CASE STUDYDorm Room Fund
How Dorm Room Fund built an institutional IR function and closed its second fund at $50M against a $30M target
THE CHALLENGE
Dorm Room Fund (DRF) is the original student-run venture fund, founded in 2021 within First Round Capital and spun out as an independent firm in 2022. Since inception, it has backed more than 300 student-founded companies and, at any given time, invests through a team of roughly 60 student investors.
Founding General Partner Molly Fowler raised the firm's $12.5 million first fund through existing relationships. Her second fund targeted $30 million from institutional LPs she was meeting cold, which is a different raise: deeper diligence, higher expectations for materials, and a process that has to keep moving whether or not the GP has time that week.
Building the pipeline was the part Fowler could do alone. Working it required infrastructure Dorm Room Fund didn’t have: materials built for institutional diligence, a system holding every LP's status and next step, and someone owning the stretch between a verbal commitment and a wire. In December 2024, she re-engaged Strut (who had initially helped Fowler stand up the firm after the spinout) to build that function.
As a one-woman show, I couldn't keep up and do the razzle dazzle you need to run a tight fundraise. All the advice I was giving my founders, I was having a hard time living up to myself.
Molly Fowler, Founding General Partner
How We Helped
Set fundraising priorities week by week, meeting with Fowler to review the pipeline, decide which LPs needed attention, and divide the work between meetings.
Rebuilt the fundraising materials for an institutional audience, auditing the deck and data room, identifying missing diligence materials, and building them alongside the team.
Built and actively managed the LP pipeline, tracking status, likely commitment size, open questions, and follow-up timing so the raise no longer depended on one person's memory.
Took ownership of day-to-day LP follow-up, communicating directly with prospective investors, sending materials, answering questions, and keeping conversations moving between GP meetings.
Ran the diligence process, responding to DDQs and investor requests, anticipating common institutional questions, and turning around incremental requests, often within 24 hours.
Managed investors from verbal commitment through funding, coordinating with LPs, the fund administrator, and outside counsel to keep subscriptions from stalling.
Transitioned into ongoing IR support, carrying the LP updates that built momentum during the raise into annual meeting and LPAC planning, distribution communications, and preparation for the next fund.
The Outcome
IMPACT & VALUEDorm Room Fund closed its second fund at $50 million against a $30 million target. Within the first quarter, LPs received diligence materials, every prospective investor had a clear next step, and Fowler spent her time closing rather than chasing paperwork.
Today, Strut continues as Dorm Room Fund's investor relations partner, supporting LP communications, annual meeting and LPAC planning, and preparation for the next raise, with the finance team engaged on the audit.
Dorm Room Fund now has an IR function that can support the firm between raises, nurture a growing LP base, and scale again when the next fundraising cycle begins.
A lot of people give you advice and then stop there. The Strut team not only said, ‘Here are the changes we need to make,’ but they went in and did the work at a really high standard. Having several extra pairs of hands who had been around the block and knew what institutional-level excellence looked like made a real difference.
— Molly Fowler,
Founder General Partner