The Moonshot Fund invests in startups tackling the hard problems. Our country is not investing enough capital in long-term moonshots that can lead to the next generation of breakthroughs. We want to help fix that.
While we back long-term ideas that may need a decade or two to grow into their full potential, we heavily favor startups that have the discipline to start small, with a plan to commercialize some initial part of their technology within two years. We believe the best way to achieve a long-term vision is to conquer a small hill as fast as possible.
We will most often invest at the seed-stage, $100,000 or less.
We plan to make higher-risk investments then is common in software. However, we aim to back startups that can be acquired for their technical talent or patent portfolio if they fail, potentially mitigating losses.
We make investing decisions within 5 days, after our partners complete technical due diligence.
Any partner can propose a company to invest in. We then match up that startup with at least 3 experienced technical experts to do an in-depth feasibility review. We love grandiose visions, but for the most part back ideas that have a strong chance of being commercialized in the near-term and/or acquired for their patents.
After those results are shared, an investment can be executed if a Fund Manager agrees, and partners personally invest at least 10%.
We invest in founders with a hard-science background and/or deep technical expertise, who have the ambition to tackle the near-impossible... and have the grit, formidable will, and common-sense pragmatism to make it happen.
We also look for founders that are adaptable - those with strong opinions, weakly held. We believe this increases the odds that a founder finds the path to a potential billion-dollar company.
days | hrs | mins | secs |
Our partners have invested in the seed rounds of moonshots like Ginkgo Bioworks (designing microbes, valued at $1 billion+), Cruise (self-driving software sold to GM for $1 billion), Boom (supersonic airplanes), Astranis (small satellites), Terrafugia (flying cars), and more.
Company | Follow-on Funding after We Invested |
Last Status | Return Multiple | Value of $25K Investment |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zenefits | $581,500,000 $582M | $500M Series C by Fidelity | 281.68X | $7,042,000 | |
Checkr | $309,000,000 $309M | $160M Series D by T. Rowe Price | 34.31X | $857,750 | |
Rappi | $1,391,800,000 $1.39B | $1B Series E by SoftBank | 26.23X | $655,750 | |
Ginkgo Bioworks | $719,000,000 $719M | $290M Series E by T. Rowe Price | 13.76X | $344,000 | |
Guesty | $59,400,000 $59.4M | $35M Series C by Viola Growth | 12.82X | $320,500 | |
Ironclad | $84,000,000 $84M | $50M Series C by Y Combinator | 11.01X | $275,250 | |
Scope AR | $11,700,000 $11.7M | $9.7M Series A by Romulus Capital | 10.6X | $265,000 | |
Equipmentshare | $58,600,000 $58.6M | $25M Venture Round | |||
Unbabel | $91,000,000 $91M | $60M Series C by Point72 Ventures | 5.76X | $144,000 | |
Gravitational | $29,200,000 $29.2M | $25M Series A by Kleiner Perkins | 5.6X | $140,000 | |
Second Measure | $25,400,000 $25.4M | $20M Series A by Bessemer Venture Partners | |||
Freight Farms | $11,405,407 $11.4M | Alive | 3.98X | $99,500 | |
ShipBob | $63,000,000 $63M | $40M Series C by Menlo Ventures | 3.51X | $87,750 | |
GrubMarket | $90,000,000 $90M | $28M Series C by Digital Garage, WI Harper Group | 3.14X | $78,500 | |
Casetext | $41,400,000 $41.4M | Alive | 2.72X | $68,000 | |
Mux | $31,800,000 $31.8M | $20M Series B by Evolution Media | 2.72X | $68,000 | |
Privy | $6,500,000 $6.5M | $4.3M Series A by Samuel Clemens | 2.69X | $67,250 | |
