Early-stage cross-border venture capital fund investing in emerging technologies. Ecosystem Fund: @OrionFund
San Mateo, CA
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Draper Dragon retweeted
Cardano and Bitcoin builders rarely end up in the same room. Odd, when you consider how much the two ecosystems share architecturally. So on 7 October, we're putting them in one: @DraperDragon and the @Cardano_CF are hosting Rooftop UTXO Pitch Night, with both sides of the UTXO ecosystem pitching in front of the same investors, 57 floors up at LAVO during @token2049 week in Singapore.
If you're building in this space and want to be in the room, registration to attend is still open, link below.
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Calling all builders in AI and web3 - join us on October 6 for a private founders & friends happy hour organized together with @sequoiaTPI during @Techweek_ in San Francisco.
No stage, no pitch decks, just good conversation. Join us - space is limited! Link below 👇
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Apply here: partiful.com/e/m1miqW5fWjv7j…
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Draper Dragon retweeted
Meet ChatterPay (@chatterpay), one of the teams from our Genesis program.
Anyone can send ADA or USDCx to a WhatsApp contact, across a network of 2B+ users, as easily as sending a text.
A look at how everyday payments can work on Cardano.
Now over 2B people can use cardano:native, on WhatsApp!
Send cardano:native or USDCx to any WhatsApp contact in the world.
We are excited to bring @chatterpay into the Cardano ecosystem.
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Draper Dragon retweeted
Cardano has never had a shortage of talented builders. What it's lacked is a bridge from that talent to Silicon Valley networks, mentorship, and capital.
That's the gap the Genesis program is built to close, and this week, we watched the first cohort pitch on stage after four weeks of building, testing, and rewriting their ideas. Thirteen teams, spanning AI, payments, DeFi, infrastructure, and consumer, some brand new to Cardano and some who've been building here for years.
Great judging panel including @TimDraper, @Andytang, @samizb, Aleeha Banerjee from our investment team, and Stephen Wood from @Cardano_CF. It was amazing to see Orion Fund come to life in person alongside the builders. Every part of Orion came together: @Cometa_Labs providing technical mentorship and growth support, our very own @DraperDragon investment team mentoring and advising founders, and @draper_u making it all possible.
Best of all, this is only the beginning. Our investment and growth teams will continue working with these founders well beyond Demo Day, with many more cohorts to come across all stages this year and next. Thank you to everyone who made it happen!
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Bitcoin's liquidity and @Cardano's governance model are two of the more complementary pieces in crypto right now. Most of the industry still treats them as separate conversations, and separate rooms.
On October 7 at @token2049 Singapore, we're putting them in the same one. UTXO Pitch Night, hosted by the @Cardano_CF, @draper_u and Draper Dragon: founders across Cardano, Bitcoin, and the wider UTXO ecosystem pitch live for up to $500K, at LAVO, 57 floors above Marina Bay Sands.
Project applications are open August 31 - September 14, 2026. Links to event registration and pitch contest submissions are below.
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Apply for pitch contest here: airtable.com/appgZsFDMlOC9db…
Register for the event here: luma.com/utxopitchnight
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AI teams are building on a fragmented model landscape. Switching providers means rewriting integrations, costs are unpredictable, and there's little visibility into what you're actually paying for.
Which is why we're backing @Leapnode_AI, the routing layer giving developers 100+ models through a single interface, directing each request to the most efficient provider available.
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Keeping people meaningfully in the loop as AI accelerates is one of the hardest questions in tech right now. It's the through line of Human in the AI Loop, an @OpenSV evening with @SFISACA on August 26 that we're backing as a sponsor.
Three panels move from how AI gets built, to how it gets governed, to what it changes for people. If you're attending, come find our team.
Details below.
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Join Samiz Bayan, Draper Dragon, for the Orion Fund Progress Update and Q&A!
The Orion Fund is operational: legal structure in place, accelerator live, first investments in. Get the full report.
🗓️ Mon, 17 Aug, 10:00-11:00 UTC
🧵 Open thread for details
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AI agents are starting to spend money on their own. Most companies don't have a way to stop them if something goes wrong. Which is why we've invested in @SkalorAI, which is the control layer that checks every agent payment against your rules before it happens and says yes or no in milliseconds.
More on our investment here: draperdragon.com/insights/sk…
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Our new publication is live, and the first piece is up: an introduction to the @OrionFund, our ecosystem fund built with the @Cardano_CF.
Equity-first, backing companies judged on real products, users, and revenue. One of the first accountable, aligned, and treasury-backed venture vehicles in the ecosystem.
Two tracks: Cardano-native teams building on-chain, and proven AI and blockchain companies from outside that we help integrate and scale in the ecosystem. Beyond capital, founders get our in-house venture studio @Cometa_Labs and accelerators in Silicon Valley with @draper_u.
substack.com/@orionfund/note…
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Lending. Insurance. Credit. Privacy. Programmability. Autonomous agents. The layers every mature financial system needs, finally being built on Bitcoin.
Proud to back six graduates of our BitcoinFi Accelerator Cohort 3: @Helios_Finance, @Resolvr_io, @OpenAgents, @PyrusFinancial, @LXdev_, and @Charmsdev.
Read why we invested 👇
draperdragon.com/insights/ba…
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Applications for the first @OrionFund cohort are open. If you're building on @Cardano and ready to scale, this is your shot at a tier 1 first check and the full Draper network ⬇️
It’s official. @DraperDragon $80m @OrionFund is open for business. And Draper University is leading the programs that help find and uplift the earliest builders.
The fund is built to turn Cardano's technical leadership into global, venture-scaled growth.
We are searching for the founders who will drive the next $3b in TVL.
> tier 1 first VC check (up to $90k)
> elite programming
> investor networking
> free housing in Silicon Valley
> leverage the massive Draper ecosystem in web3
Applications for our first cohort are now open. Link below 👇.
@Cardano_CF @Cardano
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Capital alone doesn't build ecosystems; builders do. Cometa Labs is the team doing the hands-on work behind the @OrionFund: people who have built, scaled, and exited companies, now incubating and working directly with founders on @Cardano_CF @Cardano.
Worth tuning in on the 22nd to meet them. More below 👇
A key part of the Orion Fund's structure is Draper Dragon’s venture studio, the team responsible for incubating new products on Cardano and working directly with builders across the ecosystem.
On June 22nd at 8:00 AM PST, we'll be officially introducing the venture studio team and sharing more about how they'll build and collaborate on Cardano in the coming years.
Link to the space: nitter.net/i/spaces/1rGmqqznryVGy…
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@DraperDragon has backed @januszg_ + @lxdev_'s pre-seed alongside @DraperVC and PeerVC. LX is building a non-custodial ZK encryption layer for Bitcoin: encrypted vaults, a privacy-preserving execution layer, and an institutional SDK for exchanges, custodians, and trading desks.
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Flagship: an OTC dark pool for BTC/USD. A graduate of our BitcoinFi Accelerator, in partnership with @DraperVC, @thesis_co, and the @SupernormalFDN.
More: lx.dev/
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