Non-traditional education is the concentration of all changing social norms and infrastructure, which is a signal of the start of a generational shift.
PIER
HI THERE. WE’RE PIER
The first network-driven investment group focused on nonconformist entrepreneurs with non-traditional education backgrounds
Non-traditional education includes: alternative education, bootcamp, dropouts, and self-starters etc, and we are open to other creative interpretations.
Ticket size: we currently use our personal capital. Typical investment is up to $100K through a SAFE at the following or first institutional round. But there are always exceptions of size and stage when we have strong convictions.
Investor network: a curated list of alt-edu alumni who are active in the capital markets (ongoing)
Why Pier
Pier
A pier connects people to boats and prepares them to sail away. We are selective in supporting early-stage founders with big drive and energy.
Root
The name resembles SF and all its piers, which also resembles where we all start and finish Minerva is important for the founding team.
Peer
It's pronounced like "peer," which emphasizes our strong culture and approach as learners and contributors.
There’s something bigger, as a system change
It’s a journey of navigating complexity and creating your own path. This community UNDERREPRESENTED by number but OVERREPRESENTED by entrepreneurial profile, which brings unique venture opportunities.
New Education Wave Talents
TO
Better-prepared entrepreneurs
OUR TEAM
A crew of people who pioneered new education and are building/investing in new norms.
Curator & Venture Partner
Partner at Fresco Capital. Early builder at Airbnb. Studied Finance & CS at Minerva as part of the founding class and holds a Master's in Behavioral Economics from NUS.
Co-founder at Zapt (YC W21). Studied Finance & Economics at Minerva, worked with a consumer & SaaS VC, and covered TMT and retail at Kapitalo.
VP, Focus: Consumer
VP, Focus: Crypto
Co-founder and CEO at Zerion. Studied Computational Science at Minerva and Make School. Previously, Founder of CryptoTrader. Before, he worked at Google and Jufy.
Advisor
Founding Advisor, Focus: Cognitive Science
Research affiliate at Harvard and Assistant Professor of Business at Minerva.
VP Alum, Focus: China, Research
Berkeley AI Safety Research Fellow. Chief of Staff in ZhenFund (Mr. Xiaoping Xu) and family office. Inaugural class student at Minerva with a business major.
More: Investor Network
Our curated list features investors who are alt-ed alumni and are actively building or backing new norms. See more details here.
Alexandra Silverman
Seasonal Advisor
Director of Operation at Founders Fund
OUR INVESTMENT
Meet Our Partnerships
(Exit) Founded by Aaron Rasmussen, co-founder and former creative director of MasterClass.
About: The world’s best for-credit online university-level courses for $400 (6-8X cheaper than current alternative)
Founded by Alisha Fredriksson and Roujia Wen
About: It builds carbon capture equipment for ships (for existing ships to reduce up to 95% of CO2 emissions)