By Pete Townsend, Managing Director, Launchpool Web3 Techstars Accelerator

As the MD of the Launchpool Web3 Techstars Accelerator, I am thrilled to announce the ten outstanding Web3 startups that are now in residence with us in Dublin for this week’s launch of Techstars’ first chain-agnostic blockchain accelerator. In what is also Techstars’ first accelerator in Ireland overall, we are working with entrepreneurs building blockchain technology and tokenisation protocols driving towards our decentralised future.

Since joining Techstars in October to lead the accelerator in partnership with Alphabit Fund and Launchpool, I don’t think I’ve ever prepared for anything more intensely in my life since the Boston Marathon (many moons ago!).  In addition to conference panels, virtual fireside chats, podcasts and AMA sessions to get the word out, we engaged with or reviewed the applications of hundreds of projects and conducted over 150 founder interviews to narrow down to our Top 10.

As all Techstars programs are mentorship-led, we assembled a pool of over 100 incredible mentors including web3 experts, serial entrepreneurs, ecosystem connectors and advisors. We also built a great Techstars accelerator team with Hugh McGirr, Hannah Dobson, Saar Yazdi, Paula Palermo and Leslie Winston alongside our program CTO Tim Bos, entrepreneur in residence Dave Cunnigham, coach in residence Paul Smyth and counselor in residence Andrew Tzialli.

In partnering with Alphabit Fund and Launchpool, the access we’ve had to the wider Alphabit ecosystem including the likes of Shane McQuillan (VP Strategy, Alphabit) and Laura Walsh (CEO, Gamifi) has been outstanding.  They’ve been with us every step of the way as helpful partners, confidantes, and close advisors.

When we wrote our Web3 Investment Thesis in 2021, never did I imagine that things would all come together so well with our ten companies reflecting the thesis almost to a ‘T’. We wrote our thesis with one eye on the rearview mirror and one eye on the road ahead, having creatively crowdsourced the insights of leaders in web3 to help paint the picture reflecting our conviction.

We also used Packy McCormick’s definition of web3  - the internet owned by the builders and users, orchestrated by tokens - to anchor our conviction to the four key criteria of community, composability, incentivization and compounding that are at the core of web3.  

Beyond all else, through this cohort, we wanted to make web3 accessible, so we doubled down on founding teams whose projects enable the growth of web3 beyond crypto natives and into the wider society.  Ambitious, you say? Of course, but as web3 is such a massive opportunity, we set the bar high.

So now it’s go-time, as this week we just put ten web3 startups into a position to achieve 2 years of work in 13 weeks, and here they are!

Meet the companies: 

Barterchain -A peer-to-peer barterplace where members can swap or tokenize their skills and services

BigFan - Reinventing sports collectibles with officially licensed NFTs that provide access to Metaverse-driven fan experiences.

CrowdClass - A web3 protocol for online teachers to better monetize their courses and reward student engagement

Eczodex - The next generation of financial products powered by tokenised data assets for institutions and individuals

LiveDuel - DeFi-powered digital sports markets and live fan engagement

MegaFans - Mobile esports platform bridging web2 to web3 for gamers and enabling game developers to increase their player lifetime value

Securo Finance - A secured, compliant and easy to use DeFi platform for crypto investors

Staxe - Enabling music and creative productions’ economies in web3

Vyper Protocol - Risk management for DeFi applications on Solana

Your Diamonds - Enabling the diamond industry to solve old world problems through digital technologies and web3

You can listen to all of the founding teams introduce themselves on this week's episode of the MoneyNeverSleeps podcast.

So with our kickoff now behind us including our April 5th launch party at our HQ at Huckletree D2 in Dublin, it’s time to rock and roll, see you at Demo Day in Dublin on June 30th! 

(Artwork/portraits created by KassieLilly)

About Techstars

The Techstars worldwide network helps entrepreneurs succeed. Founded in 2006, Techstars began with three simple ideas—entrepreneurs create a better future for everyone, collaboration drives innovation, and great ideas can come from anywhere. Now we are on a mission to enable every person on the planet to contribute to, and benefit from, the success of entrepreneurs. In addition to operating accelerator programs and venture capital funds, we do this by connecting startups, investors, corporations, and cities to help build thriving startup communities. Techstars has invested in more than 2,500 companies with a combined market cap of more than $200B. www.techstars.com

About Alphabit

One of the first regulated crypto asset funds, Alphabit has forged a reputation for investing in companies at the cutting edge of the blockchain revolution. Alphabit believes, supports, and invests in the decentralised economy of the future, with a generous portfolio of startups, protocols, and DeFi solutions that address an alternative to the traditional financial systems. www.alphabit.fund 

About Launchpool

LaunchPool is a regulatory compliant initiative which was started in 2020, by the Alphabit Digital Currency Fund with the aim of providing fair guaranteed access to early stages of project raises to the retail community. With the ethos  of ‘Egalitarian Investment’, Launchpool counts over 35,000 investors across the world who believe in the idea of being your own VC, while supporting the startups ecosystem with a minimum viable community, resources, access to funding opportunities, and enabling partnerships across the blockchain ecosystem.  www.launchpool.xyz

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