VC Firm Sequoia Capital Begins Funding More Open Source Fellowships

By 2022 the VC firm Sequoia Capital had about $85 billion in assets under management, according to Wikipedia. Its successful investments include Google, Apple, PayPal, Zoom, and Nvidia.

And now the VC firm 'plans to fund up to three open source software developers annually,' according to TechCrunch, which notes it 'a continuation of a program it debuted last year.'
The Silicon Valley venture capital firm announced the Sequoia Open Source Fellowship last May, but it was initially offered on an invite-only basis with a single recipient to shout about so far. Moving forward, Sequoia is inviting developers to apply for a stipend that will cover their costs for up to a year so they can work full-time on the project — without giving up any equity or ownership.... 'The open source world is to some extent divided between the projects that can be commercialized and the projects that are very important, very influential, but just simply can't become companies,' said Sequoia partner Bogomil Balkansky. 'For the ones that can become great companies, we at Sequoia have a long track record of partnering with them and we will continue partnering with those founders and creators.'

And this is why Sequoia is making two distinct financial commitments to two different kinds of open source entities, using grants to support foundational projects that might be instrumental to one of the companies it's taking a direct equity stake in. 'In order for Sequoia to succeed, and for our portfolio of companies that we partner with to succeed, there is this vital category of open source developer work that must be supported in order for the whole ecosystem to work well,' Balkansky added. From today, Sequoia said it will accept applications from 'any developer' working on an open source project, with considerations made on a 'rolling basis' moving forward. Funding will include living expenses paid through monthly installments lasting up to a year, allowing the developer to focus entirely on the project without worrying about how to put food on the table.

Spotify, Salesforce and even Bloomberg have launched their own grant programs too, the article points out.
'But these various funding initiatives have little to do with pure altruism. The companies ponying up the capital typically identify the open source software they rely on most, and then allocate funds accordingly...'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.