1517 Fund offers early-stage investment and project stipends, while we at AI Perks raised our round through Round Funded. We chose Round Funded for its investor database, AI email-writing agent, teammate workspace, Data Room, and tracking links.
What is the difference between 1517 Fund and Round Funded?
These options serve different fundraising needs. According to 1517 Fund, it is a venture capital fund and community for college dropouts tackling difficult problems and deep tech scientists. It says its investment activity spans the R&D or idea stage through Seed, and separately offers stipends through the Medici Project.
Round Funded helps founders find investors, send pitches, and track replies. Its product supports direct investor outreach, with a searchable database, personalized email drafts, a fundraising pipeline, and a Data Room. We looked at 1517 Fund and chose Round Funded for our own direct fundraising workflow.
That choice reflects what worked for us, not a claim that every founder should follow the same route. A founder evaluating 1517 Fund can consider the fund’s stated investment focus and Medici Project, while founders organizing direct outreach can submit a startup on Round Funded.
Who does 1517 Fund say it supports?
1517 Fund describes its community as supporting college dropouts solving hard problems and deep tech scientists. Its stated areas of interest include software, hardware with a data play, deep tech or sci-fi technology, and biotech.
The fund says it considers companies from the idea or R&D phase through Seed. It also describes its founder focus as including people without undergraduate degrees, renegade students, deep tech scientists, and people pushing the edges of knowledge.
These details can help founders compare their own background, project, and stage with 1517 Fund’s stated focus. They do not establish that a particular company will receive funding. According to 1517 Fund, people can pitch by writing in, and the fund reads all submissions.
What funding does 1517 Fund describe?
1517 Fund says its first checks range from $50,000 at the idea or R&D stage to $1,000,000 for deep tech or sci-fi Seed companies. It also reports an average pre-seed check of $400,000. These figures describe its stated investment activity, not a promise or offer to every applicant. The information provided does not establish one standard check, equity instrument, or set of terms for every company.
The Medici Project is separate from those investments. According to 1517 Fund, it provides a minimum $1,000 stipend for a project. It says the stipend does not give the fund ownership of the recipient, the project, generated intellectual property, or future equity. Its stated payment method is Venmo.
1517 Fund says a Medici project does not have to be a startup. It also says it may invest additional capital if a project develops into a company. Its guidance says projects should not be schoolwork, graded work, or applications to other programs. The fund also describes helping project teams identify mentors, potential collaborators, additional sources of capital, and a peer community.
A stipend and an investment are distinct forms of support. Neither is the same as running direct outreach to investors for a funding round.
How does Round Funded support direct outreach?
Round Funded’s investor database includes 60,000+ active VCs, angels, family offices, and accelerators. Founders can search by stage, industry, geography, and check size. Investors are filtered for recent activity, described as a check in roughly the last 6 months, and email addresses are verified.
The platform’s AI drafts a personalized outreach email and follow-ups for each investor. Outreach is sent from the founder’s own Gmail, so replies arrive in the founder’s inbox and the email thread belongs to the founder. A fundraising pipeline keeps investors, stages, and next steps together, and founders can invite teammates into their startup workspace.
Round Funded also includes a Data Room for a deck, traction, team, and ask, presented through one link. Building and sharing the Data Room is free on every plan. Per-investor tracked links and engagement analytics, including views, deck opens, and meeting clicks, are included with Round+.
We chose Round Funded because these features brought investor research, outreach, team access, and tracking into a workflow that suited our round. To explore that route, founders can get matched with active investors.
How much does Round Funded cost?
Round Funded has three paid plans and no free tier. Round+ costs $99 a month, and Round Pro costs $249 a month. Both plans include a 3-day free trial for first-time accounts. Lifetime costs $899 one-time and includes everything in Round Pro.
The plans differ in capacity:
- Round+: Up to 2,500 investors in the CRM pipeline, email up to 2,000 investors a month, and 2,500 AI credits a month.
- Round Pro: Up to 5,000 investors in the pipeline, email up to 10,000 investors a month, up to 6 connected inboxes, and 5,000 AI credits a month.
- Lifetime: Everything in Round Pro, paid once.
The Data Room can be built and shared on every plan. Per-investor tracking links and engagement analytics are part of Round+. Plan selection depends on the pipeline, monthly email, and AI credit capacity a founder needs.
How Round Funded helps founders manage outreach
- Submit your startup on Round Funded to get matched with investors.
- Search investors by stage, industry, geography, and check size.
- Use AI to draft personalized outreach emails and follow-ups, then send them from your own Gmail.
- Track investors, fundraising stages, and next steps in the pipeline, and invite teammates to the workspace.
- Build and share a Data Room link, then use per-investor tracking links and engagement analytics with Round+.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 1517 Fund an investor or a grant program?
1517 Fund describes itself as a venture capital fund and community, with investments from R&D or idea through Seed. Separately, its Medici Project offers project stipends. The investment activity and stipend program are distinct.
How much does 1517 Fund say it invests?
The fund says its first checks range from $50,000 at idea or R&D to $1,000,000 for deep tech or sci-fi Seed companies, with an average pre-seed check of $400,000. Those figures do not guarantee an investment or define terms for every company.
What does the Medici Project stipend cover?
According to 1517 Fund, the Medici Project provides a minimum $1,000 stipend for a project. The fund says it takes no ownership of the recipient, project, generated intellectual property, or future equity.
Can founders pursue 1517 Fund and direct investor outreach?
The two routes are different: one involves applying to a fund or project program, and the other involves contacting investors directly. We at AI Perks chose Round Funded for our direct fundraising workflow. Founders considering that approach can submit their startup for investor matching.