Indie .vc unveiled its Scout Program in late 2019 as a way to widen both its sourcing funnel and access to venture practice. The initiative recruited more than 200 “pilot” scouts from a 3 000‑person wait‑list and asked only that they introduce founders whose businesses fit Indie .vc’s revenue‑first thesis. When a referral resulted in an Indie .vc investment, the scout earned a USD 10 000 cash success fee immediately—no carried‑interest vesting, no capital at risk and no long‑term obligations.

Scouts operated entirely online. After a one‑hour onboarding webinar that reviewed Indie .vc’s funding model and submission form, they were free to work from any geography, meeting founders, sharing decks and completing a lightweight Google form that fed directly into the fund’s pipeline. Quarterly video calls with Indie .vc’s partners provided portfolio updates, sourcing tips and open Q&A, while a private Slack channel let scouts trade notes on markets, tools and talent.

Although Indie .vc sunset its fund operations in March 2021, the Scout Program demonstrated that straightforward cash incentives, paired with generous knowledge‑sharing, could mobilise a diverse, global community of operators and angels to surface capital‑efficient startups that might otherwise be missed by traditional VC networks. Over its brief life the scout network delivered dozens of qualified leads and helped Indie .vc back founders in verticals ranging from creative‑tools SaaS to direct‑to‑consumer health.

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Indie.vc is a venture capital organization that invests in companies and offers risk capital. Customers, revenue, and profitability are more important to them than investors, valuations, and the next fundable milestone. Real companies put their customers' requirements ahead of their customers' eyes.