Outlier Ventures, the European blockchain accelerator ecosystem, today announced that Polygon, the Ethereum scaling platform – has been chosen for Outlier’s latest Base Camp Accelerator program.
To date, Outlier Ventures has accelerated more than 90 Web3 startups since 2014 and has grown a network of thousands of blockchain founders through its Ascent advisory program and quarterly Diffusion community event. Outlier Ventures is uniquely positioned to stimulate developer activity and growth on the Polygon network by collaborating with mentors from Polygon and its ecosystem players to host this rigorous five-month accelerator program.
Polygon
The Polygon ecosystem emerged in 2021 as a hub for scaling Ethereum-based apps, collecting more than $10 billion in value locked in the ecosystem through bridges from Ethereum, and hundreds of millions of dedicated venture capital is anticipated to enter the space to fund startups building on Polygon.
Following its success with the launch of ecosystem accelerators with the likes of Polkadot and Filecoin, Outlier Ventures is looking for a variety of teams using Polygon — from crypto natives to Web2 founders and enterprise professionals — to build high-growth startups and decentralized apps and networks.
Now open for applications, the Polygon x Base Camp Accelerator program will begin in early 2022.
Up to eight teams will join an intensive five-month program that supports founders with fundraising, community growth, token design and implementation, business model innovation, and governance, in addition to gaining access to Outlier Ventures’ mentor network of leading Web3 founders.
The accelerator will also serve as a catalyst for founders developing their projects within the context of Outlier Ventures’ Open Metaverse thesis, a toolkit for design alternatives based on principles of user-centricity and sovereignty of identity, data, and wealth.
Projects will be selected for the cohort-based upon their ability to grow the Polygon ecosystem, with a focus on the following use cases and tooling:
NFTs & Gaming
- NFT franchises and media studios
- NFT marketplaces
- Play-to-earn games
Gaming Ecosystems & Infrastructure
- Game studios
- Gaming engines
- No-loss lotteries
- Decentralized music royalties
Infrastructure
- B2B solutions & services supporting Polygon
- Developer tools and smart contracts
- DAO infrastructure
- IoT infrastructure
- File storage
- Oracles and data curation
Middleware
- Wallets and access services cross chain
- Sustainability and environmental impact
DeFi
- Decentralized banks and related services
- Crowdfunding DApps
- Yield aggregators
- ESCROW services supporting Polygon
- Multi-chain DEXes
- DeFi/gaming combos
- Insurance initiatives
- Fixed Interest solutions
- Decentralized perpetual contracts
Services
- DeFi-related services supporting Polygon
- Decentralized social media
- Decentralized legal services supporting Polygon
- Identity and privacy-enhancing services supporting Polygon
- Supply-chain tracking
“Polygon has helped take the Ethereum ecosystem to the next level, making new use cases possible that require low fee and high throughput transactions, so it was a natural partner for us to help accelerate the Web3 ecosystem.”
– Jamie Burke, Founder & CEO of Outlier Ventures
Outlier Ventures aims to invest in a diverse founder base and encourages teams from all backgrounds and especially those from communities that are underrepresented in the Web3 and tech industry to apply.
“As the leading solution for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development, It is vital to support and encourage development on Polygon as the network becomes essential for broader Web 3 growth. As such, we’re delighted that Polygon has been chosen for Outlier’s latest Accelerator program. Following the successes of the previous accelerators, we have high hopes that the program will discover the best the Polygon network has to offer to help drive developer activity and expedite ecosystem growth.”
– Sandeep Nailwal, Co-Founder of Polygon