1517 Fund

www.1517fund.com

VCMatch tracks 1517 Fund as an investor focused on Enterprise SaaS, Hardware, and Robotics companies, Pre-Seed and Seed rounds, North America and Global markets, and $50k to $1m check sizes. Upload your deck to compare your startup against the full private matching profile.

Check Size

$50k to $1m

Stages

Pre-Seed, Seed

Focus Areas

Enterprise SaaS, Hardware, Robotics

Geography

North America and Global

Investment Thesis

1517’s investment philosophy is anti‑establishment and founder‑first: they prioritize people (especially young, uncredentialed founders and renegade scientists) over conventional signals such as degrees or pedigree. They seek out founders “long before they know they should… talk to VCs,” provide early belief capital (micro‑grants through the Medici Project and angel-to‑seed checks), and pair capital with community, mentorship and operational support — trusting founders “long before any others will.” Their approach is to nurture contrarian talent at the edges of technology and science, betting on outsized outcomes born from unconventional backgrounds (examples cited include Ethereum, Figma, and Luminar).

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Investment Focus

Who should take a closer look

1517 Fund is most relevant for founders raising Pre-Seed and Seed rounds in Enterprise SaaS, Hardware, Robotics, and Space Tech, especially across North America and Global, with public check-size signals around $50k to $1m.

Focus statement

1517 backs college dropouts, renegade students and deep‑tech / "sci‑fi" scientists at the R&D/idea stage through Seed across software, hardware with a data play, deep tech/sci‑fi tech, and biotech. They invest initial checks ranging from $50,000 (idea/R&D) up to $1,000,000 for deep tech/sci‑fi seed deals, with an average pre‑seed check of $400,000.

Value Add

Explicit focus on founders without undergraduate degrees and "renegade scientists" — "we're more about the 'who' than the 'what'"
Runs a Medici micro‑grant program (minimum $1K, "no strings attached") to surface and nudge early talent before formal applications or pitch processes
Positions itself as an "anti‑establishment educational institution" combining VC capital with a large community (events, workshops, office hours) and long‑term founder support
Active scouting: meets founders "on campus, through mentors, and directly at events" and invests "long before they know they’ll become founders"
Willingness to lead pre‑seed rounds (up to $1M) and wire quick, belief‑based capital (example: wiring money "before the deal docs were done")
Heritage / track record: founded by Thiel Fellowship cofounders and cites alumni outcomes (Ethereum, Figma, Longevity Fund, OYO Rooms, Luminar) as proof points