Vault Accelerator 2026 Apply

Vault Accelerator 2026 · A Lunar Strategy cohort

learn how to grow your DeFi product's TVL, and keep it there

A four-week live cohort for the founders and CMOs behind DeFi products. Win trust, earn distribution, and grow TVL, taught by operators who have launched over $1.5B of it.

Apply today See the four weeks
4 weeks
Live, 60 min each
Limited founder slots
Invite + apply
Live builds
In every session
Frameworks & Guides
Yours to keep

Why this cohort

DeFi products don't grow on APY. They grow on trust, distribution, and a credible incentive engine.

The market moves fast right now. AI is speeding everything up, including how quickly things get exploited, and LPs have responded by getting far more selective about where they deploy. They check for transparency and where the yield actually comes from before they look at the headline rate.

The teams growing now market their integrations, their proof, and their distribution. A high APY on its own does not bring capital in.

A DeFi team can understand its own strategy perfectly and still have no idea how to explain it, or how to get in front of the capital that matters. Founders have to nail both the plan and the execution, and closing that gap is what this program does.

We teach the exact go-to-market Lunar built for DeFi products, in four weeks you can run yourself.

The liquidity journey

How capital finds a DeFi product, deposits, and stays

Growing a DeFi product means moving capital down a funnel: from first hearing about you, to trusting you, to depositing, and then staying. Here is the path, and what moves capital at each step.

↩ referrals bring new attention Attention Trust Deposit TVL
Top of funnel
A depositor hears about the product
Content, founder and KOL posts, InfoFi and mindshare, PR, and listings on DeFiLlama and vaults.fyi.
Mid funnel
They check the receipts and trust it
Real-time NAV, proof of reserves, audits, track record, and curator reputation.
Bottom of funnel
They deposit. TVL.
The real-yield story, the incentive design, pre-deposits, milestone unlocks, and referrals.
Retention layer Capital stays, compounds, and brings more Sticky yield and lockups, steady reporting, and re-engagement keep TVL from leaving, and referrals feed new attention back to the top ↺
Stayslockups and sticky yield
Compoundsyield earns more yield
Refersdepositors bring depositors
Steady reporting Capital stays Compounds Brings referrals

The Sessions

Four weeks, one funnel

Each week is a stage in how a DeFi product goes to market: get the message right, build an audience that trusts you, bring in capital, then keep it and run the machine.

01
The message

Position the Product

Who's behind it, how it works, and why to trust it.

  • Who's behind it: your backers, team, and track record
  • The strategy in one sentence an allocator believes
  • The risk, and how you talk about it honestly
  • Your proof: TVL, audits, proof-of-reserves, NAV
  • How you pass all of this on to others clearly
ShipsProduct Positioning
02
Distribution

Distribution & LP Sourcing

The channels that move TVL, and how you source LPs.

  • The channels that actually move TVL, beyond content
  • How you source LPs and allocators directly
  • Get found where capital looks: DeFiLlama, vaults.fyi, ratings
  • Track where every LP came from
ShipsDistribution & LP Plan
03
Incentives

The Incentive Engine

Incentive design is the make-or-break.

  • Incentive design done right pulls sticky TVL, not mercenary capital
  • The structure: pre-deposits, milestone unlocks, referrals
  • A proven incentive playbook, adapted to your product
  • Paired with the real-yield story so it does not read as farming
ShipsIncentive Plan
04
Convert & keep

Launch, Retain & Run

Launch step by step, then keep the capital.

  • The launch sequence: build interest, then PR, then pre-deposits, then go live
  • The part everyone skips: retention and net flows
  • Why capital leaves and how to make it stay
  • The weekly rhythm and the scoreboard
ShipsGrowth Rails

What you leave with

  • 01
    Product PositioningYour backers, strategy, risk, and proof, in a story an allocator believes.
  • 02
    Distribution & LP PlanThe channels that move TVL, how you source LPs, and how you track them.
  • 03
    Incentive PlanAn incentive design that pulls real TVL, adapted to your product.
  • 04
    Growth RailsA launch sequence, a retention plan, and a 90-day operating rhythm.

Format & logistics

  • Length4 weeks, 1 live session/week
  • Session60 min: teach + live demo
  • CohortLimited founder slots, invite + apply
  • Between sessionsTelegram: homework, feedback, intros
  • StartsMid-late July 2026
  • CostFree to accepted teams
  • Take-homeThe full playbook, yours to keep

Who runs it

Jack
Jack

Has run multiple yield vault GTMs. Especially strong on relationship building and marketing vaults.

Shann
Shann

Builds go-to-market systems. AI-native, with deep experience running creative campaigns for DeFi vaults.

K

Vaults and liquidity expert, from Turtle. Launched Lido's Simple DVT product (0 to $1.5B TVL), raised $200M for a restaking product, and ran the 0-to-1 GTM for a $20M TVL vault.

Built for

For any team growing a yield-bearing product

For founders, CMOs, and growth leads that need to grow TVL and the trust behind it, from pre-launch teams bootstrapping their first liquidity to live vaults stuck on a flat curve.

01DeFi yield vaults
02RWA vaults
03Restaking & LRT vaults
04Perp DEX vaults
05Lending & credit vaults
06Structured-product vaults
07Yield-bearing stablecoins
08Neobanks with vaults
09AI-managed vaults

apply to the cohort

Limited founder slots, invite plus open application. Tell us about your product and we will be in touch.

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