The dinner bell at TechRaising Spring 2012 brought an extra-special announcement from Andrew Mueller and Gary Herman: The Founder Institute is offering each TechRaising team a free application to their May 2012 program. They will award a full tuition scholarship to one team of their choosing ($1,500 value).

Thanks to Gary, who approached Founder Institute creator Adeo Ressi about the possibility to sponsor a TechRaising team. Everyone hacking, designing, and building at Cruzio this weekend has been recongnized as embodying the kind of raw, passionate talent that the Founder Institute’s program supports.

Gary is the president of Santa Cruz’s own Jabico Enterprises and a 2010 alumni of the Founder Institute’s four month incubator and workshop for emerging entrepreneurs. He’s a self-proclaimed evangelist of the Founder Institute and Santa Cruz’s burgeoning community of tech talent. His experience with Adeo Ressi and the Founder Institute program was an eye-opening experience that resulted in an epiphany about what it takes to turn start-up dreams into lasting real-world success. The Founder Institute is a different kind of entrepreneurial incubator, It is an early-stage community-based (and very intense) laboratory. All that participants need to begin is a seedling of inspiration, a huge amount of drive.

If the Founder Institute is the incubator, TechRaising is the greenhouse, combining the soil, the sun, and the seeds. TechRaisers are planting their ideas in the fertile environment of the re-invigorated Santa Cruz tech community. Gary’s path through the Founder Institute back to Santa Cruz, the home of his successful business, validates TechRaising’s vision that new tech companies can emerge and thrive in Santa Cruz.

On kick-off night, Margaret Rosas delivered an inspired vision that continues to echo throughout the event. Her perception that Santa Cruz has a spirit that you don’t get anywhere else coupled with the belief that each of us have a magic wand that’s ready to make amazing things happen if we just start waving it embodies the magic that we are seeing come to life.

Today at 4:00pm the TechRaising teams will gather for demo presentations! If the palpable energy of the weekend is any indicator, it’s going to be a pretty mind-blowing afternoon.

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Read more about the Founder Institute at their website, http://fi.co. TechRaisers will receive a private coupon code for application. Meet Gary’s company, Jabico Enterprises, at www.jabico.com.