1517 Fund is a venture capital firm founded in 2015 by Danielle Strachman and Michael Gibson, who also co-founded the Thiel Fellowship in 2010. The firm focuses on supporting young entrepreneurs, college dropouts, and renegade scientists at the earliest stages of their ventures. 1517 Fund provides initial investments ranging from $50,000 at the idea or R&D stage to $1,000,000 for deep tech or sci-fi seed stage companies, with an average check size of $400,000 for pre-seed investments.

Their areas of focus include software, hardware with a data component, deep tech, sci-fi tech, and biotech. The firm has invested in notable companies such as Luminar, Loom, nTop, and Cents. 1517 Fund operates with a global perspective, supporting founders across North America and Europe, including countries like the United States, Canada, and France.

Their investment philosophy emphasizes backing founders without undergraduate degrees and those pushing the boundaries of knowledge and science.