Communities
What communities are and how to participate
Communities on Play Money are groups of investors who share interests, networks, or investment goals.
What Is a Community?
A community on Play Money is a group of investors organized around a shared network, organization, or investment interest. Most of them existed before they arrived here. Communities might represent:
Angel groups & syndicates
Investor groups that pool knowledge and co-invest together.
Alumni networks
University and educational communities with shared backgrounds.
Accelerator communities
Communities like YCombinator or Techstars alumni and supporters.
Professional networks
Industry groups and professional investment communities.
Each community has its own deals, members, and investment activity.
How to Discover Communities
- Through a signup link — Many investors arrive through a community's own signup link. Signing up that way connects you to the community
- On deal pages — Deals shared with a community show that community's badge
- On member profiles — An investor's profile shows the public communities they belong to
What You Will See on a Community Page
- Header — Cover image, logo, name, website, and location
- Stats — Deal and member counts, a few member photos, and how many members are already in your network
- About — What the community is and who runs it
- Deals — Open deals first, then the deals that have already closed, shown in grey. The closed ones are the community's track record
- Members — Who else belongs, with the option to follow or message them
Members and deals counts are derived from real activity, so they change as the community does.
Joining a Community
The most common way in is a community's signup link. When someone from the community shares their link with you, signing up connects you to it.
If you find a community another way, you can ask to join it from its page. Your request goes to that community's leads, who approve or decline it. You'll see the request marked as pending until they decide, and you can cancel it any time before then. If a request isn't accepted, you can ask again later.
Some communities are connected to specific deals. If you're granted access to a deal through a community, you become connected to that community as well.
Seeing Other Members
The member list is for members. Anyone can see a public community's page, its stats, and its deals, but the names of the people in it are visible once you belong.
Once you're a member you can:
- Search the member list by name
- Follow other members, so their activity reaches your feed
- Message members you're connected to
- Filter your Network page down to one or more of your communities
Your own community page also shows where you stand: when you joined, and how many other members you already follow.
Community Leads
Every community has leads. They're the people who run it, and they review requests to join. Leads appear first in the member list, so you can always tell who to contact.
Leaving a Community
You can leave a community from its page. Leaving removes your access to that community's deals, and you can ask to rejoin later. If you're a community's only lead, you'll need another lead in place before you can leave, so the community isn't left without anyone running it.
Common Questions
How are communities created? Communities are created and managed by the Play Money team in partnership with community leaders and organizations.
Can I create my own community? Community creation is managed by the platform. If you lead an investor group, contact our team to discuss partnership options.
Do I need to join a community to invest? No. Communities are optional. You can browse and invest in all open deals regardless of community membership. Some deals are only shared with specific communities.
Can I be a member of multiple communities? Yes. You can belong to several and see deals from all of them. The Network page lets you filter by any of them.
Why can't I see who else is in a community I haven't joined? Member names are one of the things you get for belonging. Counts, deals, and the community's description are public.