Introducing the Consumer Crypto Accelerator

Today, we’re announcing our new program: The Consumer Crypto Accelerator. We’re committing $2M to early-stage teams building a more interesting internet. Applications for our first cohort, starting early June, are now open through 11:59pm PST on May 15.

If you’re a founder creating novel experiences on the backs of digital ownership, blurring the lines between builders and users or creators and audiences, or generally building any consumer product that is uniquely possible onchain, the Consumer Crypto Accelerator is for you.

We’ve repeatedly seen the magic that happens when you bring passionate founders together alongside critical resources and expertise. Having the camaraderie and inspiration from fellow founders, the broad perspective and heavily informed advice from our partners and advisors, and the heartbeat and accountability of the program all at the same time is incredibly valuable.

Not only does it meaningfully increase the odds of success, but building becomes a more fun and connected experience.

Running 5 cohorts and working with 100+ teams over the past 3 years has provided us with countless learnings and insights, many of which we’ve shared in our weekly posts over the last few months. Most notable for this announcement though is our belief that crypto is fundamentally a consumer technology, our recognition that being a DAO from Day 0 is often inadvisable, and the reality that most investors are running away from consumer towards “safe” infrastructure bets.

These insights underlie our conviction that there’s a huge need for increased early-stage support for consumer crypto founders, and highlight why we’re expanding our aperture to back companies in addition to DAOs for the first time.

Projects accepted into the Consumer Crypto Accelerator will receive up to $200k in funding, and build alongside the support of our core team, insane roster of advisors (details coming this week), and network over the 3 month program. The program culminates at Demo Day where projects share what they’re building with an audience of thousands of investors, operators, and consumers.

We couldn’t be more excited to meet the new group of rebels and explorers that will be joining the network alongside Krause House, Cabin, Poolsuite, Metalabel, Boys Club, Cohart, Backdrop, and the rest of our portfolio.

See you in the weird and optimistic spaces at the intersection of blockchains, tokens, culture, and community.

If you have questions, send Josh a DM on Twitter.