Hi Yuta-san,
We agree with the underlying premise of your feedback: Treasury capital should be judged on execution quality, measurable outcomes, and whether value flows back to Cardano in a verifiable way. Visibility alone is not sufficient.
It is important to clearly separate the Catalyst-funded Draper University x Cardano Founder Residency from the current DDC Fund proposal, as they were intentionally designed for very different purposes and originate from two separate organizations: Draper Dragon operates as an early-stage venture firm focused on equity investing, while Draper University runs founder residency and accelerator programs centered on education and ecosystem development rather than fund management.
Point 1: The Founder Residency was a grant-based educational and onboarding program, not a venture-style initiative (i.e., grants were distributed rather than equity investments funded by ADA). Its objective was to equip Cardano founders with entrepreneurial skills, investor readiness, and global exposure, with the understanding that the education, experience, and network provided by Draper University could contribute to ecosystem and Treasury-relevant outcomes over time as projects mature, rather than producing immediate financial or on-chain results. Their program operated at an institutional scale, with 383 applications and 250 interviews across 15 recruiting events, and delivered 27 speaker sessions and 10+ additional events led by 18 mentors and 5 guest experts, culminating in a demo day attended by Tim Draper. All outcomes were qualitative by design, and all stated milestones were completed in full and on time, as documented in the proof of achievements they submitted.
Approximately 50% of their 1.64M ADA budget was paid directly to founders as grants, prioritizing builder support over administrative overhead. The cohort overall was highly collaborative, generating 30+ partnerships among participating teams and with broader ecosystem participants, including Maestro and USDM. Post-program engagement continued through participation in multiple global Cardano events, including Consensus Toronto and Rare Evo. I will defer to Chris Joannou, VP of Draper University, for any additional program-specific context if helpful.
While educational outcomes delivered through Draper University naturally compound over time, the DDC Fund is intentionally structured to move beyond qualitative activity reporting by deploying capital at risk, taking equity ownership, and introducing measurable accountability in service of both the ecosystem and the Treasury. Education is treated as one component of a broader model that combines investable capital, growth capital, and the extended Draper network to support scalable ecosystem development with measurable accountability. Capital is deployed as investments rather than grants, with returns contractually structured to flow back to the Treasury through a defined waterfall, and ecosystem impact tracked via publicly reported on-chain KPIs (e.g., TVL, usage, revenue, and developer activity) through a public dashboard launched at the fund’s inception.
Point 2: The proposal references venture-style return targets benchmarked against institutional blockchain and crypto VC funds (e.g., ~3x gross MOIC and ~25%+ IRR), drawing on industry data, including the Cambridge Associates benchmarks cited in the proposal. These figures are illustrative targets, not guarantees, and actual outcomes may differ. The goal is to use disciplined venture investing to generate returns for the Treasury while also supporting broader ecosystem development through access to resources, syndication, and institutional networks. Additional detail on these objectives and benchmarks is outlined in the “DDC Fund: Objectives” section of the forum post.
It is also worth emphasizing that the proposal aims to have a structured, tranche-based Treasury withdrawal. The initial tranche is intended to support fund setup, initial investments, equity-based programs, and the onboarding of startups, builders, and strategic partnerships. Activity and ecosystem signals are intended to be reflected in public reporting prior to any subsequent tranche considerations —there is always a chance that subsequent tranche withdrawals beyond the initial tranche will not be approved.
Point 3: We agree that the residency program alone should not justify large-scale Treasury deployment. The fund model is intended to address this concern by shifting from small, human-intensive, in-person cohorts to a portfolio-based approach, with staged capital calls, governance caps, and the ability to adjust pacing or strategy in response to results and market conditions.
Lastly, we appreciate your question regarding fund metrics. Due to obligations to existing investors and regulatory requirements, detailed fund-level performance metrics are shared only with the SPV Directors (including the Community Director) as part of their oversight responsibilities, rather than in a public forum. For the broader community, we believe a more practical lens is to reference representative investments from prior funds that illustrate our approach to early-stage execution and ecosystem development. The following are select examples to highlight past investments:
Ledger- Invested in 2018 (Series B), Latest Valuation: $1.4B (2023)*
EtherFi- Invested in 2024 (Series A), Current TVL: $ 9.56B**
Coinflow- Invested in 2024 (Seed), Raised $28.7M to date*
Veda- Invested in 2025 (Series A), Current TVL: $1.8B**
Maestro- Invested in 2025 (Seed), $3B+ transaction volume***
*taken from cryptorank.io 01/15/2026
**taken from defillama.com 01/15/2026
***taken from gomaestro .org 01/15/2026 (forum reply does not allow 3 links)
While past performance is not indicative of future results, and these examples are not presented as guarantees or direct comparables, they provide relevant context for how a similarly structured fund could invest in private operating companies that develop technology, build infrastructure, and offer services that will further develop, strengthen, and expand Cardano’s ecosystem and capabilities and strengthen such companies’ financial outcomes. Ultimately, confidence in this structure is intended to be established through transparent reporting and observable results over time.
We really appreciate the feedback and share the goal of ensuring Treasury capital is deployed responsibly, transparently, and with measurable impact on Cardano’s long-term sustainability. I am very open to continuing this dialogue and providing additional context where appropriate.