1517 Fund

What 1517 Fund does

1517 Fund is a private venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Danielle Strachman and Michael Gibson — the same team that co-founded the Thiel Fellowship with Peter Thiel in 2010. The firm invests at the pre-seed and seed stages exclusively in non-traditional founders: college dropouts, current high school and university students, and deep tech scientists. Standard check sizes range from $50,000 at the idea or R&D stage to $1,000,000 for deep tech / 'sci-fi' seed rounds, with an average pre-seed check of approximately $400,000. Capital is deployed across four flagship funds and 15+ special purpose vehicles (SPVs) used for follow-on into top-performing portfolio companies, with total committed capital exceeding $175 million.

The firm operates a community-led go-to-market model rather than a traditional deal-sourcing funnel. Its 6,000+-member community is cultivated through the Medici Program (200+ $1,000 micro-grants deployed annually for idea validation), the Founders First and Subversion podcasts, the 1517 Library, annual 1517 Summits, and on-campus and mentor-network engagement that begins years before founders are ready to raise. Notable portfolio outcomes attributed to the fund or its founders include Ethereum (Vitalik Buterin), Figma, OYO Rooms (Ritesh Agarwal), Luminar, Lambda Labs, Loom, nTop, Cents, Fossa, Atom Computing, and Xona, with a stated portfolio market capitalization exceeding $10 billion. Revenue mechanics follow standard venture capital economics: management fees on committed capital plus carried interest on exits, with returns driven by the typical power-law distribution across the portfolio.

Name

1517 Fund

Legal name

1517 Fund

Website

https://1517fund.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

1517 Fund is a San Diego-based venture capital firm founded in 2015 that provides pre-seed and seed funding ($50K–$1M checks, ~$400K average) to college dropouts, students, and deep tech scientists, operating alongside a 6,000+ member community and the Medici micro-grant program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital funding
• Pre-seed investments
• Seed stage capital
• Startup community building
• Micro-grant programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns: 1517 Fund generates returns through equity investments in early-stage startups. Returns come from portfolio company exits via acquisitions or IPOs, following standard venture capital economics with power law distribution where a small number of investments generate outsized returns.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

1517 Fund is a venture capital firm that provides pre-seed and seed equity investments to early-stage technology startups, with check sizes ranging from $50,000 at the idea/R&D stage up to $1,000,000 for deep tech and "sci-fi" seed-stage companies (average check size of $400,000). The firm supplements this capital deployment with a Medici Program offering minimum $1,000 micro-grants for early idea validation, a community of 6,000+ founders and hackers, and ongoing portfolio support through 15+ SPVs for follow-on investments.

Product overview

1517 Fund operates as a venture capital firm and community platform rather than a traditional SaaS or product company. The core offering consists of venture capital investments at the earliest stages (pre-seed to seed), ranging from $50,000 to $1,000,000, with an average check size of $400,000. Supporting this are the Medici Program for micro-grants ($1k minimum), the Founders First and Subversion podcasts for founder interviews, the 1517 Summit for community events, and the 1517 Library for curated resources. The fund also maintains a community of 6,000+ members, has deployed 200+ $1k grants annually, manages $175mm+ in committed capital, and supports portfolio companies through 15+ SPVs for follow-on investments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Medici Program: Micro-grant program offering minimum $1k grants to help founders validate ideas at the earliest stages.
• Founders First Podcast
• Subversion Podcast

Products and services

• Venture Capital Investment Pre-seed to seed equity investment in early-stage technology startups, with check sizes from $50,000 at the idea/R&D stage up to $1,000,000 for deep tech/sci-fi seed-stage companies (average $400,000 pre-seed check). For uncredentialed founders, students, and deep tech scientists.
• Medici Program Micro-grant program providing minimum $1,000 cash grants to help founders, hackers, and makers validate early-stage ideas at the R&D/idea phase before they are ready for full venture funding.
• Founders First Podcast Seasonal podcast featuring interviews with 1517 Fund portfolio company founders discussing their first projects, companies, raises, hires, fires, and other early milestones.
• Subversion Podcast Podcast featuring interviews with hackers, makers, scientists, investors, and thinkers who are subverting the status quo, released as new content is developed.
• 1517 Summit Annual multi-day summit bringing together the 1517 community of founders, hackers, makers, and renegade scientists for networking, keynotes, breakout sessions, and workshops (e.g., 2022 'Escape from Captivity' in San Diego, attendance capped at 400).
• 1517 Library Curated online library of recommended resources including business book lists, philosophical essays, and reading materials for founders, hackers, makers, and scientists.

Quantifiable outcome

• Portfolio companies achieved $10bn+ market cap including Ethereum, Figma, OYO Rooms, Luminar
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Thiel FellowshipcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20101517 Fund was co-founded by the same team that co-founded the Thiel Fellowship with Peter Thiel in 2010. The Thiel Fellowship is a $100k grant program for young entrepreneurs. 1517 was started in 2015 to scale and expand the vision of the Fellowship.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Village Global: Early-stage venture firm backed by a network of high-profile operators, writing seed checks into technical founders. Comparable in network-driven sourcing and early-stage check sizing.
• Contrary: Early-stage venture firm explicitly built to back unconventional, 'rebellious' student and young founders. Closest philosophical match to 1517's dropout and anti-credentialism thesis.
• Dorm Room Fund: Student-run pre-seed fund backing founders still in university. Directly overlaps with 1517's 'renegade student' persona and pre-seed check size profile.
• Precursor Ventures: Pre-seed and seed venture firm writing initial checks into founders before product-market fit. Closely comparable in stage, check size discipline, and founder-first orientation.
• The House Fund: Pre-seed and seed fund affiliated with UC Berkeley backing founders at the earliest stages. Comparable in targeting student and first-time founders with small initial checks.
• Long Journey Ventures: Early-stage fund backing unconventional founders at the pre-seed and seed stages. Shares 1517's small-check, founder-thesis-led orientation.

Broad incumbents

• Founders Fund: Peter Thiel–led multi-stage venture firm with thematic early-stage bets in deep tech and contrarian founders. Overlaps with 1517 via Thiel ecosystem and similar willingness to back non-traditional technical teams.
• Slow Ventures: Multi-stage fund with deep roots in early thematic and 'founder-first' seed investing, including deep tech. Comparable in stage breadth and contrarian founder support.
• Khosla Ventures: Large early-stage firm with a significant deep tech / sci-fi tech mandate (energy, biotech, quantum, materials). Overlaps with 1517 on the deep tech scientist persona, though at materially larger fund sizes.
• SV Angel: Seed-stage focused angel firm making early bets on consumer and enterprise founders. Comparable in stage discipline and orientation toward first-check conviction investing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/1517fund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1517fund
• Instagraminstagram.com/1517fund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments139 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 1517 Fund