Foresight Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Singapore, has launched the third part of its $10 million accelerator for blockchain and Web3 companies as part of a $30 million pledge for incubating Web3 startups.
The third $10 million cohort, according to an announcement made on December 19, will be invested in companies that specialize in direct-to-consumer protocols, Bitcoin Ordinals, and artificial intelligence.
Qualifying businesses will receive initial funding ranging from $200,000 to $500,000 during the application period, which concludes on January 15, 2024.
In addition, co-founders will be granted mentorship, an opportunity to attend an offline demo day the following year, and access to various internal resources within the Foresight portfolio of ventures.
“A discerning panel will assess applications, and a selection process will determine which candidates advance to subsequent interviews; generally, between 20% and 40%.” According to the firm’s written statement, an in-depth examination lasting an hour will follow video interviews of approximately twenty minutes.
A representative of Foresight stated in an interview with Cointelegraph that the firm has observed an increase in the volume of financing and transactions involving startups within the Web3 venture capital ecosystem, resulting in greater liquidity.
“However, as startups that survived the bear market remain eager to close fundraising quickly, the average valuation has not increased significantly,” the spokesperson said.
In response to a question regarding advice for co-founders of blockchain startups, the spokesperson replied that the most effective course of action is to “quickly close primary market fundraising.”
In addition, they clarified that while delaying a better transaction might result in a greater valuation, doing so would require “valuable time away from operational expansion, hiring, and go-to-market strategies.”
“Timing is critical for public offerings during a bull market,” concluded the spokesperson.
For $60 million, Foresight acquired an 80% stake in the cryptocurrency media company The Block on November 13. Larry Cermak, the chief executive officer of the media company, described the acquisition as a “new beginning” amid the ongoing recovery of the cryptocurrency market and the organization’s previous association with the insolvent cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Following the announcement of its first $10 million crypto accelerator in November 2022, Foresight Ventures committed $10 million to its second accelerator in May.