The Founders Fund and Accel Partners have created a $10 million fund for Facebook applications called FBFund, Mark Zuckerberg just announced at the TechCrunch40 conference in San Francisco. The funding will be given out in grants of $25,000 to $250,000.
Rather than equity, the two firms will have a right of first refusal if the companies end up surviving long enough to raise a venture round. Facebook is not putting up any of the cash, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Vice President of Product Marketing and Operations Chamath Palihapitiya will be evaluating applicants, along with Peter Thiel of the Founders Fund and Jim Breyer of Accel, and investors Rajeev Motwani, Josh Kopelman, and Reid Hoffman.
This new fund is going to crimp the plans of other funds that have similar ambitions, as they will be competing with a Facebook-approved investment vehicle.
Any application developer can apply by emailing platform@facebook.com, with anything from an idea to an already-launched application.
The idea, said Zuckerberg, is for developers to be able to see if their ideas pass muster with the members of the “great distribution vehicle” of Facebook. That is, instead of passing muster with the inhabitants of the conference rooms on Sand Hill Road.
Thanks for the info. I’ve now mailed my Facebook app idea after seeing this post. Waiting with fingers crossed for the funding to arrive ;)
Yahoo’s internal build vs. buy calculation hinges on $10 million. Maybe if Fb/VC figured they could invest in 50 ideas and get one worth acquiring, they’d be ahead of the game.