Founder Residency Application Page

First-Time Founder Residency

Our mission is to support the innovators looking to change the world while building their ventures in Maine. The Roux Institute Founder Residency is a year-long engagement designed to support underrepresented first-time founders at the earliest stages of their entrepreneurial journey. The Residency gives founders access to curated programming, mentorship, joint research opportunities, a network of expert advisors, and a peer community to accelerate their growth.

Founders who are selected will be co-located at the Roux Institute for twelve months (beginning July 2022)

We will conduct interviews with selected Founders on a rolling basis. Applications close April 30 and participants will be selected in May.

Future of Healthcare Founder Residency

The Roux Institute's year-long Future of Healthcare Founder Residency is created to support entrepreneurs looking to transform the way communities, clinicians, health executives, and patients interact with and within the healthcare system. We make targeted investments and offer full-service support services to 10 of the top early-stage health-related ventures per year.

Designed in partnership with Northern Light Health and MaineHealth, the Roux Institute’s Future of Healthcare Founder Residency is the first of its kind in northern New England. Participants of the program received a $50,000 investment and the opportunity to learn more and collaborate with top clinicians and healthcare experts, mentors, and growth-accelerating programming. Maine Venture Fund, the state’s venture capital fund, works with companies on-site and is also an investor in the program.

As part of our $50,000 investment in each company, Founders in the Residency have access to curated programming and mentorship from top experts and entrepreneurs in the field, free in-house Business, Design, and Legal services, and a peer community to accelerate their growth. Founders also benefit from our extensive network in the healthcare and payer space and access to our partner healthcare systems Northern Light and Maine Health, which together serve over 90% of Maine households.

Founders who are selected and receive investment will be co-located at the Roux Institute for twelve months (beginning April 2024).

Applications close October 30th. Questions? Please contact Director of the Future of Healthcare Founder Residency, Elena Brondolo, [email protected]

Founder Residency

Our mission is to support the innovators looking to change the world while building their ventures in Maine. The Roux Institute's Founder Residency is a year-long engagement designed to support traditionally overlooked founders at the earliest stages of their entrepreneurial journey. Founders will have access to Northeastern’s global network of mentors and investors along with researchers, academics, and students in the fields of artificial intelligence, computer and data sciences, digital engineering, advanced life sciences, and medicine.

Founders who are selected will be co-located at the Roux Institute for twelve months (beginning September 2023)

We will conduct interviews with selected Founders on a rolling basis. Applications close April 30 and participants will be selected in July.

Questions? Please contact Associate Director of Entrepreneurship, Benjamin Chesler at [email protected]

Questions? Please contact Program Manager, Emmelie Van Vranken at [email protected]

About You

Tell us a bit about yourself and your venture.

We offer this residency specifically for women*, people of color, LGBTQ+, and other historically marginalized people. Do you self-identify into one of these categories? *includes trans women and femme/feminine-identifying genderqueer and non-binary individuals. *

Yes
No

First Name *

Last Name *

Email *

Phone *

Company Name *

Company Website (if applicable)

What is the structure of your business? *

If other, please provide a brief explanation.

Current Company HQ City *

Current Company HQ State *

Co-Founder #2 Name (if applicable)

Co-Founder #3 Name (if applicable)

Co-Founder #4 Name (if applicable)

We want to get to know you and your venture! Please share a link to a 2 minute video intro of you, your founding team, and what you're building (upload to Vimeo) *

This does NOT need to be polished. It can be you in front of a phone camera talking about your idea. What's the problem you are solving and why are you uniquely qualified to solve the problem you are tackling? Who is on your founding team? What traction do you have to date? What's your big vision?

LinkedIn URLs (optional)

Your Idea/Venture

Tell us what you're up to.

Please describe the problem you are solving *

max 750 characters

How are you uniquely solving this problem? *

max 1,500 characters

Please describe your product/service/technology. What have you already built? Is any of it proprietary? *

max 1,500 characters

Where are you going? What's your massive vision? *

Who are your 3-5 biggest competitors? *

Please include name and website

Venture Stage

Where are you in the process? We work with early-stage founders and teams.

Where are you today? (just an idea, side hustle, full-time, funded, etc.) *

How many people are currently on your team and what is their role? *

It is fine if it is just you but we like to get an idea of what the team (if it exists) looks like. Feel free to include advisors and employees.

Traction: What are you proud of? (revenue numbers, customer numbers, technology developed, etc.) *

What are your most important goals over the next 12 months? *

What isn't working in your business? *

Have you raised any capital to date? And if so, how much and what structure? *

Founder Residency Specific Questions

Tell us why your venture is a good fit for the Founder Residency.

If selected for the Founder Residency, would you be able and willing to work out of the Roux Institute space in Portland. ME for the full duration of the program? *

If other, please provide a brief explanation.

Are you leveraging AI or Advanced Computing? If so, how? *

How could the Roux Institute change your trajectory? *

If you aren't already located in Maine, why are you interested in coming to Maine? *

A team is the most important part of starting a venture. We think it is critical for founders to start thinking about the future and envisioning what a successful team looks like. Why is diversity important to you and what value might it bring to your venture? *

How did you hear about the Roux Founder Residency? *

CV/Resume Upload

If you have one, please upload a deck for your business to this link using the file name: Company Name_Deck. You can also upload CV/Resumes for the team using the file name: Company Name_Person Name_CV

Upload Deck Here: https://airtable.com/shrOxLl9QV2tFSMs4