When Praneeth and Vinay were building int.ai, friends told them about Startup Chile, their first introduction to equity-free funding. Exploring further revealed nearly thirty similar programs across regions. Vinay suggested showing them on a map, built the interface, and they launched it as Equity Free Funding Stash.

They applied to Startup Chile and were selected for SEED Generation 17, attending from February to September 2017. During this time they renamed the project to YourFirstInvestor and expanded it with region pages, program profiles, and founder interviews. Swapna joined to track application deadlines and respond to queries. The newsletter went out every Wednesday.

In 2018, int.ai was acqui-hired by Walmart Labs India. They moved into full-time roles and the newsletter gradually stopped.

In 2021, they lost Vinay to COVID, and with him much of what he had built. A Notion page with fund listings was put together, but it was not actively maintained. The website stayed untouched for nearly five years.

In early 2026, Praneeth was speaking with Anji Beeravalli, a friend and fellow BITS graduate. When YourFirstInvestor came up, they decided to rebuild it. Anji had been a subscriber and understood the value it offered. He rebuilt the base from scratch, Praneeth returned to identifying and verifying programs, and Swapna resumed tracking dates and managing communication.

This version works differently. Application status and deadlines are visible directly on the site, so founders do not have to wait for the newsletter to know what is open. The definition of equity-free funding has been broadened, and corporate perks are on the roadmap. The newsletter is restarting on a biweekly schedule.