Philadelphia Startup Community
Founders Network is a peer mentorship community of 600+ vetted tech founders in cities around the world. Founders in Philadelphia join the full program from their first week: weekly peer roundtables, live sessions with experienced operators, the member forums, and introductions to founders and investors in any city.
Members in Philadelphia start in our Virtual chapter. A local chapter opens once enough founders here join.
Start the Philadelphia chapter
Every Founders Network chapter began with a few members who wanted to meet in person. When enough Philadelphia members join, we start local dinners and roundtables led by volunteer members. Members who want to lead it can apply here.
The Philadelphia startup scene
Philadelphia's startup scene is built on research. Startup Genome reports that about 75% of the region's R&D activity is in life sciences, and lists 9 active unicorns and $15.1 billion in venture funding from 2021 to 2025.
Its 2026 report ranks Philadelphia #33 among global startup ecosystems. Gopuff, Third Arc Bio and Dispatch Bio were among the region's top-funded startups from mid-2023 to 2025.
PitchBook data reported by Technical.ly shows the region raised $4.11 billion across 493 deals in 2025. Philly Tech Week ran more than 50 events in May 2025.
Founders Network in Philadelphia
Founders Network started in San Francisco in 2011. Members are founders of tech startups, from a first company to serial founders who have exited, and each one is nominated and approved.
Most of the program runs online, so it works the same from Philadelphia as from San Francisco. Members bring a hiring, fundraising or product problem to a facilitated roundtable of peers, ask the forums, and get introduced one-on-one to members who have solved it. Each year they meet in person at fnIRL in San Francisco and at fnSummit. The Virtual chapter has its own leadership team and online events, so Philadelphia members have a peer group from day one.
Join from Philadelphia
Membership is by nomination and approval. Request an invitation and we'll review your background. If it's a fit, we arrange a nomination and invite you to the Nominee Preview Q&A, a 30-minute Zoom where current members walk through how Founders Network works and take questions. The next one is Thursday, November 19 at 9:30 AM PT.
Request an invitationAlready nominated? RSVP to the Nominee Preview.
Get an invitation to the community.
Founders Network is an invite-only peer mentorship community for tech startup founders. Drop your email — we'll take it from there.
No spam. We review every request individually.