applications as they are received and we will award scholarships to applicants as we identify them.
It just takes 3 simple steps to qualify for a scholarship!
- Check this list to confirm that you work with a Google for Startups partner.
- Reach out to your contact at the Google for Startups partner organization and ask them to nominate you for a Google for Startups Scholarship. If they do not know how to nominate you, tell them to email hello@foundergym.com and we will send them the nomination link.
- Once you are nominated, you will receive confirmation that you have nominated and a link to the FG Cohort application.
If you are not connected to a Google for Startups partner, we strongly encourage you to review the list, learn more about each organization, and discover the resources that they provide for entrepreneurs. Each partner has a deep network and expertise that they leverage to help founders grow their companies. Additionally, we encourage you to apply for FG Cohort 12 or Cohort 13 here by the deadline on January 5, 2020.
Don’t wait to apply, because we will award all Google for Startups scholarships well before the application deadline.
Thank you again to the Google for Startups Team and the amazing partner network. Stay tuned for more success stories from FG Graduates as they continue to grow successful companies!
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