On April 18, Aleph Zero announced it is launching a $50 million funding program for its layer-1 privacy-enhancing blockchain, which seeks to assist developer teams in building on its platform and advancing blockchain adoption worldwide.
Antoni Zolciak, the co-founder of Aleph Zero, stated in an interview that “the goal of the Aleph Zero Ecosystem Funding Program is to fund innovations from developer teams that expand the capabilities, functionalities, and adoption of the Aleph Zero blockchain.”
Additionally, Zolciak said that the program would support a variety of project concepts, ranging from proofs-of-concept to experienced teams with solutions for multiple platforms.
Aleph Zero seeks to entice developers by offering comprehensive support beyond grants, such as business viability, regulatory compliance, and community development.
The foundation aims to provide access to a dependable partner network and share its experience developing something from the ground up. Zolciak stated, “We hope to introduce a somewhat redesigned approach to how layer-1s can support builders that goes beyond providing grants.”
The Ecosystem Funding Program consists of grants, incubation, and acceleration at all phases of product development, with successful applicants receiving grant funding of up to $500,000 per project.
In addition, grantees will have access to Aleph Zero’s venture capital fund, infrastructure credits from Amazon Web Services, and security design consultations from Kudelski Security. The Aleph Zero partner network will also provide marketing, branding, user experience, product design, and operational support as required.
Magdalena Oleksy, ecosystem lead for Aleph Zero, said that “the Aleph Zero Foundation is actively seeking to support a diverse range of ecosystem-enhancing projects.
When selecting grant recipients, we consider the team’s ability to increase network usage and adoption, as well as their execution skills and the originality of their project. The foundation aims to promote innovation and creativity in proposal submissions.
The program’s pilot phase has already produced numerous projects, including the decentralized lending and borrowing protocol Abax, the NFT marketplace ArtZero, the domain name service AZERO Domains, and the unique dark metaverse experience DRKVRS, the enterprise-grade decentralized identity platform Gatenox, and the decentralized security platform Interlock.
Long-term contributors to the initiative include NxGen, Diamond Atlas Capital, BlackDragon, Necker Ventures, Hodl.nl and Hodl Ventures, Pragma Ventures, RR2 Capital, Cardinal Cryptography and Cardinal Ventures, Bellwether Rocks, and Offbeat.
Despite recent news regarding ecosystem funding, venture capital investments in cryptocurrency companies declined in the first quarter of 2023.
According to a report by Galaxy Research, the research arm of cryptocurrency investment firm Galaxy Digital, the $2.4 billion invested by venture capitalists during the first quarter of 2023 was the lowest amount invested since the fourth quarter of 2020.
As per the report, “companies building in the Web3, NFTs, DAOs, Metaverse, and Gaming subsector raised the most deals, while companies in the Trading, Exchange, Investing, and Lending subsector raised the most capital ($538m).”
Since reaching a peak of nearly $13 billion in Q1 2022, venture capital investments have been declining, with the most recent quarter’s results representing a decline of over 80% compared to last year.