Flaviar | $1,600,000 $1.6M | Alive | 2.08X | $52,000 | |
Virtuix | $7,700,000 $7.7M | $7.7M Equity Crowdfunding | 1.96X | $49,000 | |
Next Caller | $5,000,000 $5M | $5M Series A by Crystal Towers | 1.9X | $47,500 | |
Eden | $38,700,000 $38.7M | $25M Series B by Reshape | |||
Astranis | $13,500,000 $13.5M | $13.5M Series A by Andreessen Horowitz | 1.86X | $46,500 | |
Skymind | $17,500,000 $17.5M | $11.5M Series A by TransLink Capital | |||
Paperspace | $23,000,000 $23M | $14.5M Series A by Battery Ventures, Intel Capital | 1.63X | $40,750 | |
Regalii | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1.53X | $38,250 | |
7 Cups of Tea | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1.5X | $37,500 | |
Mashgin | $11,000,000 $11M | $8.2M Series A by Matrix Partners | 1.4X | $35,000 | |
Aptible | $12,000,000 $12M | $12M Series A by Maverick Ventures | |||
Cleanly | $5,000,000 $5M | $5M Series A by AddVenture | 1.24X | $31,000 | |
OwnLocal | $0 $0.0 | OwnLocal buys back investors. | 1.18X | $29,500 | |
Flirtey | $16,000,000 $16M | $16M Series A by Menlo Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures | 1.11X | $27,750 | |
Eight (Formerly Luna) | $69,400,000 $69.4M | $40M Series C by Founders Fund | |||
RealCrowd | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1.07X | $26,750 | |
ROSS Intelligence | $13,120,000 $13.1M | $8.7M Series A by Inovia Capital | 1.06X | $26,500 | |
Experiment | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1.03X | $25,750 | |
Goldbely | $30,000,000 $30M | $20M Series B by Enlightened Hospitality Investments | |||
Jopwell | $10,920,000 $10.9M | $7.5M Series A by Cue Ball | 1X | $25,000 | |
ZenProspect | $9,200,000 $9.2M | Nexus Venture Partners | 1X | $25,000 | |
LivBlends | $8,620,000 $8.62M | $6.9M Venture Round | |||
Senic (YC) | $7,464,967 $7.46M | $4M Seed Round by Birchmere Ventures, Target Partners, Gira | 1X | $25,000 | |
Gecko Robotics | $7,000,000 $7M | $7M Series A by Founders Fund | 1X | $25,000 | |
AlphaFlow | $6,300,000 $6.3M | $4.1M Seed Round by Point72 Ventures, Resolute Venture Partners | 1X | $25,000 | |
Zenysis | $5,800,000 $5.8M | $5.8M Series A | |||
Shinesty | $5,165,000 $5.17M | $3.4M Venture Round | 1X | $25,000 | |
Plate iQ | $4,000,000 $4M | $4M Series A by Eileses Capital | 1X | $25,000 | |
MTailor | $3,856,034 $3.86M | $2M Venture Round by Khosla Ventures | 1X | $25,000 | |
Parknav | $3,748,808 $3.75M | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Wevorce | $3,100,000 $3.1M | $3.1M Series A by Techstars Ventures | 1X | $25,000 | |
OncoSynergy | $3,000,000 $3M | $3M Series A by Connecticut Innovations | |||
Smarking | $3,000,000 $3M | $3M Seed Round by Khosla Ventures | 1X | $25,000 | |
Final | $3,000,000 $3M | Acquired by Goldman Sachs | 1X | $25,000 | |
The Ticket Fairy | $2,500,000 $2.5M | $2.5M Seed Round | 1X | $25,000 | |
PAKIBLE | $2,250,000 $2.25M | $1.5M Seed Round | 1X | $25,000 | |
Meadow | $2,100,000 $2.1M | $2.1M Seed Round | 1X | $25,000 | |
Chai | $2,000,000 $2M | $2M Seed Round | 1X | $25,000 | |
Transcend Lighting | $2,000,000 $2M | $2M Venture Round by Rose Capital | 1X | $25,000 | |
VOIQ | $2,000,000 $2M | $2M Seed Round by 10x Capital Management, LEAP Global Partners | 1X | $25,000 | |
Lawn Love | $1,800,000 $1.8M | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Instavest | $1,700,000 $1.7M | $1.7M Seed Round | 1X | $25,000 | |
Naytev | $1,300,000 $1.3M | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Roomstorm | $1,300,000 $1.3M | $1.3M Seed Round by S2 Capital, Y Combinator | 1X | $25,000 | |
