Venture Trailblazers connects world-leading investors, founders, and ecosystem leaders from across the globe to discuss the latest trends in startups and venture capital.

The last five years in the startup and venture capital industry have been a rollercoaster. The pandemic bubble, the end of the ZIRP era, and now the emergence of AI have demanded a level of speed and adaptability in venture that we have never seen before.

In preparation for what we expect to be a fascinating few years in technology, we are excited to announce the Venture Trailblazers Series. This series of free events features top investors who will help us all better understand the fundamental shifts underway in the industry.

The next event part of this series will take place on March 19th, 2026, and feature a Fireside Chat with Andrew D'Souza, Founder & CEO at Boardy.AI.

It will also include a long structured networking session with investors, entrepreneurs, and executives from across the globe.

Venture Trailblazers is an exclusive, invite-only event series hosted by the Founder Institute and VC Lab.

* Venture Trailblazers is strictly invite-only, and reserved for the Founder Institute and VC Lab Networks; including Alumni, Mentors, Investors, Partners, Local Leaders, and Enrolled Founders/ Fund Managers.

If you fit these criteria and have not received an invite, please complete this form.

About the Keynote Speaker

ANDREW D'SOUZA

Andrew D'Souza is a serial entrepreneur and AI innovator at the forefront of how technology is reshaping human connection. As the founder and CEO of Boardy AI, he is building an AI-powered "super connector" that facilitates high-value introductions for founders, investors, and operators through natural voice conversations — turning the art of the warm intro into a scalable, intelligent system.

Before Boardy, Andrew co-founded Clearco (formerly ClearBanc), one of the most ambitious fintech companies to emerge from Y Combinator. Under his leadership as CEO, Clearco grew from a YC Fellowship company to over $100M in revenue, 600 employees, and operations spanning 11 countries — redefining how founders access growth capital without giving up equity.

After stepping down from Clearco to pursue his next frontier, Andrew turned his focus to artificial intelligence, driven by a belief that the next wave of value creation will be built at the intersection of AI and human relationships.

Presented by FI and VC Lab

The goal of Venture Trailblazers is to educate and connect the founders, leaders, mentors, and investors across the global Founder Institute, VC Lab, and FI Venture Networks.

The Founder Institute (FI.co) is the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator. Since 2009, our structured accelerator programs have helped over 7,800 entrepreneurs raise over $1.85BN in funding.

VC Lab (GoVCLab.com) is the leading venture capital accelerator for emerging managers worldwide. The Accelerator is an intensive online program that helps talented and motivated venture capitalists to launch Venture Studios, Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A funds worldwide.