UCLA · UC System — Founding Cohort, through Fall 2026

Pulli.

A scouting network for companies before they have a term sheet.

Undergraduates find them first. A panel of funds meets them second.

Apply · Scouts·Founders·Funds · Applications open now
01 — The Threshold

Before anyone
is looking.

A kolam starts as dots. Pulli, laid down in a grid, before dawn, before the line, before anyone has decided what the pattern will be. Only after are they connected — one unbroken line finding its way between them until a figure appears that was already there, waiting to be traced.

Pulli is that first layer for venture. The dots are founders, scattered across campuses, unremarkable on their own. The line is a small number of undergraduates who go looking. The figure is a portfolio nobody could see until someone walked the grid and traced it.

Pulli is built and run by Kolam Studio, the venture studio already backing early-stage founders in Bharat. This is the same conviction, reaching one layer further upstream — before a founder even knows to call themselves one.

02 — Three Tracks

Find them. Fund them.
Or become the line.

Pulli runs on three kinds of people. Pick the one that's you.

Scouts
You find the company before anyone else is looking.

What you do: Source and screen early-stage companies at your school. Write a structured memo. Two good ones a month is enough.

What you get: Reps on real deal flow. Written feedback from investors on every memo. Direct exposure to the funds on our panel.

Apply as a Scout ↓
Founders
Get looked at before you're in the funnel.

What it takes: Under 90 seconds. Tell us what you're building.

What happens: A scout reviews it. If it holds up, it goes to the panel.

Apply as a Founder ↓
Funds
Sit on the panel that sees this first.

What you get: Deal flow from campuses your fund doesn't usually reach — UK, India, US.

What you commit to: Reading memos. Taking first meetings when something's real.

Apply as a Fund ↓
03 — The Line

The shape a cohort
is meant to take.

This is the intended shape, not a result yet. Pulli is a founding cohort, not a track record.

  1. Sourcedi
  2. Screenedii
  3. Memo writteniii
  4. Partner meetingiv
  5. Diligencev
  6. Investedvi
04 — Apply

The invitation is
genuinely limited.

Founding cohort: UCLA, expanding to the UC system. Runs through fall 2026.

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