What Founders Network Fund does

Founders Network Fund (FN Fund) is a seed-stage venture capital firm headquartered in San Francisco, founded in 2011 by Kevin Holmes. The firm operates with a small team of 2-10 employees — General Partner Kevin Holmes (also CEO of the parent Founders Network community) and Head of Operations Tara Perillo (joined 2023 from Y Combinator, Initialized Capital, and Kindred Ventures). FN Fund exclusively invests in tech startup founders who are members of the affiliated, invite-only Founders Network (FN) community, deploying $25,000-$250,000 checks at pre-seed and seed stages. The fund does not lead rounds or take board seats, distinguishing its model from traditional institutional VCs.

Deal flow is sourced through the Founders Network's 600+ tech founder community and 2,000 member companies, with prospective investments funnelled through an Active Fundraisers Program that requires regular progress reports. An investment committee selects up to 4 companies per month for prospectus review, with eligibility generally requiring at least one year of FN membership. The firm also operates the fnInvestor program — a no-cost platform giving accredited investors access to curated deal flow, co-investment opportunities, and exclusive demo days from the top 10% of FN startups, claiming $18B in network value creation and $10B in exit value across portfolio brands including Docker ($2.1B), ProductBoard ($1.7B), Braze ($8B IPO), InCode ($1.25B), and Paystand ($1B+). The disclosed portfolio skews toward AI-native startups (Fathom, Dragonscale, Scalestack, PiLogic, Avela Health, Skillful.ly, Mimoto, Shovels, Gybe, Paren), and the firm monetizes through venture returns on equity stakes rather than disclosed management fees or product revenue.

Name

Founders Network Fund

Legal name

Founders Network

Website

https://foundersnetworkfund.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Founders Network Fund is a seed-stage venture capital firm that exclusively backs tech startup founders who are members of the invite-only Founders Network community. The firm deploys $25k-$250k checks, sourcing proprietary deal flow from a network of 600+ tech founders and 2,000 member companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Seed-stage Venture Capital Investing

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

Keywords

• Seed-stage venture capital
• Pre-seed startup investing
• Investor deal flow platform
• Founder peer mentorship
• Accredited investor program

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

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

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Returns: FN Fund generates returns through equity investments in early-stage tech startups. The fund invests pre-seed and seed stage capital ($25k-$250k check sizes) in exchange for equity stakes in portfolio companies. Returns are realized through exits via IPOs, acquisitions, or secondary sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

FN Fund is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests $25,000 to $250,000 in pre-seed and seed-stage tech startups that are members of the affiliated Founders Network invite-only community. It also operates the fnInvestor program, which provides accredited investors with curated deal flow, co-investment opportunities, and exclusive demo days sourced from the top 10% of FN startups. Capital deployment is gated by an investment committee that reviews regular reports from members enrolled in the Active Fundraisers Program and selects up to four companies per month.

Product overview

Founders Network Fund operates as a venture capital firm with two interconnected offerings: FN Fund (a seed-stage VC providing $25k-$250k investments exclusively to Founders Network members) and the fnInvestor Program (a platform connecting accredited investors with curated deal flow from the top 10% of startups). Founders Network itself is an invite-only peer-mentorship community providing educational programming and networking for over 600 tech startup founders. The portfolio includes AI-powered products across sectors including meeting intelligence (Fathom), enterprise AI workflows (Dragonscale), sales automation (Scalestack), hiring simulation (Skillful.ly), healthcare (Avela Health), cybersecurity (PiLogic, Mimoto), construction data (Shovels), and mobility (Gybe).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• fnInvestor Program: A comprehensive investor program catering to angel investors, venture capitalists, emerging managers, and family office investors seeking access to Founders Network deal flow.

Products and services

• FN Fund (Seed-stage VC Investments) Seed-stage venture capital fund providing $25,000 to $250,000 equity checks to pre-seed and seed-stage tech startups that are members of the affiliated Founders Network community, screened by an investment committee that selects up to 4 companies per month.
• Founders Network Community Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• $10B in exit value generated
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability10 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Adam Cheyer (VP of AI Experience, Airbnb)minorOthersAdam Cheyer serves as a mentor in the Founders Network community. He is a pioneer in AI and computer human interfaces, having co-founded Siri (sold to Apple), Change.org, Viv Labs (sold to Samsung), Sentient, and GamePlanner.AI (acquired by Airbnb).
• Peter Imburg (Founder and CEO, Elfster)minorOthersPeter Imburg is a mentor in the Founders Network community. He founded Elfster, a secret santa and gift registry platform with over 26 million registered members and $200M in gross merchandise sales.
• Neha Sampat (Founder and CEO, Contentstack)minorOthersNeha Sampat serves as a mentor in the Founders Network community. She is a three-time tech founder leading Contentstack, a composable digital experience company that has raised $169M in total capital.
• Giles Palmer (Founder and CEO, Cint)minorOthersGiles Palmer serves as a mentor in the Founders Network community. He is the CEO of Cint and former founder/CEO of Brandwatch (sold to Cision for $450M in 2021).
• Domingo Guerra (EVP Trust, Incode Technologies)minorOthersDomingo Guerra is a mentor in the Founders Network community. He co-founded Appthority (acquired by Symantec) and currently serves as EVP of Trust at Incode Technologies. He holds 15 patents across semiconductor, robotics, and cybersecurity industries.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Techstars: Techstars is a global accelerator and seed investor that combines mentorship-driven programming with standardized seed checks, mirroring FN Fund's community-led approach to early-stage venture investing.
• Y Combinator: Y Combinator runs the largest pre-seed/seed accelerator and operates YC Continuity for follow-on funding, making it the closest comparable to FN Fund's community-plus-capital model. Both source exclusively from a curated founder pipeline and provide peer mentorship alongside a standardized check.
• Village Global: Village Global is a network-led early-stage VC backed by high-profile founders and operators, comparable to FN Fund's strategy of monetizing a curated founder community via seed-stage checks.
• Antler: Antler is a global early-stage VC that recruits founders, runs residency programs and deploys pre-seed/seed capital — closely aligned with FN Fund's model of gating investment behind membership in a curated founder network.
• Pioneer Fund: Pioneer Fund is a community-led, GP-free venture fund operated by a network of operators who source and back early-stage startups — a directly comparable community-anchored seed VC model to FN Fund.
• Lerer Hippeau: Lerer Hippeau is a New York-based seed-stage VC investing in community-driven, consumer and software startups with small initial checks — a directly comparable seed-stage VC profile to FN Fund.
• Hustle Fund: Hustle Fund is a pre-seed/seed VC writing small checks into community-sourced tech startups, structurally similar to FN Fund's $25k–$250k check range and founder-network-led sourcing.
• 500 Global: 500 Global is a multi-stage investment platform running accelerator-style seed programs and a venture fund, comparable to FN Fund's role as a seed-stage VC tied to a founder community.

Emerging players

• On Deck: On Deck operates invite-only fellowship communities for founders and operators and has expanded into fund-related products, making it a thematic peer to FN Fund's community-led platform approach.
• Contrary: Contrary runs a research-led, community-driven venture platform investing in early-stage tech startups, comparable to FN Fund in combining a curated founder community with seed-stage investment activity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/founders-network
• Xx.com/foundersnetwork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments11 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Founders Network Fund