‍UPDATE: The slide deck from WTIA’s Founder Cohort 13 Legal Workshop (held 12/02/25) is now available! 

“Patent Bar Date Dangers, Provisional Applications, NDAs, Inventors and Patent Ownership, Copyright and Trademark,” as presented by Seed IP, can be viewed here.

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Seed IP Law Group LLP is a proud sponsor of the 13th Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) Founder Cohort Program. In addition to sponsorship, Seed IP will be hosting in its office a full-day of events related to WTIA's Founder Cohort 13 on December 2, 2025.

The Founder Cohort program fosters a robust, equity-centered technology sector that empowers thriving communities in Washington State and beyond. The program helps 20-30 venture-scale, seed-stage startups grow and scale over the course of a 6-month timeframe. Specifically, the program provides tech startups with a roadmap that guides them through milestones such as growing their revenue, securing investment funding, and expanding their team. Each startup is headquartered in Washington, has at least one product in development, has an annual revenue of less than $250k, and has passed a rigorous application process. Led by a committee of experienced tech founders and entrepreneurs, the program supports each startup and guides them through the crucial stages of fundraising, corporate governance, and customer development. The program aligns with WTIA’s effort to support entrepreneurs in Washington’s booming tech industry.

“Companies typically join Founder Cohort at a critical juncture in their growth trajectory. It takes a village of experts and dedicated partners to help a startup grow and scale from a fledgling business to its next phase, which often determines its future successor failure,” said Nick Ellingson, WTIA Startup Ambassador and Director of Products. “With that in mind, we built the program specifically to serve founders’ unique challenges, and we believe that having a solid network and support system can really help these companies springboard to a level that they might not otherwise achieve as quickly or as efficiently on their own.”

The WTIA Founder Cohort program has created a culture of success among the startups they have collaborated with in the past. Since its inception eight years ago, the program has supported over 300 companies. Alumni from previous 12 cohorts have collectively raised over $450 million, according to WTIA.

Specifically, those selected for the WTIA Founder Cohort Program will learn:

   ·  How to fundraise (running a fundraising process, term sheets, cap tables, etc.)

   ·  How to manage a board of directors

   ·  Corporate governance (accounting, legal, etc.)

   ·  Customer development and go to market strategies

WTIA's goal is to help invest in its ecosystem and use its connections, sponsors, and partners to support the next generation of companies via mentorship, education, coaching, and connections. WTIA also wants to connect early stage entrepreneurs with similarly staged peers to build cohorts of connected founders that grow together.

The program begins with an in-person kick-off. From there, WTIA will have workshops every 2-3 weeks on stage appropriate topics that one can implement in one's company right away. Participation is free, requires no equity from the startups, and provides access to WTIA network partners, sponsors, and resources.

To view the complete list of the 19 tech startups selected for Cohort 13, click here. (coming soon)

GeekWire Article | “19 startups selected for WTIA’s 13th Founder Cohort Accelerator Program”

Learn more about the WTIA Founder Cohort Program.

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FULL SCHEDULE — December 2

9:00-9:30 a.m. | Arrival + Breakfast

9:30-11:00 a.m. | Sales (ICPs and Buyer Personas, Comparative Analysis to Value Prop, Value Based Sales) w/Nick Ellingson

11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. | Founder Roundtable

12:00-1:00 p.m. | Lunch + Seed IP Office Hours

1:00-2:00 p.m. | Seed IP presents IP Legal Workshop: "Patent Bar Date Dangers, Provisional Applications, NDAs, Inventors and Patent Ownership, Copyright and Trademark" for the 19 tech startups who were selected for the 13th WTIA Founder Cohort Program. Seed IP partners Kevan Morgan and Brooke Quist will deliver a workshop focused on patent inventorship and ownership, bar date issues, provisional applications, NDAs, and other topics related to protecting IP.

2:00-2:30 p.m. | Break + Seed IP Office Hours

2:30-4:00 p.m. | "Marketing 101" presented by Ian Hameroff, Founder and CEO, Fulcrum Group LLC

4:00-6:00 p.m. | Happy Hour + Networking

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Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) is a trade association unifying the voice of the technology community in Washington State.

Learn more about WTIA.

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