Pump.fun launches direct investment, spending 3 million USD to buy 12 new Memes

_Original | Odaily Planet Daily _Azuma

On the morning of January 20th, Pump.fun officially announced the launch of its investment arm, Pump Fund. Pump Fund will kick off its first project, Build in Public (BiP) Hackathon, this month, with a funding of 3 million USD, investing in 12 new tokens issued through the platform, with each token receiving 250,000 USD, corresponding to a valuation of 10 million USD. In addition to financial support, Pump.fun will also provide professional guidance—including its founders—and other valuable resources.

As the project with the strongest fundraising capability in the entire Meme track, it is memorable that this is Pump.fun’s first clear public statement through official channels, directly demonstrating support for specific Meme tokens with real money (compared to the scale of funding, attitude may be more important). Therefore, tokens selected are very likely to become seed candidates in the Meme track for the upcoming period.

Pump.fun’s Fundraising Power

Pump.fun’s exaggerated revenue capabilities are no secret. Data analyst Adam (@Adam_Tehc) compiled data on Dune showing that, Pump.fun’s total historical revenue has reached $954.8 million USD. Although daily revenue has significantly declined as Meme sentiment cools, daily earnings still amount to several hundred thousand USD.

Holding substantial real money, Pump.fun is also exploring other ecosystem feedback paths beyond PUMP token buybacks. Pump Fund and the affiliated BiP Hackathon are the latest attempts by Pump.fun.

BiP Hackathon Details

According to the dedicated page for the BiP Hackathon, the project aims to support founders who launch tokens and publicly build products on Pump.fun. Unlike traditional hackathons where participants rely on VCs or judges for evaluation to compete for prizes, BiP Hackathon hopes to introduce token performance as a variable, allowing the market to judge whether a project is worth advancing, while also enabling users to become the earliest investors in the project.

Regarding this key difference, Pump.fun founder Alon posted on X: “Before Pump.fun appeared, my co-founders and I tried many different ideas. Consumer finance, DeFi, SocialFi, NFTs—but all failed. One of the biggest problems we faced was that we found it very difficult to promote products to users. Reaching the right user groups was an extremely tedious task…”

Specifically, the requirements for the BiP Hackathon are:

• Participants must issue a token on Pump.fun and publicly build a product around it;
• Participants must hold at least 10% of the token supply to align interests;
• Finally, the event strongly encourages founders to speak openly on social media platforms like X or to livestream on Pump.fun to maintain effective communication with the community.

As for the types of projects eligible, Pump.fun has no restrictions, not limited to crypto-related products. Projects at different market stages and in various verticals are all welcome to participate.

Regarding how the 12 winning projects will be selected, Pump.fun has not provided specific rules but has clarified two main principles: first, organic user growth and genuine appeal are more important than personal connections and superficial promotion; second, besides the product itself and social media attractiveness, the event will also evaluate the long-term sustainability of the projects.

Important Dates to Watch

According to the BiP Hackathon schedule, applications opened on January 19th. Participants need to launch their tokens and start publicly building (including livestreaming development progress, sharing regular updates, and maintaining community interaction) at the time of application. The application window will be open for 30 days, and on February 18th, Pump.fun will announce the first batch of winning projects and provide funding (at least one will be announced). Considering some projects may need more time to attract market attention and demonstrate market appeal, this program will run long-term.

So, the timeline is quite clear. If you want to keep an eye on potential opportunities among these Meme tokens, you should start paying attention now to new token issuances on Pump.fun, especially those tagged with Pump Fund or BiP. Although the first batch of winners will be announced after 30 days, tokens that are likely to be selected by Pump.fun will have already shown competitiveness before then.

Overall, while Pump.fun’s activity may not significantly boost the collective sentiment of the Meme market, it at least offers some new tokens with clearer evaluation criteria.