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About the Program
1517 Fund is an early-stage VC fund backing unconventional founders, dropouts, students, and scientists building ambitious companies. It invests from the idea/R&D stage through Seed, with a focus on software, data-driven hardware, deep tech, sci-fi technology, and biotech. The fund also supports founders through its global community, grants, mentorship, and follow-on investment. Typical checks range from $50K at the idea/R&D stage to $1M for deep-tech or sci-fi Seed companies, with an average pre-seed check of around $400K. 1517 can lead pre-seed rounds with up to $1M.
Eligibility Criteria
Idea/R&D, Pre-Seed, or Seed stage Founders can be students, dropouts, or without an undergraduate degree Deep-tech scientists and unconventional/“renegade” founders are especially relevant Software, data-driven hardware, deep tech, sci-fi tech, and biotech startups Strong technical, scientific, or unconventional ideas are a good fit Companies can be from most sectors; 1517 focuses more on the founder than the category Early traction is not necessarily required Funding needs can range from $50K to $1M depending on stage and company
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Submit one application through Fundizr and it goes straight to the partner's review queue — no cold email needed.