Pump.fun Establishes $3 Million Fund to Support Crypto Projects

Pump.fun launches $3 million fund for early-stage crypto startups.

The meme token launch platform Pump.fun has established a $3 million fund to finance early-stage crypto startups.

Introducing the $3,000,000 Build in Public Hackathon

Brought to you by Pump Fund — pump fun’s New Investment Arm

It’s time to completely reimagine how early-stage projects are built and funded.

Learn more 👇 pic.twitter.com/l1TJcxv1J0

— Pump.fun (@Pumpfun) January 19, 2026

The new investment division, Pump Fund, will distribute capital through its own hackathon called Build in Public.

During the first competition, 12 projects will receive $250,000 each in funding, along with mentorship from Pump.fun founders.

Unlike traditional accelerators where founders pitch their projects to a jury, participants in Build in Public launch tokens whose success is determined by market demand.

“Your users are the ones providing funding by betting on you at an early stage. Those who can win people’s hearts gain unprecedented opportunities,” stated Pump.fun.

Any projects can participate in the hackathon, even those not directly related to cryptocurrencies. However, several mandatory criteria are in place:

• the presence of a token;
• a ready platform foundation;
• developers own at least 10% of the coin issuance;
• public engagement (social media posts, a user community, etc.).

“We want to see teams proving the viability of their ideas through rapid implementation and open sharing of plans. Organic growth is better than networking and media noise,” platform representatives noted.

Applications for the hackathon are open until February 18. The first winners will be announced within 30 days after registration closes.

In January, the “meme token factory” announced a revision of its fee model for content creators.