Introducing the RippleX Fellow Fund: 
Investing $25-50K into student and first-time founders.

Get Funding

The Fellow Fund offers founders hands-on support and access to Ripple Ventures' resources & network.

Get Funding

Investment Focus

Operators first approach to investing and working with founders.
Regions
United States
Canada
Thesis Areas
Enterprise Software
Developer Tools
Web3 Infrastructure & Tooling
Stage
MVP Built
Early Users
Zero or Little Capital Raised
Strategy
Focused on solo investment
Open to leading small angel rounds
Check Size
$25k
$50k
Round Size
Up to $100k

The Fellow Fund Portfolio

Learn more about the Fellow Fund and our mission to empower underrepresented founders.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have questions about getting funding? We have answers for you here.
If I have already raised a small angel or VC round, should we still apply for funding?

Yes, please still apply as we will evaluate investments opportunistically.

What is your investment process?
  1. Apply online
  2. Ripple team reaches out to companies that are in-thesis
  3. Initial call with Ripple team + demo (if applicable) 
  4. Ripple team drafts overview memo
  5. Team meeting with founders + entire Ripple team
  6. Follow-up questions and due diligence
  7. Investment

We expect this process to take no longer than a few weeks.

What is your typical deal structure?

Ripple Ventures will invest in your company as a part of the Fellow Fund initiative with a $25-50K check. This will be on a standard SAFE note with a valuation cap, and side letters for pro-rata and information rights. The valuation depends on the stage of the company.

Is Ripple Ventures going to invest in Fellow Fund portfolio companies?

No, not every company that receives a Fellow Fund investment will receive a core fund investment from Ripple Ventures but we expect a good portion of the portfolio to. Companies will be evaluated on an individual basis to receive a core fund investment from Ripple Ventures.

Do you have to be from an underrepresented group to receive funding?

No, you do not need to be from an underrepresented group to receive funding but a minimum of 50% of our investments will be allocated toward founders who identify with underrepresented groups.

What are industries or types of companies you will NOT invest in?
  • Consumer / B2C / DTC 
  • Hardware
  • Lifesciences / Biotech
  • Marketplaces
  • Banking and Lending
What are the general investment criteria that you follow?
  • Student or first time founders
  • Based in North America
  • Company is building enterprise, developer, or web3 infra/tooling
  • Has not raised capital before
  • Has done a material volume of customer interviews and built an early MVP 

Why did we start the Fellow Fund?

Our fellowship program and online course have scaled to help student founders and aspiring VCs across the world get access to knowledge and a unique network. The only thing lacking was financial support to offer in tandem with all of our initiatives.

Gap in the Ecosystem
There are many investment funds focused on student founders, but still only the top 1% of students receive investment. We want to continue democratizing access to venture capital.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Underrepresented groups still receive a small percentage of total funding, especially as students.
Expanding the Platform
Our program and online course have helped student founders raise over $50M in venture funding, and we want to support our founders alongside their journeys from Day 1.
Help Founders Get From 0 to 1
Many first-time founders lack the resources and expertise to get companies off the ground, and we're bridging the gap to close the immediate financial and experience gap.
" The RippleX Fellowship community has always been in my corner since day one of building startups. Before Utopia Labs, I was building Thrift.so and basically had Dom (the program lead) as one of my impromptu co-founders to bounce ideas off, strategize sales pitches, figure out pricing, and think about fundraising. Unfortunately, that business shut down, but that led me to build Utopia Labs. Dom encouraged me to build in public and share all of the things I was learning in web3 at the time. That's where I met my co-founders, through Twitter and Linkedin.

After we got the product off the ground, we were thinking about fundraising and I worked closely with him to prepare the fundraising docs, strategize closing the round, and review our legal docs. Shortly after, we closed a seed round with Kindred Ventures and Series A with Paradigm Capital. Dom has been there for me through the lows and I wouldn't have anyone else in my corner."

Kaito Cunningham
CEO @ Utopia Labs

Why Take Our Money

Hands-on mentorship and guidance

We've built, funded, and sold companies before. Using our experience to guide first-time founders to success in the early days.

Access to Ripple Ventures' resources and network

Portfolio perks on software and tools, as well as the access to Ripple Ventures' founder, investor and operator network.

Join the RippleX Fellowship community

Meet other like-minded founders and investors in private group chats and events, where we are dedicated to helping each other succeed.

Hiring high quality talent

Access to talent pipeline in the Ripple Ventures and RippleX Fellowship networks to ensure you have the best people building your company.

Join our community of extraordinary founders building market-shifting software tools.