This is not your typical pitch event.

This is the first venture platform of its kind built exclusively for student founders. A Strategic Partner of Junior Achievement, 3F gives the world's most promising young innovators access to real seed capital, institutional due diligence, and career-defining credentials through a single global marketplace.

Any founder aged 27 or below can apply at no cost. Every venture is audited by a team of analysts trained and compiled into a professional-grade Lookbook. 

Investors review the Lookbook and choose which ventures to back. The top founders pitch live at the Global Finals in late 2027, where real investment decisions are made.

Funded founders receive investor capital paid directly to their company, with no cut taken, plus executive mentorship from a JA Worldwide senior partner, a private 1-on-1 with a world-renowned entrepreneur and access to the JA Worldwide network. Every finalist also earns a market-validated credential that carries real weight with universities and employers.

3F is a platform, not a fund. Backers invest directly in the venture they choose, under a standard agreement with its founder. 3F never holds or passes on their money and charges no management fee. There are three tiers: Venture Fellow ($50–$250), a small post-money SAFE in one venture; Venture Partner ($1,000+), a share of the venture's revenue until the backer has received 1.5× their contribution; and Key Venture Partner ($5,000+), equity through a post-money SAFE with a $750K valuation cap and no automatic right to invest in future rounds. In return for finding this capital, ventures that raise through 3F grant the 3F LLC equity equal to 10% of what their investors receive, added on top and never taken from investors. Early-stage ventures are high-risk: invest only what you can afford to lose.

Contact us at contact@futurefounders.fund to receive our full investment terms guide.

Investors put money straight into your company, so finalists need three things in place: a registered company (a legal entity), a business bank account in the company's name, and an operating agreement setting out who owns what and how decisions are made. We'll introduce you to a formation partner who can set all of this up with you and run a session explaining each document. Using our partner is optional: your family can use its own lawyer instead. If you're under 18, a parent or guardian signs the agreements alongside you.

Every investment agreement is signed directly between your company and the backer. 3F supplies standard templates based on Y Combinator's post-money SAFE but is not a party to them, and never receives, holds or passes on backers' money. Every backer in the same tier gets the same terms. A SAFE is not a loan: there is no interest and you don't owe the money back. It converts into shares when you raise a formal priced round, calculated as if your company were worth the $750K cap, however high your valuation grows. For example, $5,000 at a $750K cap converts as if you were worth $750K even if you later raise at $3M.

3F charges no management fee and takes no cash from any investment. In return for finding your venture this capital, you sign a short Founder Participation Agreement with the 3F LLC before the Global Finals. The 3F LLC receives equity equal to 10% of the equity your 3F investors receive when their SAFEs convert: if they receive 20%, the 3F LLC gets 2%. It is added on top and never comes out of their money. The 3F LLC may also invest alongside your other investors in future rounds, on the same terms. If you choose to use our formation partner, the partner may pay 3F a referral fee. Your backers are told about all of this before they invest, and it appears on your cap table.

No. Neither backers nor 3F get board seats or decision rights, and the 3F LLC's stake carries no say in how you run your company. Before you commit to anything, you'll receive the full terms in plain language. Read them in full, share them with a parent, mentor or advisor, and ask us anything before you sign. We're working with counsel to finalise each agreement. Nothing here is legal advice.

Most student pitch events end with a trophy. This one ends with real capital deployed — investment decisions made by real investors who chose the ventures they wanted to back.

The ventures are vetted like real deals, the investors are real, and the outcomes are real.