Terrafugia | $1,000,000 $1M | Acquired by Geely for Stock | 1X | $25,000 | |
Asseta | $1,000,000 $1M | $1M Seed Round by Flight Ventures | 1X | $25,000 | |
Chronos | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Depict | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Underground Cellar | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Toymail | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
GBatteries | $0 $0.0 | $1.2M grant by Canada | 1X | $25,000 | |
Italist | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Akido Labs | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Her | $0 $0.0 | $1M Seed Round | 1X | $25,000 | |
Ravti | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
MotionSavvy | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Give Me Tap! | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
CapLinked | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
BitAccess | $0 $0.0 | $1M Seed Round by Pantera Capital | 1X | $25,000 | |
Roost | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Traction | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Bonfire | $0 $0.0 | Acquired by GTY Technology Holdings for $108M | 1X | $25,000 | |
Vertical | $0 $0.0 | $1M Seed Round | 1X | $25,000 | |
Nextravel | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
One Month | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
TrendMD | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Lynks | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 | |
Unima | $0 $0.0 | Alive | 1X | $25,000 |
Company | Date Closed | Amount Raised on Wefunder | Last Status |
---|---|---|---|
Everipedia | Dec 2016 | $129,878 | $30M Series A by Digital Galaxy |
Beta Bionics | Aug 2016 | $1,000,000 | Co-led by Perceptive Advisors and Soleus Capital. |
Meow Wolf | Jul 2017 | $1,069,939 | $158.6M Venture Round |
LPPFusion | May 2018 | $964,250 | Alive |
SpaceFab | Mar 2018 | $169,397 | Alive |
Industry Water Filtration, Inc. | Jul 2018 | $56,926 | Alive |
Cleveland Whiskey | Oct 2016 | $711,787 | Annual sales increased in 2017 by 63% |
Legion M | Aug 2016 | $999,999 | Alive |
Payroll4Free.com | Jan 2018 | $113,471 | Alive |
MySwimPro | Sep 2017 | $131,530 | Alive |
Barrow's Intense | Dec 2016 | $301,688 | Alive |
Tampon Tribe | Apr 2017 | $119,119 | 876% net subscriber gain in 2017 |
Chicago Steak Company | Feb 2018 | $82,780 | Alive |
Ganaz Inc. | Nov 2017 | $89,420 | Accepted to Techstars Seattle |
Voyage Media | Jun 2017 | $375,982 | Alive |
Grit Grocery | Feb 2018 | $82,160 | Alive |
BioClonetics Immunotherapeutics | Sep 2017 | $386,766 | Alive |
VooDoo Spirits | Sep 2016 | $84,312 | Alive |
Daplie | Apr 2017 | $500,000 | Alive |
Aro Lucha Sports & Entertainment Company | Jul 2018 | $129,216 | Alive |
Digitally Imported | Dec 2017 | $396,113 | Alive |
WhiteClouds | Jul 2017 | $1,070,000 | Alive |
Malibu Compost | Feb 2018 | $101,835 | Alive |
Maison Marcel | Dec 2017 | $48,025 | Alive |
MobileSpike | Mar 2017 | $83,147 | Alive |
LiquidPiston | Apr 2017 | $999,999 | Entering UAV market with rotary engine for drones |
ZipZap | Jul 2017 | $134,933 | Alive |
VAUTE | Nov 2017 | $341,406 | Upcoming documentary about Vaute from Shopify |
Impact Science Education | Mar 2018 | $96,262 | Alive |
Kibin | Nov 2016 | $27,602 | Alive |
Vera Roasting Company | Apr 2017 | $128,065 | Alive |
GlobeChat | May 2018 | $103,654 | Alive |
SlingFin | Dec 2016 | $105,891 | Alive |
Amulet Protective Technologies | Jul 2018 | $128,304 | Alive |
North by Northwest Brewing Company | Jun 2018 | $398,752 | Alive |
Mobodexter | Dec 2016 | $266,641 | Alive |
Red Bay Coffee Company | Oct 2016 | $160,269 | Led by Richelieu Dennis and David Drummond |
