Pump.fun has brought in a roster of crypto industry advisors for its $3 million Build in Public hackathon, including Polymarket, Delphi Digital, Pantera Capital, Kraken, Jump Crypto, Manifold Ventures, Arca, Draper Investments, Helius, Privy and 6th Man Ventures. The company disclosed the move in a media release issued on Jan. 28.
The program is open to founders at any stage, from early concepts to live products. Applications opened on Jan. 19 and will close on Feb. 18, though Pump.fun said some teams may receive funding before the deadline. The model is simple: ship early, share progress in public, and let real market behavior show which projects are gaining traction.
Advisors will engage publicly rather than judge submissions
Under Pump.fun’s structure, advisors are not serving as judges. They are expected to interact with projects in public, offer feedback, and help promising teams gain attention and distribution, but they will not score applications or formally choose winners. Pump.fun said market momentum will act as the main signal.
Alon, co-founder of Pump.fun, said AI tools have made it easier to build software, while access to early-stage capital remains hard to secure. The idea is to let builders prove demand first and let capital follow traction that has already shown up in the market. Delphi Digital co-founder Anil Lulla made a similar point, saying public building and direct learning from users are becoming more important. As software creation becomes more accessible, he said, market response often reveals which ideas have staying power better than private pitch meetings.
$3 million will be split across 12 teams through token-based deals
The hackathon will distribute $3 million across 12 selected teams, with funding delivered through token-based deals. Participants are required to launch a token on Pump.fun and keep a portion of the supply, a structure the platform says is meant to keep founders aligned with users. Teams must also publish regular updates during the build process.
Projects will be grouped into three tracks based on maturity, covering everything from early ideas to products already showing initial revenue signals. The program is open to both crypto-native and non-crypto teams, as long as founders are willing to operate transparently and let usage, trading activity and community engagement influence outcomes. According to Pump.fun, applications have already come in from prediction markets, consumer apps, DeFi, trading infrastructure, developer tools and AI-driven on-chain products.