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.