Quick take:
- The fund will focus on pre-seed investments in selected startups from the winners of Solana Hackathons.
- Colosseum has already funded 11 startups, investing $2.75 million so far.
- The accelerator sees hackathons as the “crucible” for innovation, and recently held its first hackathon, attracting 8,000 participants.
Colosseum, a Solana-based startup accelerator, which uses hackathons to identify investment opportunities has raised $60 million to invest in early-stage projects. The oversubscribed round attracted participation from Bonk DAO, an organization that manages $124 million worth of BONK tokens.
Colosseum plans to invest the funds in pre-seed projects and has already deployed $2.75 million across 11 startups, investing $250,000 in each. The accelerator sees hackathons as the “crucible” for innovation, and recently held its first hackathon, attracting 8,000 participants.
Commenting on the fundraising, Clay Robbins, co-founder of Colosseum said in a statement: “It’s evident that there is a market demand for novel, specialized venture products in crypto, and we are excited to have a diverse group of investors, including ecosystem founders and hackathon alumni, alongside us to realize our vision for Colosseum.”
According to Robbins, while investors are ecosystem agnostic, they also believe in the Solana ecosystem’s huge potential. “Institutional LPs invest with both the current focus on the future in mind for what the model can become – so not necessarily a fund focused on one ecosystem, but more so this model,” he said.
The accelerator offers a six-week online program supporting hackathon winners to become embedded in the Solana ecosystem, rapidly iterate to find product-market fit and raise seed funding faster. The 12-member team also offers educational sessions and an upfront investment from Colosseum.
To be selected, projects must be among the winners of the hackathon events, which are held 2-3 times a year. The $250,000 handed to winners is structured as a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) with token warrants, according to a statement on the Colosseum website.
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