Invitation-only community · Entrepreneur networks · Investor networks
Status: Renamed. The organisation now trades as Founders Forum Group at ff.co; the forums themselves are still branded Founders Forum. The former foundersforum.com and foundersforum.co.uk domains are no longer operated by the organisation and are listed for sale by domain brokers, so any older link should be treated as dead rather than as evidence of closure.Founders Forum
Founders of high-growth technology companies, senior investors, corporate chief executives and senior policymakers
A profile page holds what the organization publishes and what named sources report: who it admits, what it costs, how it is structured, where it operates, and how it has changed. Every figure carries the date it was checked. A dash means the organization does not publish that fact.
Founding: "Founders Forum started in 2005... Our community first convened at a 50-person event in London." Brent Hoberman is listed as co-founder and executive chair.
Founders Forum began in London in 2005 as a fifty-person gathering of European technology entrepreneurs, and has grown into Founders Forum Group, a company that runs invitation-only forums alongside a set of associated businesses. More than forty forums have been held in over twenty cities. The flagship, Founders Forum Global, runs across two days in London and the English countryside alongside London Tech Week: the 2025 edition drew 450 entrepreneurs including 300 unicorn founders, 125 chief executives and 129 venture capitalists. Regional forums cover the Middle East, Africa and South Asia from Dubai, the Asia-Pacific from Singapore, Europe, North America and India, and there are role-specific forums for chief marketing officers, chief financial officers, venture capitalists and family offices. Attendance is by invitation. The group's stated design principle is that everyone present could be a keynote speaker, and the programme mixes panels with small breakout brainstorms and fireside chats. Founders Forum Group also operates London Tech Week as a joint venture with Informa and sits alongside Founders Factory and firstminute capital in Brent Hoberman's group of ventures.
How it works
Founders Forum runs a calendar of invitation-only forums, each anchored to a region or a role. Programming is tailored to the people attending and mixes panels, small breakout brainstorms and fireside chats with social and dinner elements. There is no standing membership: people are invited to a specific forum, and a register-your-interest form exists for those not invited. The wider group also offers services, competitions, insight and investment channels.
Typical member
Attendees are founders of significant technology companies, venture investors and chief executives. The 2025 flagship drew 300 unicorn founders and 129 venture capitalists collectively managing $2.7 trillion, alongside corporate executives and government figures.
Membership requirements
Requirements in detail, with history →Requirements are the tests the organization itself publishes: an age ceiling, a company-revenue floor, a net-worth minimum, a role. Where a figure straddles a range, the organization's own assessment decides. Local chapters can apply stricter tests than the published standard.
| Criterion | Published requirement | Provenance |
|---|---|---|
| Invitation | Forums are invitation-only | Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗ |
| Other criterion | No published eligibility criteria beyond being a founder, investor, chief executive or senior policymaker in technology | Verified September 2026Medium confidenceSource ↗ |
Published criteria as verified on the dates shown. Final eligibility and admission decisions belong entirely to Founders Forum. See how you compare against these criteria →
Initiation fees are paid once on joining; dues recur. Chapter dues, retreats, travel and events are usually additional and are listed separately when the organization discloses them. Figures are as published or reported on the date shown, not quotations.
| Cost | First year | Three years | Provenance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual dues | Not applicable; Founders Forum has no standing membership and charges no dues. | Source ↗ | |
| Event costs | Not publicly disclosed. No ticket price or attendance fee is published for any Founders Forum event; the forums carry named corporate partners. | Source ↗ | |
Structure and programming
Independent context
This is an events business rather than a membership organisation, and that distinction matters when comparing it with peer networks. There is no roster, no dues, no term and no published criteria: an invitation to a specific forum is the whole product, and the organisation's own framing is that it curates rooms rather than admitting members. The identity is bound up with Brent Hoberman's wider group, which includes Founders Factory, firstminute capital and the London Tech Week joint venture with Informa, so the network overlaps heavily with a set of commercial ventures. Two practical cautions. The organisation has rebranded to Founders Forum Group and moved to ff.co; its old .com and .co.uk domains are now parked for sale, so stale links circulate. And every attendance figure it publishes is per-event, not cumulative, so they should not be read as a community size.
Editorial analysis by Peer Group Guide editors. It is separated from the record above and follows the editorial policy.
Similar organizations
Alternatives, grouped by need →History and changes
Site-wide change log →- milestoneFounders Forum convenes its first gathering, a 50-person event in London for European entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs and government leaders ↗
- milestoneFounders Forum MEASA launched, bridging the Middle East, Africa and South Asia from Dubai ↗
- milestone20th anniversary edition of Founders Forum Global; 450 entrepreneurs attend, including 300 unicorn founders and 129 VCs managing $2.7 trillion ↗
- milestoneOrganisation operating as Founders Forum Group from ff.co, with Carolyn Dawson as chief executive and Brent Hoberman as executive chair ↗
Milestones as published by the organization or reported by a named source. “Record” entries are changes to this site’s own record of the organization, kept in the public change log rather than overwritten.
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Sources
- Founders Forum Group — home, Founders Forum Group. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- About Us — Founders Forum Group, Founders Forum Group. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- Founders Forum Global Network — Founders Forum Group, Founders Forum Group. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
- Founders Forum Global — Founders Forum Group, Founders Forum Group. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
Source tiers follow the published hierarchy: 1 official site · 2 official membership materials · 3 application documents · 4 annual reports · 5 government filings · 6 reliable business publications · 7 credible interviews · 8 other reputable secondary sources. Sources and data policy.
Is something wrong or out of date?
Represent Founders Forum? Verified representatives can submit corrections to fees, criteria, chapters and contact details, and add approved material. Submissions are reviewed by an editor and shown as organization-supplied; they never overwrite independent research.