Medici Explained: Funding, Onboarding and What's Next

Welcome and thank you

Over the last few weeks, many of you have joined our early access program. We're thrilled to have you onboard.

We’ve also received a ton of great questions, so we thought we’d answer the most common ones in one place. If you have more, feel free to leave a comment. We’ll keep updating this post.

How does Medici work?

If you’re a student and you've signed up already, you know the basics:
You join our platform, complete your profile and once it’s ready, we make you visible to donors.

But what does visible mean?

Right now, donors have access to a beta version of our student search tool. They can filter students by university, program, degree, state and more. We’re also building an AI-powered search, where donors can simply describe who they’d like to support and we help match them with students who fit that description.

Are donations guaranteed?

No. Not yet. We’re still in early days, which means we’re actively reaching out to philanthropists, universities, funds and individual donors. We’re building tools for all kinds of giving, including:

• Large fund distribution
• Subscription-based giving (e.g. $30/month automatically distributed to students who match their preferences)
• Matching algorithms and ranking systems to help students stand out

But today, funding is not guaranteed. We’re working hard to make Medici the preferred way to distribute scholarships and fund education, but we’re not there yet.

If you’re a student using the platform:
Think of Medici as a potential supplement to your other sources of funding, not a replacement, at least for now.

Can I reach out to donors directly?

Yes and you should! While donors on the Medici network could find you through search, we’ve also seen students take the initiative and share their profile links with their personal networks.

Every student has a personal Medici payment link, which donors can use to contribute directly. Feel free to share it in your email signature, LinkedIn profile, or anywhere else. We’ve already seen some students write to us with a “fund me on Medici” signature.

It’s your profile. Use it however makes sense.

What’s in it for Medici?

A few of you have asked if we’re a nonprofit. We’re not.

Medici is a for-profit company, but one focused on solving a clear market gap: how hard it is for students to access funding transparently.

We charge a small 2% fee on every donation, which we've temporarily waived for now. That’s what funds our platform, outreach and infrastructure. And it also gives us the right incentive: if you get funded, so do we.

How does the onboarding work?

Here’s a quick overview of the student onboarding process:

1. Join the invite list
   You’ll get an email when you’re eligible for full onboarding.
2. Fill out your details
   This includes your academic background, funding needs and wallet address.
3. Submit your profile
   Once submitted, you’ll get a public profile link and access code.
4. (Optional) Verification call
   We usually schedule a short call to verify documents and confirm details. If verified, you’ll receive a badge on your profile.

We plan to reinstate the verified badge in the coming weeks. When we do, we’ll reach out to schedule a quick 5-minute call to confirm your identity and complete onboarding. Until then, if you've finished creating your profile and updated your crypto wallet address, you're all set.

Does profile completion matter?

Yes, we've built our donor search algorithm to prioritize:

• Students with complete profiles (especially wallet addresses)
• Students who signed up early

So, if your profile is only half-filled, you’re unlikely to show up among early search results.

What about data privacy?

We’ve received a few questions on how we handle your data. Here’s the short answer:

• Everything you enter is meant to be shown publicly.
  That’s how donors know who you are and how to support you.
• We never reveal your email address.
  We communicate with donors on your behalf if needed.
• Only share your public wallet address.
  Never your private key.
• We store your data only while you’re enrolled with us.
  When you leave the platform, it’s deleted entirely.

Haven’t heard from us?

If you signed up before December 5, 2025, you should have received at least one email. If not, here’s what could’ve gone wrong:

• It landed in spam (please check!)
• There was a typo in the email you shared with us
• We made a mistake

Either way, write to us at contact@medici.ac or leave a comment here. We’ll make sure someone gets back to you.

Our average response time is under a week.

How is Medici funded?

We received a grant from an investment fund. We’re also in conversations with investors who care about education access and want to help us grow.

If anything big happens, we’ll share it publicly.

Where can I follow updates?

We intend to post occasional updates on our TikTok page. That’s the best place to see what we’re up to.

Eventually, we’ll also make some of our donor insights public, so you’ll get a better sense of what they’re looking for. All donations will be visible on-chain anyway.