For Solana founders

Build heavy Ship hard

The middle ground between the hackathon and the accelerator. We take Solana teams from working demo to fundable company — no batches, no equity upfront.

Get in touch What we do
Cost to founders
Free
Your equity
100%
Start
Now
Focus
Solana

The gap

Where projects stall

Fig. 01 After the demo, the build stalls

Too many projects die in the void between the hackathon and the accelerator — too far along for a weekend, not yet ready for a partner meeting.

Heavy Duty exists to close that distance. We’re not a traditional VC and we don’t run batches. We’re a continuous curation engine: we find high-potential Solana builders, harden what they’ve made, and put them in front of the programs that can take them further.

Services

The heavy lifting

Three jobs, done properly — everything a team needs to get from hackathon demo to venture-backed company.

  1. Radical feedback

    We break your assumptions before the market does. Direct, unsparing feedback on product, architecture and positioning, so the weak points are gone before an investor finds them.

    • Product
    • Architecture
    • Positioning

  2. Narrative design

    A pitch deck is load-bearing structure. We frame the story, calibrate every line, and turn your vision into a blueprint an investor can follow.

    • Story
    • Deck
    • Wording

  3. Capital access

    Skip the cold DMs. We open direct lines to the ecosystem’s heavyweights — the accelerators, foundations and tier-1 VCs that move Solana forward.

    • Accelerators
    • Foundations
    • Tier-1 funds

How it works

The pipeline

Our goal is simple: graduate you to the ecosystem’s giants. Heavy Duty acts as a pre-filter and proving ground for the programs below.

  1. Get in touch

    One email to the team. Tell us what you’re building and where it stands.

  2. Pressure test

    We take the product, the architecture and the market apart, and give you the findings straight.

  3. Build the case

    We shape the narrative and the deck until they hold up in a partner meeting.

  4. Graduate

    When you’re ready, we introduce you onward — with our vetting behind the introduction.

Where teams go next

Operators

Built by builders

We’re not VCs watching from the sidelines. We’ve been in the trenches.

Heavy Duty is run by operators who have shipped protocols, raised capital and navigated this ecosystem from the inside. We built the support we wish we’d had — the unfair advantage — and we give it to the teams we believe in.

Get in touch
  • Hard hats on site

    Operators, not observers

    We’ve shipped protocols and raised capital ourselves. The advice comes from the work.

  • Straight talk ahead

    Direct by default

    Straight feedback, early. If something will sink you, you hear it from us first.

  • Authorised teams only

    Selective on purpose

    We take on fewer teams so that every introduction we make carries weight.

FAQ

Straight answers

Everything you need to know before you get in touch.

How is this free for founders?

Our goal is a stronger Solana ecosystem, so we don’t charge founders. We work as a sourcing and pre-filtering layer that helps top-tier accelerators like Alliance DAO and Colosseum find the best teams, faster.

What kind of teams are you looking for?

Technical founders and high-conviction teams building on Solana. We look for a bias toward action, a deep understanding of the stack, and the ambition to scale through world-class acceleration programs.

How do you help us get into Alliance DAO or Colosseum?

Getting in is highly competitive. We give you a pre-filter advantage: we review your architecture, sharpen your pitch, and make sure your team meets the bar these programs expect. When we refer a team, the introduction carries the weight of our vetting.

Do we have to be building on Solana?

Yes. Our expertise and our network are rooted in the Solana ecosystem. We help teams use Solana’s performance to build products that wouldn’t be possible anywhere else.

What if we’re not ready yet?

We’re selective, because a referral from us has to mean something. If you’re not ready for an accelerator yet, we’ll be direct with our feedback. Our time goes to the teams with a real shot at the top programs.

What does getting in touch commit us to?

Nothing. It’s an email to the team, not an intake form. We read your message and reply to it — that’s all it’s used for.

Next step

Start your shift

We’re looking for the heaviest projects on Solana. If that’s you, write to us.

Get in touch

or write to team@heavyduty.builders