Solana-Focused Startup Accelerator Colosseum Raises $60M to Invest in Early-Stage Projects

Colosseum,
the
recently
launched
startup
accelerator
that
organizes
hackathons
for
the
Solana
ecosystem,
raised
$60
million
for
a
fund
that
will
invest
in
early-stage
projects,
the
company
announced
Tuesday.

The
fund,
which
was
oversubscribed,
will
focus
on
pre-seed
investments
in
selected
startups
from
the
winners
of
Solana
Hackathons.
“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,”
said
Clay
Robbins,
co-founder
of
Colosseum,
in
a
statement.

When
asked
about
what
attracted
investors
to
the
fund,
given
the
large
sum
of
money
that
Colosseum
raised,
Robbins
said,
“many
of
Colosseum’s
LPs
are
agnostic
to
ecosystem
but
believe
in
the
team’s
immediate
thesis
that
the
Solana
ecosystem
has
the
most
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.”

The
accelerator
sees
hackathons
–
events
where
developers
and
founders
come
together
to
innovate
–
as
the
“crucible”
for
crypto
innovation
and
company
formation.
According
to
the
statement,
it
hosted
its
first
Solana
hackathon
earlier
this
year,
which
attracted
over
8,000
participants.

“Our
hackathons
are
designed
to
level
the
playing
field
for
builders
globally
to
experiment
with
crypto
product
development
and
launch
onchain
startups,”
explained
Matty
Taylor,
co-founder
of
Colosseum
and
former
head
of
growth
of
Solana
Foundation.

Colosseum
has
funded
11
companies
and
deployed
$2.75
million
so
far,
Robbins
added.

Among
the
investors,
Bonk
DAO
–
a
12-person
council
of
Solana
power
brokers
who
manage
$124
million
worth
of
BONK
token
–
said
earlier
this
year
that
it
plans
to
invest
$500,000
in
the
fund.

Read
more:



The
Biggest
BONK
Whale
Just
Invested
in
‘Ycombinator
for
Solana’

CORRECTION
(June
6,
13:45
UTC):

Corrects
to
say
the
fund
deployed
$250k
to
eleven
companies
each,
making
the
total
investment
$2.75
million.