We are a community-native VC firm that writes the first check for web3 founders building highly disruptive businesses.
Our founders receive support from the Chainforest DAO, a curated community of builders and thought leaders cultivating the future of web3 together.
ApplyChainforest leads the first round of investment (pre-seed / seed) for a web3 founder with a $250-750k commitment. We focus on founders with world-bending ambitions to disrupt the world’s largest markets of spend and attention.
In web3, we anticipate that community native investing organizations will outperform traditional VC firms. All founders benefit from the support of the Chainforest DAO, which is incentivized by the $RAINDROP token (backed by carry in our fund) to participate in the investing process. Founders have received support from the community in a multitude of ways: leveraging deep conversation to understand new web3 models and markets, participating in our Conscious Leadership Group coaching forums, and sourcing their co-founders, early employees, and alpha testers.
“Chainforest is the best professional community I've ever been a part of, bar none. It laid the foundation for my leap into web3, and I would not be in my current role at the Solana Foundation without Chainforest and its incredible community.
Chainforest is a high-signal, low-noise environment in an industry where there's a lot of noise. Through the community, I've learned about topics ranging from the the technical merits of various L1s, to frameworks for sizing the DeWi market, and leadership principles I use regularly in my personal or professional life. Whenever I talk to someone in Chainforest, I feel confident that they will be smart, thoughtful, kind, and that I will learn something from them that blows my mind.
Whether you're a founder, an operator, or an analyst, Chainforest is a place where you can meet amazing, friendly web3 natives. The culture of the community is unlike any I've come across in web3. You won't regret getting involved.”
“Chainforest has added unique value as a Utopia investor. Amit has a set of special experiences with DAOs, both as co-leader of FWB's treasury team and as founder of Chainforest, which operates as a Venture DAO and uses our software. Because of this background, Amit and Vasanth (Chainforest Head of Finance) have been able to provide us highly specific product feedback that few others can offer. I've been a member of the Chainforest community for months now and it is a special, highly-engaged ecosystem. I'd recommend Chainforest to any founder as a source of capital and to any web3 native looking to build deeper relationships in the space.”
“Honestly, the coaching service and the CEO network are 2 of the reasons why you’re already adding more value than most VCs on my cap table… I don’t actually need any VCs to help audit my smart contracts or provide liquidity for my pools…Very drawn to intimate community and world-class coaching.”
400+ Rainmakers create thoughtful, rigorous daily discourse on every facet of web3
Community deep-dives on projects and markets
Conscious Leadership Group Forums led by Diana Chapman
Founder dating + alpha / beta testing for startups
Tokenized carry ($RAINDROP) to incentivize sourcing, evaluation and support
Tax and FP&A Support
“Arkive was an idea of mine that had been simmering for a few months…Amit suggested we create a Discord channel and potentially work with Chainforest members to accelerate the project. Now, 1/3 of the core Arkive team are fellow Chainforest members, and we are excited to have Chainforest participate in the earliest round of funding.”
Amit Mukherjee is the founder of Chainforest. Amit also serves as Co-Treasury Lead at Friends With Benefits. Previously, Amit was a Partner at the venture capital firm NEA.
Chainforest’s fund is supported by and co-incubated with SuperLayer, a venture studio led by Kevin Chou and Mahesh Vellanki, the founders of Forte and Rally. Chainforest founder Amit has known Kevin and Mahesh for years. Together, they form a deep partnership, where Kevin and Mahesh lend their expertise and network generated from building two of the leading web3 applications across gaming and social. Chainforest also has access to SuperLayer resources — marketing, tokenomics, product, HR, etc.
Mahesh is the Managing Director of SuperLayer and the co-founder of Forte and Rally. Prior to entering web3, Mahesh was a VC at Redpoint.
Kevin is the Managing Director of SuperLayer and the co-founder of Forte and Rally. Kevin is also the co-founder of Gen.G and Kabam. Kevin started his career at Caanan Partners.
