Draper B1

One-liner: a Valencia-based seed & early-stage VC (~€30M fund) — the Southern-European arm of the global Draper Venture Network (founded by Tim Draper, early backer of Tesla, SpaceX, Skype, Baidu, Hotmail) — offering fintech/blockchain/future-of-work equity plus genuine global corporate and investor access, not just capital.

What a founder gets

• Seed/early-stage equity investment (~€30M fund size) — dilutive, standard VC terms.
• Hands-on, active portfolio management: Draper B1 markets itself explicitly as "more than money" — hands-on investors who stay involved post-check, not passive capital.
• Global network access via Draper Venture Network: a 25+-firm independent VC network spanning multiple cities and funds worldwide (exact city/fund/portfolio-company counts are dynamic figures on the site, not static — confirm current scale directly), headquartered conceptually in Silicon Valley with a dedicated team facilitating cross-network growth.
• Direct introductions to Tier-1 global corporates: portfolio companies can request bespoke connections to companies like Amazon, Apple, Dropbox, Oracle, PayPal, and Samsung — described as "the most effective business development tool around."
• Annual CEO Summit: founders get access to leading global thinkers and operators — named past speakers/connections include Elon Musk (SpaceX/Tesla/Neuralink/OpenAI/Boring Company), Brian Armstrong (Coinbase co-founder/CEO), Sam Harris (author/neuroscientist), and Justin Kan (ex-Y Combinator partner, Twitch/Justin.tv co-founder, Atrium founder) — genuine high-tier network exposure beyond typical seed-stage VC perks.
• Track record: 100+ tech funding rounds and exits — a meaningful proof point for a Valencia-based seed fund's execution history.

Who it's for

• Seed-to-early-stage tech startups, historically leaning toward fintech, blockchain, and future-of-work/future-of-commerce — but the fund frames its mission broadly as "entrepreneurs who are innovating and transforming the way we live and work," so don't over-narrow the thesis without direct confirmation. #status/verify
• Best fit for founders with global ambition: the fund's clearest differentiator is cross-border network access (corporates, co-investors, talent), which matters most to startups planning international expansion, not purely local plays.

How to engage

1. Pitch directly via draperb1.vc — "Send your deck" is a first-class site action; no formal open-call structure, this is standard VC direct-outreach.
2. Warm intros help materially: through Startup Valencia, Lanzadera, angel networks, or existing Draper B1 portfolio founders.
3. Expect standard VC diligence (team, traction, market, defensibility, path to scale); rolling process, no fixed deadline.
4. Named contacts: Enrique Penichet García (Founding Partner — flagged in contacts.csv as a super-connector, the best identified entry point) and Raquel Bernal (Managing Partner / Investment Director, seed/fintech/blockchain focus). Both reconfirmed live on the site's /team page as of 2026-07-05, titles unchanged.
5. See Draper B1 (Program) for the full step-by-step fund/instrument page (amount, deadline framing, and pairing suggestions with non-dilutive instruments).

Key facts

• Fund size: ~€30M, Valencia HQ, seed & early-stage focus.
• Network scale: part of the Draper Venture Network, a global network of 25+ independent VC firms sharing best practices and portfolio support, with a dedicated Silicon-Valley-based team; the site displays live city/fund/portfolio-company counters rather than fixed published numbers — treat exact figures as dynamic. #status/verify
• Track record: 100+ tech funding rounds and exits across the portfolio.
• Founding/branding: site copyright dates to 2020 ("© All rights reserved | 2020 DraperB1"), suggesting the fund/brand has been operating in its current form since at least 2020; formerly associated with Bbooster per the page's alias history — confirm the exact relationship/timeline between Bbooster and Draper B1 directly. #status/verify
• Value-add mechanism: explicit three-part pitch — (1) network opportunities (tech ecosystem, investor/VC/founder community), (2) track record (100+ rounds/exits), (3) B2B connections (Tier-1 corporate access via Draper Venture Network).
• Corporate access list (named on-site): Amazon, Apple, Dropbox, Oracle, PayPal, Samsung.
• Full team (per /team page, captured 2026-07-05 — team has grown since the 2026-07-02 homepage/about-us-only capture): Core team — Enrique Penichet (Founding Partner), Raquel Bernal (Managing Partner, Investment Director), Luz Adell (Managing Partner, CFO), Jon Etxeberria (Principal), Ana Álvaro (Principal), Luis Treviño (Associate), Elena Company (Legal Counsel), Teresa Ramos (PR & Communications), Cecilia Ullmann (Back Office). Venture Partners — Tim Draper (VC Investor), Wesley Worth (Finance Expert), Jaime Cavero (Early Stage Mentor), John Nahm (Business), Juan Leal (Product), Victor Donet (Technology).
• Portfolio breadth confirmed (2026-07-05, /portfolio page): ~75+ named companies. Exited: Traventia, Skitude, Signaturit, We Are Jeff, Unibo, Billage, Civitfun, Koibox, Aiudo. Active (sample): Fourvenues, Arkadia Space, Maire Health, Criptan, Vottun, Splight, Sycai Medical, Cronoshare, Dcycle, Reloadly, Usizy, and 60+ more — consistent with the "100+ tech funding rounds and exits" claim.

Relations

• Runs: Draper B1 (Program)
• See also: Fintech (niche)
• See also: Startup Valencia
• See also: Lanzadera