Loveseat.com | May 2018 | $179,702 | Alive |
Ohos | Nov 2016 | $169,611 | Alive |
QMedic | Sep 2016 | $100,000 | Named one of the "best entrepreneurial companies in America" by Entrepreneur Magazine |
Force for Good Fund | Nov 2016 | $401,401 | Alive |
Edge | Dec 2016 | $304,708 | Alive |
Ridgemont Outfitters | Oct 2017 | $195,272 | Alive |
Rumor | Nov 2016 | $84,670 | Alive |
Haint Blue Brewing Company | Dec 2016 | $266,429 | Alive |
Discotech | Oct 2016 | $126,688 | $1.2M by Wavemaker Partners |
Powur | May 2017 | $1,036,904 | Alive |
Epec - James F.C. Hyde Sorgho Whiskey | Oct 2017 | $222,359 | Alive |
Hopsters | Feb 2017 | $1,069,997 | Opened 2nd location in Seaport on Jan 4 |
Happy Tax | May 2017 | $242,205 | Alive |
KALiiN | May 2018 | $55,277 | Alive |
Oodles Corporation | Aug 2017 | $107,000 | Alive |
Boardwalk Hospitality | Nov 2017 | $500,000 | Opened location on Venice Beach |
My Trail | Sep 2016 | $189,675 | New retail location at The Outlets in Silverthorne |
South Austin Brewery | Feb 2017 | $210,680 | Alive |
PlantSnap | Sep 2017 | $118,150 | Regulation Crowdfunding Round. |
Snapwire | May 2017 | $184,752 | Raised $800k seed by angels |
The Speakeasy | Aug 2016 | $459,551 | Alive |
Minds | Jun 2017 | $1,036,095 | Over 1 million users and over 105,000 monthly active users |
Native American Natural Foods | Dec 2017 | $123,852 | Alive |
Magic Instruments | Dec 2016 | $175,348 | Alive |
VetPronto | Nov 2016 | $362,718 | Acquired by Vetted |
Palmia | Jul 2017 | $204,565 | New distributor, now in Good Eggs & Mollie Stone |
Bloomery | Jan 2017 | $197,000 | Successfully lobbied West Virginia to change the law |
EVELO | Jan 2017 | $729,743 | Alive |
fun-gi | Feb 2017 | $238,222 | Alive |
Rentus.com | Aug 2017 | $130,038 | Alive |
Motoroso | Apr 2017 | $87,200 | Alive |
Recoup Fitness | Oct 2017 | $238,824 | On Season 2 premiere of "Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch" |
N1CE | Jul 2016 | $101,386 | Alive |
Orthogonal Thinker | May 2018 | $251,482 | Alive |
MaestroConference | Dec 2016 | $263,969 | Priced Round. |
Qualia Life Sciences | Nov 2017 | $808,454 | Alive |
Spotlight:Girls | Dec 2016 | $62,500 | Grant from RSF Social Finance |
Urban Juncture | Nov 2017 | $176,829 | Bernard Lloyd earned 2018 Governor’s Difference Makers Award |
Martingale | Jun 2018 | $100,000 | Alive |
I-PASS Patient Safety Institute | Feb 2018 | $149,055 | Alive |
BLAZnTECH | Dec 2017 | $68,706 | Alive |
ZYPPAH | Jul 2018 | $359,340 | Alive |
Bogobrush | Oct 2016 | $57,500 | Alive |
CrowdMed | Apr 2017 | $403,471 | Alive |
ComicBlitz | May 2017 | $87,810 | Alive |
ShapeScale | Dec 2016 | $190,889 | Led by Alsop Louie Partners. |
FAFCO | Aug 2017 | $204,529 | Alive |
Eliot’s Adult Nut Butters | Nov 2017 | $88,837 | Alive |
Van Cleave Dry Goods | Aug 2018 | $58,595 | Alive |
Chareau | May 2017 | $390,782 | Won Double Gold Medal at the 2017 SF World Spirits Competition |
That Christmas Movie | Oct 2017 | $308,900 | Alive |
Hops and Grain | Aug 2016 | $1,000,000 | Alive |
Vodi | Jun 2017 | $90,391 | Partnership with Viettel Group |
Border X Brewing LLC | Nov 2018 | $187,564 | Alive |
Monkey Rum | Feb 2017 | $425,058 | Recruited former chief growth officer for Pabst as CEO |
Next Door Photos | Apr 2020 | $383,562 | Alive |
The team completes a deal memo while conducting due diligence. You can choose to invest more directly.
Many portfolio companies are required by law to do an Annual Report by April 30th, which includes financials. Here's a sample.
By May 30th of each year, Wefunder recalculates realized and unrealized IRR for each fund you invest in.
