In 2012, First Round Capital had a spicy idea.

What if we brought together a group of all-star aspiring VCs and startup operators—who happened to be students—and asked them to seek out student founders building the next wave of great companies?

Thus, Dorm Room Fund was born. Since then, we’ve invested in over 300 companies led by visionary student founders. Those founding teams have raised $1B+ in follow-on capital and created more than $3B in value. Our companies have redefined industries, ICO’d, and are changing the world.

We’ve built a vibrant community of hundreds of founders, mentors, and investors sharing ideas, connections, and experience. We’ve assembled a team committed to DRF founders—and we’re all in.

Dorm Room Fund invests in student-run companies incorporated in the US and Canada. Our companies typically have a live product and existing customer traction. We use the same vehicle for all of our investments — a $40,000 SAFE.

Once an application is submitted, our internal team will review it to determine if the company and founder are a potential fit for Dorm Room Fund. If so, an investment partner will reach out via email to set up an initial conversation with the founder(s). This is followed by a second meeting with additional partners and subsequent due diligence. Finally, companies that are strong candidates for investment will be invited to pitch to our investment teams, who then vote on funding.

Beyond a $40,000 check, all of our community companies get access to a suite of resources, our founder community and investor network, and support services from our investment partners and HQ team members.

Not sure if you’re ready to apply? Get in touch with one of our investment team partners or HQ members via email or on LinkedIn!

Dorm Room Fund strives to be an industry leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion. Representation, access, and inclusion matter deeply to us. We’ve created programs like the Blueprint Project and Female Founder Track to use our resources to help empower and create opportunity for underrepresented students. And we’ve expanded our recruiting and founder sourcing to reach students and founders from across the country.

We are proud to have a team that is 43% women in an industry that is still unacceptably male-dominated. And we’re committed to continuing to improve in building a team, and investing in companies, that strongly feature members who identify as Black, Indigenous, LatinX, female, LGBTQ+, non-binary, and other groups underrepresented in VC.

We recognize that we have a long way to go. But we are not content to merely meet, or narrowly exceed, the underwhelming norms of our industry. We are determined to raise the bar for VC, to learn and to do better, to hold ourselves accountable for our shortcomings, and to pursue growth and justice in our actions as individuals and as an organization.