Investor Profile: Rough Draft Ventures — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Rough Draft Ventures funding is built for a very specific founder: a student, or recent graduate, building a technology company while still close to campus. If you are asking how to get funding from Rough Draft Ventures, know that it is a student-run, pre-seed fund powered and backed by General Catalyst, where investment decisions are led by a team of university students. Its promise is to be a student founder’s first cheque.

Rough Draft Ventures funding: thesis and stage focus

Rough Draft Ventures invests at pre-seed and seed stage and is industry-agnostic, backing ambitious, bold and curious teams with a strong bias to action. It focuses for now on US-based companies incorporated as a Delaware C-Corp, and it says it is never too early to pitch — an idea is enough to start a conversation. Founded in 2012 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it grew out of Boston’s student ecosystem and now runs as part of General Catalyst’s student founder work, including the GC Venture Fellowship.

Fund size and cheque size

Rough Draft Ventures invests cheques of $100,000 to $150,000 through founder-friendly SAFEs, according to the fund’s own “Rough Draft 101” guide. Its total fund size is not publicly disclosed, so no aggregate figure is claimed here. Older third-party listings show a smaller $25,000 figure, but the fund’s own current guide is the one founders should plan around. The fund aims to be among a company’s first funding, and student founders at an even earlier stage can also access a starter grant through the GC Venture Fellowship programme.

Notable portfolio companies

Rough Draft Ventures says it has backed more than 200 student-led startups over its history, which have gone on to raise over $2 billion in follow-on funding from investors including General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, NEA and Sequoia. Standout names cited by the fund include Mark43, Spring Health and Instabase. Other portfolio companies recorded by deal trackers include Spyce, the robotic restaurant startup; Fanfix, a creator monetisation platform; AKKO, a device protection company; and Impilo, a health technology company.

Team, community and perks

Investment decisions are led by student fellows, not career partners, which is the point: the people judging a pitch have recently been in the founder’s shoes. Portfolio founders get a community of peers, experienced mentors, alumni and investors, plus an external Slack network of founders and former fellows used for hiring referrals and introductions. Former fellows describe hands-on help with hiring, connections to General Catalyst investors, follow-on introductions, and an internal platform offering AWS credits and SaaS discounts. The fund also runs events such as hackathons and pitch competitions with General Catalyst staff evaluating deals.

How to apply for funding

Cold applications are welcome and, in the fund’s own words, encouraged. Student founders can apply for funding through the application form linked by General Catalyst’s student founder programme, and can also reach the fellows through the roughdraft.vc site, which now routes to General Catalyst. The fund says it welcomes diverse founders regardless of background, so a cold pitch is a legitimate route. Founders should show ambition, curiosity and follow-through.