Wefunder's fully-owned subsidiary, Wefunder Advisors LLC, manages the fund on your behalf. Wefunder Advisors is an exempt reporting investment advisor. Wefunder Advisor hires a team of domain experts to assist.
You can view Wefunder Advisor's track record. We have historically outperformed the median venture capital firm. We've invested in multiple startups at the seed stage, that are now valued at over several hundred million to a billion dollars, such as Checkr, Zenefits, Gingko Bioworks, Rappi, Equipment Share, and ShipBob. In total, we've invested in 10% of Y Combinator's Top 100 companies.
We believe founders make the best early-stage investment decisions. At this stage, there is little data, and intuition from a lifetime of experience is the guide.
Experienced founders often see the best upcoming founders first, well before venture capitalists do, and are typically on the cutting edge of what is new.
Our funds follow-on when those founders make personal investments. Further, most often these foudners are making a personal time commitment to help these startups succeed. We believe matching the wisdom of a group of experienced and well-connected founders will lead to better returns.
If the Fund has greater than 250 investors, it is regulated as a full-fledged mutual fund, which would dramatically increase costs and make the fund impractical as an investment vehicle.
We place priority on investors who invest high amounts early, but make exceptions for those who can help the portfolio that the Fund invests in.
Equity investments in startups have a very long term horizon. It typically takes 3-10 years for a successful company to have a liquidity event, when it either gets acquired or has an IPO.
Some Funds may invest in main street businesses with annual dividends or revenue share repayments. If this is the case, it will be noted in the investment target description.
This is a 10 year venture capital fund. Investments in startups have a very long term horizon. It typically takes 3-10 years for a successful company to have a liquidity event, when it either gets acquired or has an IPO.
The Fund charges 20% carried interest and a 2% management fee. This is the standard fee for venture capital and private equity funds.
After you invest in the fund, there will be no further capital calls.
Yes, for 5 days.
No. This is not a mutual fund. All capital will be invested in private companies in long-term, illiquid investments.
8-10 investments.
No. You can't opt out of any individual investment that the fund makes.
In many cases, yes. We expect most startups will want to raise more money than the fund provides. When this happens, we will give inside access to limited partners.
Fund investors sign:
When investments are made, you'll be notified of the selection via e-mail.
Once a year by May 30th, we will update the estimated unrealized IRR of your portfolio.
We have pro-rata rights in almost all portfolio companies. This means that when a seed investment receives additional investment from a venture capitalist, we have the right to invest more to maintain our percentage ownership on the same terms. Since startup investments obey the power law, it's very important to double down on the winners to turbo-charge returns.
When a pro-rata opportunity exists, we will spin up a special-purpose-fund and give limited partners in the fund the opportunity to invest. We give first priority to those limited partners who invest $50,000 or more.
Here's a concrete example: in 2014, we invested $100,000 in Checkr's seed round. In 2015, Checkr raised $9M from Accel in a Series A. We gave an opportunity to limited partners to invest on those terms. Recently, Checkr raised $100,000 million Series C at a substantially higher valuation. To date, Checkr has a 34X cash on cash unrealized return.
We're not allowed to offer tax advice. You'll receive a single K-1 from each Fund each year. Your accountant can offer more specific advice.
Yes, if legal in your country. You should check with your lawyer and accountant.
Yes. We can accept investments in a Fund only from those who are an accredited investor. Unfortuantely, it is still illegal for unaccredited investors to invest in venture capital funds.
Yes.
Yes. You can check out our FAQ for more information on risks, returns, different securities, and how startup financing works.
Disclosures. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Examples of previous Wefunder investments are for illustrative purposes only. Full list available upon request. There is no guarantee that any fund will achieve the same exposure to, or quality of, startups held by any existing fund. Any investment involves a high degree of risk and is suitable only for sophisticated and qualified accredited investors. We do not provide investment advice to investors and no communication, through this website or in any other medium, should be construed as a recommendation for any security offered on or off Wefunder. Information on this page is qualified in its entirety by the Fund’s Operating Agreement, Disclosures, and Subscription Agreement, which should be reviewed carefully prior to making an investment decision. Please see these documents for full details regarding risks, minimum investment, fees and expenses. The fund's legal name is also different than the name used above.
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