Tim Draper, venture capitalist and founder of Draper Venture Network, has invested $3.5 million (around ₹24.93 crore) in Tribe Theory, an entrepreneur-focused hostel chain present in multiple locations across the world.
Draper has been an early investor in more than 30 unicorns including Hotmail, Skype, Tesla, SpaceX, Baidu and Bitcoin.
Tribe Theory is present in eight international locations, including Bali, Singapore, Yangon, Estonia, Manila, Lisbon, as well as two locations in Bengaluru. They all will be rebranded to Draper Startup House (DSH).
DSH is an entrepreneurial-centric accommodation located in the heart of Koramangala and Indiranagar for start-ups. The investment will enable the Singapore-headquartered hostel chain Tribe Theory to rebrand to DSH and form the international division of the business.
Last March, Tribe Theory raised about $740,000 (₹5.27 crore) in seed funding from Superangel, Aurum Investments, and REAPRA.
Katie Russel and Daniel Wiegand co-founded the parent company DSH in the US. This operates the US business activities and oversees minority stake in international partnership.
In addition to the short- and long-term accommodations offered by DSH, entrepreneurs in India will get a co-working space, custom programming focused on entrepreneurship, and access to VC funding.
They will also be able to submit their pitch decks to the Draper Venture Network, which has 23 global funds.
“Becoming an entrepreneur can be a life-changing experience and helping startup founders realise their dream has been our mission.
Tim and the Draper Venture Network coming onboard and us rebranding will help make the Silicon Valley ecosystem accessible and inclusive to every Indian entrepreneur, not just unicorns,” Shashikiran Rao, Co-founder (Europe & India) for Draper Startup House, said in a statement.