Arbitrum's first mentorship cohort raised over $1M in eight weeks

The Arbitrum Foundation has wrapped up the first cohort of its Mentorship Program, with ten participating teams collectively raising more than $1M across the eight-week initiative. The program drew 902 applications before 13 early-stage teams were selected from over 900 applicants, spanning AI, payments, real-world assets, and emerging DeFi. Demo Day winners and on-chain launches The program concluded with a Demo Day in July, where Carbon (@CarbonTerminal), LayerV (@layerv_official), T3tris (@0xT3tris), and Capa (@capa_fi) split a $100K prize pool. The program concludes with a Demo Day where teams present to leading investors and ecosystem partners, with the top teams receiving $100K in non-dilutive awards recognizing standout execution and progress. Five teams shipped on the @arbitrum testnet or mainnet during the cohort, while four built on Robinhood Chain (@RobinhoodCrypto). Robinhood Chain mainnet, powered by Arbitrum, went live on July 1, marking a significant milestone for the ecosystem. Structure and what comes next The eight-week program kicked off on April 13, 2026, focusing in its first month on product strategy, go-to-market, liquidity design, distribution, and fundraising, with each team paired with a dedicated mentor for biweekly one-on-ones and ongoing feedback from ecosystem leaders including Pendle, Variational, IOSG, and Horizen Labs. The final phase prepared teams for investor pitching, with Demo Day participation from partners including Pantera Capital and Electric Capital. The Foundation has confirmed a second cohort is planned, described as "coming soon." Sources: Arbitrum Foundation: Introducing the Arbitrum Mentorship Program Arbitrum Foundation: Meet the Builders, First Cohort Arbitrum Foundation: Builder's Block #017