5 Student-Run VCs You Should Know About if You’re a College Founder
🚀 Raising Pre-Seed? These 5 Student-Run VCs That Are Writing Checks for the Next Generation of College Entrepreneurs. 💰🎓
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of student-led initiatives. From launching Ascendance back in 2015, which incubates Gen Z social entrepreneurs globally and is still student-run 10 years later, to running NGEN, a 501(3) non-profit based out of New York that harnesses the power of in-person networks and friendships to help student founders across top universities in the United States grow, most things that I do have an element of “student-power” to it.
Over the last few months, I’ve been extremely fortunate to work with many inspiring college students looking beyond their own start-ups and ventures to build robust ecosystems and networks for their peers to access the capital they need to grow their start-ups. These Gen Zs are building venture capital firms or taking the reigns to deploy funds to their fellow student entrepreneurs.
I have seen many of these Gen Z VCs go above and beyond to ensure they create long-term structures and spaces to support founders with the capital and resources they need to thrive. Hence, here’s a list of student-run VCs backing student-founders beyond their respective campuses and across universities.
1. BullMont Capital
Run by a rockstar team I have learned so much from and adored working with, BullMont Capital is a student-led venture firm that partners with student founders nationwide. With an emphasis on early-stage, high-growth start-ups, BullMont goes beyond providing capital and prides itself on being a resource to founders in all ways that matter.
BullMont provides an initial investment of $10,000, with the opportunity for up to $100,000 in follow-on funding in later stages. They also have an in-house development and design team, a student network to support hiring, and an extensive network of investors for further follow-on investments. BullMont takes a hands-on investment approach to ensure that student start-ups have what they need to thrive. Ideal founders show some form of traction or early-stage validation.
They are collaborating with NGEN to host a pitch competition open to all college student founders, with a $10,000 grand prize. Applications will close on March 10th at 11.59 p.m. ET.
2. Rice Student Venture Fund
Rice University is well-known for being an epicenter of entrepreneurial activity and a boon to the student-founder community. Based out of Texas, the university has long had a track record of fostering entrepreneurship nationwide. The Rice Student Venture Fund, run by enterprising Rice students who manage their $1.9 million in capital, takes this further by actively supporting early-stage student entrepreneurs with pre-seed investments.
They focus on early-stage start-ups in the tech, healthcare, consumer products, and energy spaces, investing $25,000 in their first investment round. Students from any college or university in the United States are eligible to apply. I was impressed when I started speaking to some of their student venture team members about how passionate yet focused they were about supporting collegiate entrepreneurship by being among the earliest check-ins for student founders.
3. Dorm Room Fund
Often known as “the original student venture fund,” Dorm Room Fund pioneered the idea of students investing in students on a national scale. Since its inception in 2012, the Dorm Room Fund has invested in more than 300 companies, including notable start-ups such as Snackpass, Strella Biotech, Aavrani, Shield AI, and more. These companies have raised more than $6 billion in follow-on capital.
The Dorm Room Fund invests $40,000 checks into start-ups, promising a robust network of investors, founders, and alums to support ventures through the earliest stages beyond the capital they provide.
4. Genesis Fund
Another student-run fund that I had the honor of meeting personally is Genesis Fund. I was blown away by the strength of their organization, the depth of their network, and their clarity of vision.
The Genesis Fund backs Boston’s most ambitious founders in building “category-defining companies.” They seek founders who are positively obsessed with the problems they are solving and have shown strong technical or domain expertise and a commitment to build long-term.
With an average check size of $50,000, they are a sector-agnostic pre-seed fund with a particular interest in enterprise SaaS, consumer technology, deep tech, digital health, and climate tech. They invest in founders throughout Boston’s collegiate ecosystem, with their portfolio founders hailing from Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Northeastern, Babson, Emerson, Tufts, UMass, and more. They are also deeply entrenched in the Boston venture ecosystem by partnering with investors from across 20+ VCs.
5. Crater Ventures
Switching gears slightly, Crater Ventures is a student-run angel syndicate backing Southern California's “biggest dreamers.” From conversations with some of their student investors, I see their passion for catalyzing growth in the SoCal student entrepreneurship ecosystem is genuine and inspiring.
They foster a vision of equipping the exceptional technical talent produced by SoCal’s universities with the initial funding they need to build, iterate, and launch, ensuring great student founders in the area have the necessary financing and network to succeed. Crater Ventures has invested in founders from UCLA, Caltech, UCI, UC San Diego, and more. They’ve also co-invested with notable venture capitalists, such as General Catalyst, Soma Capital, Pear VC, Lux Capital, Sequoia, and others.
Final Thoughts…
These student-run VCs have shown a willingness to hear from brilliant founders, so if you’re a university student founder raising an investment round or looking for pre-seed capital, make sure to reach out to them. If you think that you’d be a good fit, you can also book a call with me below if you’d like me to introduce you.
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