Solana’s ecosystem is starting to heat up again, and two big developments stand out right now. Pump.fun recently launched its investment division, and the real-world assets sector in Solana has reached the 1B milestone.
Pump.fun, the popular Solana-based platform known for making memecoin startups ridiculously easy and attracting huge investments, recently launched the Pump Fund. Announced around January 19 to 20, 2026, the new fund aims to return the original projects in a more structured way, shifting the focus from memecoin hype to long-term growth.
Introducing the $3,000,000 Build in Public Hackathon
Brought to you by Pump Fund – pump fun’s New Investment Arm
It’s time to completely rethink how startup projects are built and funded.
Read more 👇 pic.twitter.com/l1TJcxv1J0
– Pump.fun (@Pumpun) January 19, 2026
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To get things started, they’re using the $3M Build in Public hackathon. Twelve projects will be funded, each receiving $250,000 at a $10M valuation, as well as hands-on mentoring from the founders of Pump.fun.
The interesting part is how it works. This is not a typical VC setup with pitch floors and closed meetings. Teams must launch their token on Pump.fun, post daily community updates, interact with the community, and build everything transparently. The real market determines who gets funded, not a committee behind the scenes.
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Could Pump.fun Be One Of The Best Crypto Investment Companies?
The launch of Pump Fund makes people wonder if this memecoin launchpad can be a serious platform for crypto investors. It’s a bold move, supporting 12 early stage projects through the Build in Public hackathon, with $250K each at $10M valuations and direct mentorship from founders. That said, it’s still early days.
To put things in perspective, the big players operate on a completely different scale. BlackRock operates in the institutional market with Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, managing billions of dollars.
A16z crypto pours billions into infrastructure, DeFi, and long-term tech bets. Paradigm is known for its big bullish play on equity and DeFi, while Pantera Capital has been investing in all crypto cycles for years. Fidelity and Grayscale manage the ETF and trust side with strong institutional exposure.
(Source: top crypto investment firms / Cryptorank)
The Pump Fund is still young. The model is innovative and native to Solana, forcing teams to launch tokens, build publicly, and prove real traction instead of behind closed doors.
At $3M, it’s more about developing the ecosystem than competing with big funds. If it can generate real winners and scale using Pump.fun’s revenue engine, it may create a niche for the early stage, initial investment. For now, he’s an interesting experiment to watch, not a major league contender yet.
FIND: Top Solana Meme coins to buy in 2026
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