Draper Dragon

Early-stage cross-border venture capital fund investing in emerging technologies. Ecosystem Fund: @OrionFund

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

We are aware of scam accounts impersonating Draper Dragon team members and reaching out to the Cardano community.

These accounts are not affiliated with us. We will never cold-DM, request private calls, or ask for funds.

Please verify handles and report impersonators.

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

Thanks to @sara_iamsara at @Coinpedianews for the coverage: https://t.co/9OuNkojY1O

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

@giancarloMKTS compared @SpoutFi to mortgages and bonds: credit where the asset stays put and keeps compounding. @CoinpediaNews looked at why he and Draper Dragon are backing Spout, how 0% borrowing compares to the 12% retail investors pay on margin at Schwab and Fidelity, and what’s next as Spout heads from devnet to private beta and mainnet.

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

Why we invested: https://t.co/lpeRaeMVTR

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

Borrowing against your stocks without selling them has mostly been a private banking perk, and Draper Dragon has invested in @SpoutFi to open it up to everyone at 0% interest. We joined Spout's strategic round alongside a strong group of co-investors, with strategic backing from @Solana.

It works like this: you post tokenized assets as collateral and borrow USDC at up to 50% of their value, with no interest for as long as the loan is open. Lenders are paid from weekly covered calls written on the collateral, so the income comes from the shares themselves and the borrower doesn't pay.

Congrats to the Spout team, private beta is coming soon.

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

Why we invested: https://t.co/OepSER1Q3w

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

Draper Dragon invested in @mogul__club, the AI-driven real estate investing platform, in its $15.5M Series A led by @DraperVC @TimDraper. Founded by former @GoldmanSachs real estate investors, Mogul lets everyday investors own a share of individual rental homes and earn monthly rent.

Congrats to @blackwoodtweets, Joey Gumataotao and the team.

[andy tang @Andytang]

Every year people ask if crypto conferences still matter. After a week at @TOKEN2049 Singapore, my answer is that the signal has never been better: fewer tourists, more builders, and hallway conversations about products and revenue instead of token prices. The industry grew up.

A highlight of the week was our Rooftop UTXO Pitch Night, hosted by @DraperDragon and the @Cardano_CF at LAVO. I had the pleasure of a fireside chat with my dear friend Hareesh Nair, CIO of TPC, on family offices and family businesses in Asia. One thing from that conversation worth repeating: family offices are true permanent capital. Pensions revolve over time, but families often don’t need the capital back... they want to build relationships across generations. TPC has been navigating cycles since the late 1800s. In venture, we think in 10-year funds and call it long term. That’s a useful dose of humility :)

And then the main event: nine startups (out of 49 applications) pitched live, covering everything from Bitcoin yield and payments to AI agents, digital identity, and tokenized assets, competing for up to $500K in funding. The quality was the real story... several of these teams already have products in market and revenue, not just decks.

Congratulations to every team that got on that stage. Thank you @F_Gregaard, @samizb, @maxime_bucaille, @aalicbarker, and both the Cardano and Draper teams for a great event.

@DraperVC @draper_u

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

Request a seat: https://t.co/j6fJssrMGn

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

This week, Draper Dragon hosted the first of many Founders & Friends Happy Hours during @SFTechWeek: founders we’ve backed, founders we’re getting to know, and friends who keep sending us great people.

Thank you to everyone who came, our team, and Jenn Augustyn from @sequoia One for helping make it happen.

Next week, we’re doing it again in LA. Building in AI, robotics, space, energy or biotech? Join us on October 14 during LA Tech Week. Link below!

[Samiz Bayan @samizb]

A $2M seed round can now get a deep tech company to a working prototype that used to take $20M. Customer adoption still takes just as long. You can build a bridge faster, but people still need to trust it before they cross.

That was one of the threads on our panel at Global Startup EXPO 2026 in Osaka this week with @christine_tsai, Adit Swarup (@generalcatalyst) and Ken Yoshida. My advice to Japanese founders was to dominate Japan first and recoup the R&D, while keeping a ten-year roadmap for going global. A national champion can live well for many years, but eventually an international champion may come onto your turf. The best defense is offense.

Thank you @JETRO_jgc for hosting us. Between Tokyo, where I taught sessions for Japanese VCs with @500GlobalVC, and Osaka, I met a lot of Japan's biggest investors, and everyone is working on the same questions: how to bring the next generation of unicorns into Japan, and how to strengthen the bridge between the US and Japan.

[Intersect @IntersectMBO]

After the main event closes on day one, attention moves to the Rooftop UTXO Pitch Night, presented by @DraperDragon, @draper_u, and @Cardano_CF.

🕡️ 18:30-23:00 SGT 🇸🇬
📍 LAVO Italian Restaurant and Rooftop Bar
🗓️ https://t.co/KA8b9Uw4hw

"Founders building across Cardano, Bitcoin, and the wider UTXO ecosystem, from early to growth stage, go head-to-head for one night in front of investors ready to fund, competing for up to $500K in total funding."

Supported by @STORM_Partners.

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

Why we invested: https://t.co/dvEujrLTJS

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

Draper Dragon and @OrionFund have invested in @xverse, the self-custodial Bitcoin neobank, in a strategic round led by @DraperVC @TimDraper alongside @trustmachinesco. Xverse lets holders earn on their bitcoin, borrow against it without selling and pay over Lightning, all from one app where the keys stay with the user. Congrats to @YukanL and the team.

[Samiz Bayan @samizb]

Why is a VC at a blockchain foundation's booth? For us it's the @OrionFund, where the Cardano treasury backs startups through a regulated venture fund we run at @DraperDragon. Join us at the @Cardano_CF booth (PB5-60) on Thursday at 10:15 AM to learn how we believe an ecosystem can grow with productive capital, turning its treasury into a passive growth engine. If you're a builder, come stop by.

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

https://t.co/SmfSg71XIw

[Draper Dragon @DraperDragon]

Rooftop UTXO Pitch Night, 7 October, LAVO, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Presented with the @Cardano_CF during @token2049 week. Early and growth-stage teams across Cardano, Bitcoin, and the wider UTXO ecosystem pitching live, up to $500K on the table, allocated at the participating investors' discretion.

Speaking: @Andytang, @samizb and @maxime_bucaille from the Draper ecosystem, @F_Gregaard from the Cardano Foundation, and other speakers yet to be announced.

Registration to attend is still open; see the link below.

[Xverse - Bank on Bitcoin @xverse]

We're proud to share today that Xverse has closed a strategic funding round led by the legendary @DraperVC.

Both @trustmachinesco and @DraperDragon also joined in the round.

[Samiz Bayan @samizb]

The next deep tech unicorns will come from founders building fundamentally strong companies, whatever the market is doing.

Talking about what sets them apart Tuesday in Osaka with @christine_tsai (@500GlobalVC), Adit Swarup (@generalcatalyst) and Ken Yoshida (@JETRO_jgc).

[Cardano Foundation @Cardano_CF]

Up to $500K in funding for UTXO builders.

On 7 October, 57 floors above Marina Bay, founders across Cardano, Bitcoin, and the wider UTXO ecosystem pitch to investors ready to fund on the spot.

Rooftop networking after. Presented with @DraperDragon.

https://t.co/KsqBMwpvlp

[Samiz Bayan @samizb]

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.