SWEATER-THE VENTURE FUND FOR EVERYONE-ANNOUNCES ITS INVESTMENT INTO THE STONKS Y COMBINATOR ACCESS FUND

The Sweater and Stonks Partnership Opens Investment Access to Coveted YC Startups for Non Accredited Investors

BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sweater, the mobile fintech democratizing the venture ecosystem, announced a new partnership with Stonks—the technology platform bridging top accelerators and VC firms with a massive network of accredited investors through live, demo day events. As the first step in this partnership, Sweater's Cashmere Fund has invested into the Stonks YC S22 Access Fund, which is targeting 35 of the top companies emerging from YCombinator's (YC) Summer 2022 cohort.

YC has helped launch some of the most exciting startups over the past two decades and amassed a collective of companies with a combined valuation nearing $1T. It's well-known that YC has consistently churned out some of the most successful technology startups, including Airbnb, Stripe, and Instacart. However, their invite-only demo days have typically made accessing those top deals difficult for many accredited investors looking to invest in high-potential, early-stage deals.

The launch of the YC Access Fund gives Stonks's 25k audience of accredited investors access to the most recent batch of YC companies. Even more, they are doing this with no management fee or carry. Stonks looks forward to working closely with these founders as they continue to build a leading solution for all participants in the early-stage ecosystem.

"This was a win-win for us," said Adam Hardej, Head of Private Markets at Stonks. "We get to work with great founders coming out of YC, and we get to give our investors great access. We're excited to do more of this."

The investment from Sweater's Cashmere Fund extends access to these YC companies to their thousands of non accredited and accredited investors. The added benefit of having zero fees is a bonus to this opportunity to bring their communities together.

"Our decision was driven by the fund thesis, strong team, and alignment with Sweater's goal of leveraging networks to enhance founder outcomes," said Sweater Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Chad Lewkowski. "We're looking forward to a continued partnership with the Stonks team, as we share the vision of creating more favorable opportunities and connections for both founders and funders."

With visions aligned around democratizing access to venture opportunities and creating a more equitable venture landscape for all founders and investors, Stonks and Sweater are excited about the future. Both attack a similar mission from different angles, and their endeavors to make the private market more public are only going to benefit the larger investing community and founders shaping the future of how we live.

Sweater is a fintech company founded on the mission to accelerate generational wealth creation for all people through venture investing. They believe everyone deserves access to better financial opportunities and every founder deserves the chance to build their vision. Their vision to revolutionize the venture ecosystem started by democratizing access to the VC asset class with the Sweater Cashmere Fund. They're building tools and resources to educate, connect, and shape a thriving and inclusive venture community that propels companies shaping the future of how we live.

Stonks is a technology platform creating a network of investors and accelerators through live demo day events. Now individual angels have access to premier events from top accelerators including Techstars, Plug & Play, and 500 Global. Since launching Stonks in 2021, founder Ali Moiz has built the platform to 50K+ users and raised $15m from investors such as a16z, 500 Global, Yes VC, and others.

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SOURCE Sweater