VC
United States
Last Deal Oct 2026

1517 Fund

Check Size
€100K – €1M

Investment Focus

Investment Stages

Geographic Focus

Investment Thesis

Backs dropouts, students, and scientists building deep tech, AI, and frontier science. Tied to the Thiel Fellowship ecosystem. Writes $100K-$1M at pre-seed and seed.

How to Pitch 1517 Fund

No Stated Policy
1517 Fund hasn't published an outreach policy. A short, specific cold email is the safest default.

Who To Contact

Danielle Strachman
General Partner, Co-Founder
software
hardware
deep tech
biotech
Michael Gibson
General Partner, Co-Founder
software
hardware
deep tech
biotech

Recent Deals

Auto-extracted from press releases.

  • Stryx
    unverified
    Round details unavailable

Portfolio Highlights

Luminar Technologies - lidar for autonomous vehicles (NASDAQ-listed)
Lambda - GPU cloud computing for AI training
Figma - collaborative design platform (acquired by Adobe, deal blocked)

Team

Auto-detected from 1517 Fund's website.

Danielle Strachman
General Partner, Co-Founder

Cofounder and GP at 1517, led Thiel Fellowship design and operations, worked with founders like Vitalik Buterin and Ritesh Agarwal.

software
hardware
deep tech
biotech
Checked Oct 2026
Michael Gibson
General Partner, Co-Founder

Cofounder and GP at 1517, dedicated to disrupting credential-based gatekeeping in education and industry.

software
hardware
deep tech
biotech
Checked Oct 2026
Nick Arnett
Partner

Partner at 1517, founded WayPaver Foundation for lunar settlement, led Thiel Fellowship community development.

Checked Oct 2026
Zak Slayback
Partner

Partner at 1517 Fund, writes occasionally on various topics.

Checked Oct 2026

Focus and check size from the firm's website. Website reachable as of Aug 2026.

Ready to Reach 1517 Fund?

A fit check scores your pitch against their thesis, stage and ticket. An email draft uses their real deals and thesis, not a template.