Cointime

Cointime

Download App
iOS & Android

Buildspace raises $10M led by a16z to build Hogwarts for builders and dreamers

Cointime Official

Yo! What’s up everyone — Farza here.

As you can tell by the headline, we’re up to some crazy shit as usual lol.

I’ll be honest, it’s pretty wild to get to this point.

I started this company in December 2019 doing something completely different. Originally, it was called “ZipHomeschool” where I was building software to help parents homeschool their kids.

To start the company, I raised $25,000 from Furqan.

It took a lot of people to get to this point. But, let me be real — without Furqan, none of this would have even started. He believed in me back when I barely believed in myself.

After all, it just takes one person to believe you can do it.

It’s been a fkin journey but nearly 3-years, 10 pivots and many highs and lows later, here we are.

Buildspace has become extremely prolific — 10,000s have built in public, 1000s have attended our IRL initiatives, some have started multi-million $ agencies, found co-founders, and even gotten funded for their own startups.

So, what’s new?

TL;DR

We’re profitable off of our sponsorship model.

We continue to be 100% free for users + globally accessible to all.

We’ve had over 125,000 users build with us. A majority of the founders and developers in web3 today got their start at buildspace.

We’re expanding to other domains that will need an influx of really talented builders — starting with ML/AI.

We’re building out a few IRL hubs around the world our alumni can build from — with the first one opening in SF on March 1st, 2023. We plan to expand to different parts of the world so no matter what visa or passport you hold, you’ll be able to build from one of our hubs.

The $10M raise.

I want to thank everyone who participated in this round. $10m is a lot of fucking money. We’re going to put it to good use and build something really big.

Here are all our fantastic partners:

a16z — Connie Chan + Anne Lee Skates

Founders Inc — Furqan Rydhan and Hubert Thieblot

Weekend Fund — Ryan Hoover + Vedika Jain

Y-Combinator

Vayner Fund — Gary Vaynerchuk

Kun Gao — co-founder @ Crunchyroll

Kevin Lin — co-founder @ Twitch

Patrick Lee — co-founder @ Rotten Tomatoes

Holly Liu — co-founder @ Kabam

Amjad Masad — co-founder @ Replit

Dave Nemetz — co-founder @ Bleacher Report

Sieva Kozinsky — co-founder @ Enduring

Balaji Srinivasan — former CTO-Coinbase

Dan Sommer and David Berger — co-founders @ Trilogy Edu

Paul and Chris — co-founders @ CopyAI

John Andrew — founder @ Wander

Dunce Capital — John Danner

Melo7 — Carmelo Anthony

MastryVC — Andre Iguodala

Earl Grey Capital

ShrugVC

Tobenna Arodiogbu — co-founder @ CloudTrucks

David and Abhishek — co-founders @ BetterBrain

Nicolas Chinot — anime partner

Cat Wu — early employee @ Scale

Jason Hitchcock — ex-growth @ Bebo, GP @ 4 Moons

Nu Dao — founder @ Allies

Protocol Labs

OrangeDAO

DreamerVC

We3

Ben Levy — co-founder @ Milk Road

Charlie Holtz — co-founder @ ShlinkedIn

Nick Ducoff — co-founder @ Edmit

Sherwin Gandhi — co-founder @ Jeeves

Romain Huet — ex-Head of Dev Rel @ Stripe

Qasim Munye — co-founder @ ShortlyAI

Solana Ventures

Open Sea Ventures

Alchemy Ventures

Samarth Jajoo — our first intern

Let’s build.(BY Farza Majeed）

a16z
Comments

All Comments

Recommended for you

  • Mt. Gox Transfers $739 Million in Bitcoin as Repayment Deadline Approaches

    According to monitoring by Arkham, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox transferred 10,422.65 bitcoins today from its cold wallet, valued at over $739 million. Most of the funds were sent to a new wallet, while 116.30 bitcoins were routed to Mt. Gox's known hot wallet. This transaction did not indicate that Mt. Gox sold any bitcoins or initiated a new round of creditor repayments. Due to the incomplete creditor process and processing delays, the liquidation trustee has extended the repayment deadline to October 31, 2026. Currently, Mt. Gox still has approximately 35,000 bitcoins awaiting distribution, worth about $2.4 billion.

  • Anthropic Expands Access to Mythos for 150 Additional Institutions Worldwide

    On June 2, Anthropic announced that it is allowing an additional 150 institutions worldwide to use its AI model, Mythos. This model is designed to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and Anthropic has previously stated that making it publicly available poses significant risks. The company plans to announce the increase in user numbers on Tuesday, at which point the total number of users with access will be approximately 200. Anthropic noted that these new institutions are spread across 15 countries and span industries such as energy, healthcare, and telecommunications. Although Anthropic did not disclose the specific names of these institutions, it mentioned that they include companies and non-profits involved in producing critical programming code. Earlier reports indicated that the EU's cybersecurity agency would gain access to the software.

