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Washington's flagship accelerator for early-stage tech founders.

The WTIA Founder Cohort is a free, four-month program for pre-seed and seed-stage founders in Washington state. Twice a year, we select 20 startups and give them the curriculum, mentorship, and connections they need to grow.

No cost. No equity. Just the work.

Why WTIA

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WTIA sits at the center of Washington's startup ecosystem.

Led by Nick Ellingson (VP) and Koki Sato (Program Manager), our Innovation and Entrepreneurship team plugs founders directly into:

  • VCs and angel investors
  • Mentors and advisors
  • Legal and accounting partners
  • Enterprise customers

Join Founder Cohort and get more than a curriculum. Get the relationships that help startups grow.

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About the program

 

Founder Cohort 14

Hands-on, practical, and built around where you are in your journey.

Founder Cohort runs two times per year with a cohort of 20 startups. It blends in-person and virtual sessions so founders across Washington can participate fully, wherever they're based.

The program covers four core tracks:

  • Growth — customer acquisition, sales, and go-to-market strategy
  • Financing — fundraising fundamentals, investor readiness, and cap table basics
  • Product — building, iterating, and finding product-market fit
  • Business Fundamentals — operations, legal, hiring, and financial management

Sessions include group workshops, individual coaching, and peer learning. Founders work alongside their cohort throughout the program, and many continue working together long after it ends.

What you get

Every founder selected for the cohort receives:

  • Cohort-based peer learning with 19 other Washington founders at the same stage
  • Mentorship from experienced operators and investors
  • Direct introductions to VCs, service providers, and potential customers
  • Access to WTIA's statewide ecosystem of tech leaders, partners, and alumni
  • Demo Day to showcase your startup to investors and the broader community
  • $10,000 in AWS credits
  • Discounted Carta cap table management subscription
  • Discounted HubSpot subscription
  • Access to WTIA health insurance, business insurance, and 401(k)
  • Free WTIA membership for the duration of the program
  • Access to the WTIA Founder Cohort Slack channel

Who should apply?

Founder Cohort is built for founders at a specific moment: your business is becoming real. You have early customers or you're starting to fundraise, and you need the skills and connections to get to the next stage.

You're a strong fit if you:

  • Are the CEO and founder of a venture-scale tech startup
  • Have a co-founder or at least one team member
  • Have generated at least $1 in revenue or fundraising, or have at least one active customer or user
  • Are below $250,000 in annual revenue
  • Are headquartered in Washington state

If that sounds like where you are right now, this program was built for you.

Meet the team

NIck Ellingson, VP of Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Nick Ellingson is VP of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) and the go-to human rolodex for anyone navigating the PNW startup and innovation ecosystem. Whether a founder needs an investor introduction, the right mentor, or just a straight answer on where to start, Nick is the first call they make. He has built and led a suite of programs at WTIA to support founders at every stage, and runs international market accelerators that help entrepreneurs from countries like Canada and South Korea develop their go-to-market strategies for entering the US through Seattle. He holds an Executive MBA from Seattle University and brings a background in sales and business development that gives him a practical, founder-friendly perspective on what it actually takes to grow a company.

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Testimonials

As a first-time female founder in enterprise technology, starting a new venture was incredibly hard. The WTIA program not only gave me incredible resources, but it gave me a community of other founders that have been the backbone of our success.

Mary-Heather Lines, CEO, Automaton

As a female founder, WTIA helped to level the playing field. I'm certain that it was the connections as well as the training that helped my company secure funding from investors.

Pradnya Desh, CEO, Advocat Technologies

The Founder Cohort provides invaluable support and resources that are easily a semester's worth of courses you would have to pay for at an Ivy League school. The mentorship they provided me as a first-time tech entrepreneur was life changing. They helped me turn my innovative ideas into a promising business. Must apply!

Stephanie Joyce, CEO, PulseDNA

To this day, I find myself going back to the WTIA for mentorship, comradery, and hand-holding as my company undergoes the various stages of startup life. I love the fact that as my startup grows the WTIA can support me at both the earliest and later stages of my company's growth.

Eddie Mazariegos, CEO and Founder, Future Gen

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