Introducing the Wayfund: Here to fund and support Wayfair alumni and their startups.

After successful leadership roles at Wayfair, the world’s largest online destination for home, a group of successful former Wayfair leaders have launched Wayfund, a Boston-based syndicate investing in Wayfair-born startups. In addition to pre-seed and seed round funding, Wayfund’s 150+ members will foster support, community, and mentorship for Wayfair alumni founders, operators, and investors.

Their mission? To support 100 Wayfair alumni founders by EOY 2022.

“This grew out of the desire of many of us to organize the Boston Wayfair mafia towards helping our fellow alumni build winning startups. There’s so much intellectual horsepower, hustle, and camaraderie amongst this group of Wayfair operators that it would be a shame not to capture it and use it for good. With Wayfund, we’re going beyond the traditional model of offering investment dollars to startups; what we’re offering is investment + Operator’s expertise and time. Practical, hands-on support from experienced high-growth Operators who have scaled Boston’s #1 consumer company: Wayfair. The impact this organization will have on not just our fellow alumni founders, but also Boston tech, will be massive. I firmly believe that.” - Ryan Durkin, Wayfair alum.

Wayfair’s massive employee and alumni base, combined with their quantitative, scrappy reputation, have the opportunity to transform the ecosystem. And they are already driving change. The alumni have made investments in three companies already over the past six months, and have leant over 1,000+ hours of collective time. Many Wayfund companies are venture and angel funded. Many are profitable. Many are just starting out on their journeys. The group supports anyone willing to take the risk to start something on their own and try to change the world for the bette; big or small, high-growth or lifestyle, venture funded or profitable.

The Wayfund Steering Committee is representative of the decade+ years of Wayfair’s existence and is composed of Ryan Durkin (Wayfair 2013 - 2016), Meredith Mahoney (Wayfair 2010 - 2018), Joe Noonan (Wayfair 2008 - 2012), Aaron Bieber (Wayfair 2013 - 2020), and Lauren Taylor (Wayfair 2014 - 2018). Together they are stewards of the 15+ companies, the 150+ alumni members, and the future of the organization.

Existing startups founded by Wayfair alumni include Perch, Wonderment, Lantern, 3XR, RapDev, Mombox, GoodPath, LeaseUp, The Good Face Project, Coworkly, The Operators, and more.

If you’re a Wayfair alumni starting a company, a Wayfair alumni looking to donate your expertise and invest, then get involved and get in the game. It’s way more fun than watching from the sidelines. ;)