Besides the funding, the handpicked projects will receive cross-industry mentorship from other Beacon contributors.
Beacon, a Web 3.0 accelerator has completed its inaugural program with 13 innovative blockchain startups that were presented during its Demo Day event. As reported by TechCrunch, the first Cohort graduating from Beacon, known as Cohort 0 was selected from a multitude of applicants from different countries and continents.
Beacon remains the brainchild of Sandeep Nailwal, Polygon co-founder with key contributions from top builders and executives in the broader Web3.0 ecosystem. The goal of Beacon is not far-fetched and it includes helping innovative minds get the exposure they need as well as financing.
Nailwal revealed that the startup was created when he remembered the struggles he faced along with his team while building out the Polygon Layer-2 blockchain protocol. Designed to graduate two Cohorts per year in Fall and Spring respectively, the first Cohort presented their ideas at the just concluded Demo Day.
“For Cohort 0, we spoke with over 1,000 projects to end up at 15 companies in Cohort 0 with 13 graduating at our Demo Day,” Nailwal said in an interview with TechCrunch. “With the current rate of applications for Cohort 1, we’re planning to land at a similar 1% acceptance rate.”
According to Nailwal, Cohort 0 is seen as the MVP of Beacon, implying that its growth and relevance may become a unique reference point for future Cohorts. The selected startups will be availed primary funding of about $250,000 at a post-money valuation of $8 million for future Cohorts according to Nailwal
Besides the funding, the handpicked projects will receive cross-industry mentorship from other Beacon contributors including but not limited to Jack Lu, CEO, and co-founder of Magic Eden; a handful of venture capitalists; Rob Behnke, co-founder of Halborn; Brendan Farmer, co-lead at Polygon Zero; Dan Kim, VP of business development and listing at Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN); and Miles Anthony, CEO, and co-founder of Decentral Games.
Insights into the 13 Web 3.0 Startups Graduated by Beacon
The 13 startups that revealed their ideas at the Beacon Demo Day event represented different aspects and embodied varying solutions in Web 3.0. These startups include Arcana, Blinkmoon, ChapterX, Colexion, Community Gaming, FastLane, Cubist, Meta Apes, Mystic Moose, Nillion, Davos Protocol, TimeSwap, and Ylide.
Arcana for instance is branded as a complete Web3.0 toolkit for developers, Blinkmoon, a Vancouver-Canada-based startup is a new, independent game development studio founded by industry veterans bridging the stunning world of visual effects to the immersive world of games.
Of all the startups presented, only Community Gaming is at the Series A funding level while others are at the Seed stage. As an ESports platform, Community Gaming was founded by Chris Gonsalves and offers Ethereum – and Solana-based blockchain payment technologies and provides players, organizers, and game developers tools to create, facilitate and participate in esports tournaments.
According to Beacon, the protocols are Chain-Agnostic, meaning they can easily interact with two or more protocols to further showcase the interoperability feature of the Web 3.0 world.
Benjamin Godfrey is a blockchain enthusiast and journalists who relish writing about the real life applications of blockchain technology and innovations to drive general acceptance and worldwide integration of the emerging technology. His desires to educate people about cryptocurrencies inspires his contributions to renowned blockchain based media and sites. Benjamin Godfrey is a lover of sports and agriculture.
