Mission

Bring together an expert operator network and VCs to move forward emerging fintech trends through 2 intiatives

Think Tank

Investors, builders, founders and ecosystem partners dive into thesis areas through dinner serie gatherings

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Invited.

Application based on expertise and goals

Focused.

A small curated group (12-20) maximizing discussion and relationship synergies

Jumpstart.

Encouraged serendipity that leads to customers, partnerships, and investments

Catalyst Network

Accelerating startup building through hyper focused advise from our strategic network

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Hyper Focused.

Founders iterate with our expert-in-residents to tactically iterate and accelerate liftoff goals across market and customer

Raise with Normal Terms.

Skip accelerator terms and raise through our network.

Small Groups.

Focused on a select handful of founders on a rolling basis, typically previous early employees at large fintechs

Network

Curated for high quality engagement, each group is driving innovation forward.

XIRs.

Capped to 50 spots and refreshed every semester, expert-in-residents have deep fintech expertise leading operations for scaled fintechs. They are heads of product or partnerships, founders, exited executives, venture partners and scouts.

VCs.

Gathered across different fintech verticals and focused on emerging themes at the Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A.

Founders.

Jumpstart or contribute to discussions with key stakeholders at dinners.

Scale in the Catalyst Network alongside XIRs.

Ecosystem Partners.

Build brand or iterate on external strategy through our Think Thank. Own specific categories by sponsoring dinner series in overlapping thesis areas, opening collaborations, partnerships, and investments.

Our Mission

We bring founders to a network of leading operators, investors and resources to support startup building, while driving individual brand development and investment optionality for XIRs and VCs

The mission was born out of experiences from VCs, angels, advisors and founders looking for a better way to scale innovation. Through the community, we aim to help the lonely journey of being a founder, increase knowledge transfer, and build relationships amongst founders, operators and investors excited about Fintech.

Traditional accelerator models have two flaws that lead to low impact: unscalable and lack of domain focus. The typical accelerator model is focused on generalized classrooms, while The Collective focuses on impactful guidance by leveraging an XIR network to create a customized experience across mentorship, networking, and fundraising - similar to having your own personal advisory board.

We incentivize XIRs to be involved by providing opportunities to add value at the forefront of innovation, driving impactful advise during key periods of scale.

We are building a platform that drives collaboration amongst founders, VCs, XIRs, angels, and ecosystem leaders, where personal brand development, fairer equity distribution and economics, and value-add drive innovation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I participate in this community?

We are a hyper focused network moving emerging themes forward.
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The core of the network is supercharged by our XIR network who are leaders that have a pulse on themes and expertise scaling fintech platforms. We have unique incentivizes for XIRs, while they give back to the ecosystem. We keep the network exclusive to those involved so if interested in learning more, please reach out.

Whether you are a VC, fintech leader, enterprise, or founder, the ecosystem is meant to move the agenda forward with like minds.

What are the fees for the platform?

Our Think Tank collaborates through a sponsor membership model with ecosystem leaders, such as fintechs, enterprises, and funds, owning a dinner series. For the Catalyst Network, we request a small membership fee and advisory equity (0.25-0.75%) shared between The Collective and a XIR (if matched). We believe minimizing equity dilution for founders that want to scale quickly and skip 8-30% of equity capture by accelerators. Also, we aren't an accelerator as we focus on key strategic goals. We have a SPV for allocation in the round.

How do I know what gatherings are happening?

What's the structure of The Catalyst Network?

We work with at maximum 8 startups a year. It runs on a rolling basis and typically across thesis areas we have gathered insights and interests to follow or support. There is no cohort and typically iterating on key operational goals across 3-6 months on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. We roll up our SPV when fundraising commences and invest alongside other funds.

Most startups we work with are at day 0.

Do you invest?

Yes, we consider startups out of our network through our SPV and invest alongside other funds.

Interested to collaborate through partnerships?

We are always evolving the network and working on partnerships with external parties as we centralize nodes of innovation. We are in active conversations around 1) dinner series memberships and 2) cosyndication through our network.

Fintech First Network

A curated network of fintech leaders