For laid-off Twitter, Meta, and Amazon employees, this firm is offering $100,000 to start a startup
Even as huge internet companies like Meta, Twitter, and Amazon lay off people to cut costs, a venture firm founded in 2018 is paying $100,000 to individuals laid off lately to help them establish their own businesses. Day One Ventures will invest $100,000 (about Rs 80 lakh) in 20 startup teams through a program titled ‘Funded Not Fired’ before the end of the year.
A report by Tech Crunch mentions that Day One Ventures will lead the pre-seed round for top businesses from the cohort with a $1 million check. Founders spinning out of turbulent startups will receive a minimum of $5 million (and a maximum of $10 million) from the firm’s $52.5 million fund.
“Funded, Not Fired” will get you your first institutional angel check. We will select 20 founders to invest in and support over the next month. No matter whether you have an idea already or not, let’s get started. According to Day One Ventures’ website, the company is investing $100k into 20 companies using a standard YC-style SAFE of $2 million post-money.
The article also mentioned how discouraging it can be to be laid off. It’s time to take the entrepreneurial plunge and start your own business after being laid off: your talents clearly outpace what your former employer saw: it’s time to take the entrepreneurial plunge. A total of 0.01 percent of laid-off tech talent will be tapped for investment.”
The company stated that the application procedure consists of three steps: submitting an application form by November 25 (at least one co-founder must have recently been laid off from a tech company to apply); Interview Between November 28 and December 6, top candidates will have two Zoom calls, each with one member from Day One Ventures’ team; then between December 7 and December 16, finalists will engage in a 10-20 minute Zoom session with Day One’s full team.
Day One Ventures stated that it will choose the top firms in six months and lead their seed rounds with a $1 million check.
“You’ll (startups) have weekly check-ins with our staff,” it said. We’ll connect you with subject-matter experts and top entrepreneurs who will conduct office hours and work with you hands-on to create your firm. To continue fundraising, you will be presented to the top VCs in the Valley and throughout the world. We will assist B2B entrepreneurs in connecting with clients from our portfolio and beyond. For B2C businesses, our team will assist you in developing viral product mechanics that will help your product grow.”
On November 9, last week, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms, announced the business’s decision to lay off more than 11,000 workers and lower the size of its workforce by around 13%. Days prior, Twitter, another major social media platform now owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, laid off 50% of its workers in an effort to reduce expenses.
Approximately 10,000 employees will also be let go by Amazon over the next days, according to sources.