  • Iranian Media: Information Exchange Between Iran and the U.S. Has Been Interrupted for Days

    On June 2, according to Iranian media Fars News, a knowledgeable source revealed that despite some Western media and officials attempting to portray the information exchange process between Iran and the U.S. as normal, there is currently no communication occurring between the two sides. The information exchange aimed at reaching a preliminary memorandum of understanding between Iran and the U.S. has been interrupted for at least several days. Although Trump claimed last night that negotiations with Iran were progressing rapidly, the source emphasized that the last message Iran sent to the U.S. was regarding Lebanon, which has drawn widespread attention from the international community.

  • BTC Falls Below $69,000

    Market data shows that BTC has fallen below $69,000, currently priced at $68,998.99, with a 24-hour decline of 4.43%. The market is experiencing significant volatility, so please ensure proper risk management.

  • SpaceX Pressures Banks to Achieve Record Low IPO Fee Rate

    On June 2, according to market news, SpaceX is pressuring banks in an effort to achieve the lowest IPO fee rate in history. SpaceX is negotiating with the banks underwriting its initial public offering (IPO), seeking to pay less than 0.75% in underwriting fees.

  • Fed's Harker: Maintaining Stable Interest Rates is Reasonable

    Fed's Harker: Maintaining stable interest rates is reasonable at this time. If high inflation persists, larger adjustments may be necessary.

  • IBM Commits Over $10 Billion Investment in Quantum Computing

    On June 2, IBM announced plans to invest over $10 billion in the field of quantum computing over the next five years. This investment will cover research and development, capital expenditures, manufacturing scalability, ecosystem collaboration, and acquisitions. These areas are designed to accelerate IBM's quantum roadmap, aiming to deliver the world's first large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer by 2029.

  • Wall Street Analysts Begin to Express Skepticism After Two Months of Rising Stock Market

    On June 2, the U.S. stock market may continue to set new records, but Wall Street analysts tracking these markets are not in a hurry to keep pace with the rising trend. Researchers are downgrading ratings for companies within the S&P 500 index. According to Jefferies, the proportion of components rated 'buy' in the broader Russell 3000 index is nearly the same as it was four years ago, significantly lower than the peak levels during the dot-com bubble. Regardless of the exact reasons behind this new skepticism, it is seen as a positive development. From a contrarian perspective, this suggests that market sentiment has not yet reached the kind of extreme exuberance typically indicative of a market top. Andrew Greenbein, Senior Vice President of Equity Research Product Management at Jefferies, stated, 'I usually consider market sentiment from the perspective of whether there are more new buyers or sellers. Currently, the sell side has not shown any signs of buying.'

  • Beijing Economic Development Zone Holds Symposium on Space Computing Enterprises to Discuss Innovation Center Construction

    On June 2, it was reported that on June 1, Wang Lei, Deputy Secretary of the Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, presided over a symposium for space computing enterprises. The meeting aimed to gather opinions and suggestions from relevant companies on creating a highland for the space computing industry in Beijing's Yizhuang area and to discuss the construction of the Space Computing Innovation Center. Attending entrepreneurs unanimously expressed that space computing represents a new track for the integration of commercial aerospace and the digital economy, becoming a new frontier in global technological competition with significant strategic value and commercial prospects. Recently, the Beijing Economic Development Zone initiated the establishment of the Beijing Space Intelligent Computing Research Institute, marking an important step in the high-level construction of the Space Computing Innovation Center. This initiative is a key move to transform the space computing industry from blueprint to reality. Companies will actively participate in the construction of the research institute, leveraging their respective advantages in satellite manufacturing, computing chips, communication payloads, energy materials, software scheduling, and precision devices. Together, they will tackle key common technical challenges such as radiation-resistant chips for satellites, inter-satellite laser communication, and efficient thermal control energy supply, accelerating the on-orbit verification and large-scale networking of computing satellites. The goal is to create a complete innovation chain and industrial chain of 'constellation + terminal + service,' promoting the establishment of an independent, controllable, secure, and trustworthy space computing technology and standards system, contributing wisdom and strength to China's goal of becoming a space power and a strong network nation. (Securities Times)

  • Strategy Proposes Increasing STRC Dividend Distribution Frequency from Monthly to Bi-Monthly

    According to an official announcement, Strategy has proposed to adjust the dividend distribution frequency of STRC from once a month to once every two weeks. If this proposal is approved and adopted, it is expected to shorten the reinvestment lag, enhance liquidity and market efficiency, and improve price stability. The proposal requires a joint vote from both MSTR and STRC shareholders, and it can only pass if both classes of shareholders vote in favor. According to the proposal timeline, voting began on April 28 and will conclude at the meeting on June 8. If the proposal is approved, the first record date under the new schedule will be June 30, with the first dividend payment on July 15. Eligible voting shareholders must hold shares by April 17.

Daily Must-Read

Popular Activities

RaveDAO at Terra Solis by Tomorrowland: A Female-Led Techno Night Where Web3 Culture Converges

RaveDAO at Terra Solis by Tomorrowland: A Female-Led Techno Night Where Web3 Culture Converges

April 30 - April 30
Dubai

Popular Tags

Cointime
News
Contents
RSS
Company