Core Ventures, a Bitcoin-driven enterprise fund has launched a brand new accelerator program, BTC-FI – an accelerator designed to spur innovation on the intersection of Bitcoin and decentralised finance (DeFi).
This 14-week distant accelerator presents as much as $100k in funding, hands-on mentorship, and entry to an enormous trade community to assist founders scale from Day 1.
Purposes are actually open and can shut on the finish of August. Web3 builders innovating in BTC DeFi are extremely inspired to use
Why This Accelerator and Why Now?
Core is an EVM-compatible Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built as Bitcoin’s complementary and hyper-scalable good contract platform. By leveraging Bitcoin’s safety and enabling self-custodial Bitcoin staking, Core unlocks BTC as a productive asset inside DeFi ecosystems. This enables builders to construct decentralised functions that instantly faucet into Bitcoin’s liquidity and safety, increasing what’s attainable with the world’s most trusted digital asset.
This confirmed acceleration framework helps early-stage groups transfer swiftly from thought to product-market match. The founder-first strategy contains operational help, offering tailor-made steering on product improvement, tokenomics, go-to-market execution, authorized structuring, and investor readiness. This founder-centric philosophy shapes how every startup cohort is nurtured, with a collaborative and growth-oriented mindset: “We succeed solely when our founders succeed.”
Focus Areas: What We’re Trying For
This program is grounded in a transparent thesis: supporting the foundational DeFi pillars that may form the Core ecosystem and meet the calls for of the subsequent wave of adoption. We’re backing groups constructing high-impact merchandise that unlock new utility for Bitcoin inside DeFi.
Eight groups might be chosen, with Core Ventures deploying as much as $100,000 in funding to these most aligned with Core’s long-term imaginative and prescient and demonstrating robust execution.
Should you’re constructing in any of the next classes, that is your name to use:
Yield Protocols: Platforms that make it easy, safe, and accessible for on a regular basis customers to earn passive returns on BTC. This contains staking, lending, or new yield-generation mechanisms native to Core.
DeFi Buying and selling Purposes: Quick, scalable, and user-friendly buying and selling instruments designed for contemporary crypto members. We’re particularly inquisitive about high-velocity execution layers and intuitive frontends that improve DeFi entry with out compromising decentralisation.
Launch Platforms: Instruments that simplify and democratise token or product launches. The very best ones decrease the barrier to entry for creators and customers alike, whereas aligning incentives and fostering long-term worth.
Excessive-Yield Development Experiments: Daring experiments in incentive design that may drive early traction and scale, whereas evolving towards sustainable economics. Should you’re innovating round artistic development loops or novel reward fashions, we need to see it.
Selective Funding & Founder-Centric Assist
A complete of eight groups might be chosen to take part in this system. All chosen groups will achieve entry to:
Palms-on acceleration and mentorship from Core Ventures
Connections to Core Ventures VCs, mentors, developer ecosystem, tooling, and companions
Strategic help throughout token design, product, authorized, development, and fundraising
Investor visibility by demo day publicity
As well as, Core Ventures will deploy as much as $100,000 in funding to pick groups that show robust alignment with Core’s long-term imaginative and prescient and the potential to drive significant influence inside the ecosystem. Funding might be allotted primarily based on execution, technical energy, and founder-market match, with a give attention to backing groups positioned to ship actual worth over time.
Learn how to Apply and What to Count on
The applying window will run for six weeks, beginning on July 21, and can shut in late August. This system will start in Q3 2025 and run for 14 weeks just about, with tailor-made weekly help and a closing Demo Day.
To use, founders should submit a pitch deck, product roadmap, group information, and why their thought aligns with Core’s imaginative and prescient and this accelerator’s focus. Early submissions are inspired for suggestions and early conversations.
Be a part of Us – A Name for Builders
This accelerator is a chance to construct alongside two of essentially the most aligned and founder-focused forces in crypto. Should you’re creating the subsequent frontier of Bitcoin DeFi, yield technology, viral launches, or Rune instruments, we need to hear from you.
Apply right here: Software Kind
For inquiries, contact:
Core is the Bitcoin The whole lot Chain, reworking idle Bitcoin right into a productive, yield-generating asset that powers Bitcoin DeFi at scale. Core’s Self-Custodial Bitcoin Staking permits holders to timelock Bitcoin instantly on the Bitcoin blockchain to earn rewards—with out taking up new danger. This trustless yield mechanism helps to safe the high-performance, EVM-compatible Core blockchain, the place customers can entry an increasing universe of Bitcoin-focused decentralized functions.
Core powers first-of-their-kind merchandise like Valour’s yield-bearing Bitcoin ETP and lstBTC—the primary liquid, yield-generating Bitcoin asset. The community helps over $500M in DeFi TVL, backed by 7,000+ timelocked Bitcoin and ~75% of Bitcoin mining hash energy.
Disclaimer:
The knowledge supplied on this press launch shouldn’t be a solicitation for funding, neither is it supposed as funding recommendation, monetary recommendation, or buying and selling recommendation. It’s strongly advisable you observe due diligence, together with session with knowledgeable monetary advisor, earlier than investing in or buying and selling cryptocurrency and securities.
