Partnering with the world's top early-career talent. For life.
A Different Kind of
Venture Fund
Contrary is a venture fund that identifies the world’s top early-career engineers, designers, and product minds, connects them with a close-knit, career-long support community, and invests in companies they start or join.
Talent
We identify the top engineers, designers, and product minds emerging from universities across North America each year.
Capital
We invest the first check into early-career founders and companies that Fellows start or join – not only straight out of school, but for the duration of their careers.
Community
We connect our community with everyone they need to know personally and professionally, whether through events, workshops, our annual retreat, or 1:1 lifelong friendships.
Supported by the world’s best entrepreneurs, operators, and investors, our founders get access to leaders of iconic companies to help them get the right advice when they need it most.
Supported by the world’s best entrepreneurs, operators, and investors, our founders get access to leaders of iconic companies to help them get the right advice when they need it most.
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"Contrary remains one of the most thoughtful and helpful investors for Memora, even though we’ve raised from some of the top venture funds in Silicon Valley. It’s rare to find investors like Eric and Will who genuinely care about us as founders, rather than focusing entirely on the business. They invested first in Memora and have never wavered in supporting us."
Manav Sevak
Co-founder and CEO, Memora Health
Want to become a Contrary Fellow?
Learn moreAre you an early-career founder?
Get in touchWant to become a Contrary Fellow?
Learn moreAre you an early-career founder?
Get in touchFrequently Asked Questions
What is Contrary?
Backed by founders from Facebook, Tesla, Reddit, and many others, Contrary is a venture fund that identifies the world’s top engineers, designers, and product minds emerging from universities, connects them with a close-knit, career-long support community, and invests in companies they start or join.
How do I become a part of the Contrary Fellowship?
Currently, the Contrary Fellowship is by referral-only, so we encourage you to find someone who's already a part of the community. You can also request an invitation here.
What do I get by being a part of the Contrary Fellowship?
Fellows get career-long professional help, access to the top community for early-career engineers, designers, and product minds, mentorship from some of Silicon Valley’s most successful entrepreneurs, and funding if you ever start a company.
How do you invest?
We invest up to $500k in:
- University-started companies (e.g., current students of any kind, faculty, recent grads, dropouts)
- Early-career founders
- Companies our Fellows start or join
We deeply believe in working with a small number of exceptional companies every year, meeting with a few thousand and investing in roughly 12. We then go deep on support, helping our portfolio companies hire world-class talent, raise Tier 1 capital, and lend operational support.
What's your track record?
Nearly all of our portfolio companies have gone on to raise follow-on funding from downstream VCs, with 70-80% doing so from Tier 1 firms. This is approximately double the follow-on rate of other funds that invest in founders at our stage.
How can I follow Contrary and get in touch?
You can read our blog, follow us on Twitter, and check out our newsletter. Our Venture Partners’ contact info is also available on our team page. Feel free to reach out, we’re happy to chat.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
© 2021 Contrary LLC