Ton Foundation alumina Ian Wittkopp and Inal Kardan have launched Ton Ventures with an inaugural funding of $40 million for early-stage crypto projects. The new entity is expected to create the next generation of Telegram apps.
The new firm aims to connect investors with builders to boost growth on Ton. The fund is reportedly backed by individual private investors eager to support the long-term growth of the Ton ecosystem.
Fund to support startups in the Ton
The fund will support early-stage projects within the Telegram Open Network (Ton) ecosystem. With funding sizes of up to $500,000, the fund will support innovations around ways to send money over the internet.
The duo of Wittkopp and Kardan were previously engaged at Ton Foundation as director of Ton Accelerator and gaming lead respectively, and now want to invest in startups with the $40 million fund.
“The fundraise was very informal over a period where it began to make sense to make the move and go independent, but the full amount was raised around a month ago,” Wittkopp told The Block
Wittkopp expects the fund to be fully deployed within a year. Although it targets early-stage businesses, Ton Ventures will also participate in later stage deals, for instance large protocols that are joining the Ton ecosystem. According to Wittkopp, the terms on these will be ad hoc in nature.
Ton Ventures has already backed some startups such as Tradoor, Catizen, and Eva Protocol.
Ton Ventures to see birth of “billion-dollar companies”
Wittkopp is upbeat the first wave of Telegram and Ton blockchain adoption will result in the launch of “billion-dollar companies” across decentralized finance, ad/marketing, gaming, and regulated financial products that make use of the Ton blockchain.
“We will invest across the app level in those verticals as well as tooling that makes the development and monetization process for Ton ecosystem apps more seamless and higher quality.”
Wittkopp.
The Ton ecosystem has gained momentum on the back of its Ton blockchain’s unique integration with Telegram messaging app. Telegram’s wide user base which is estimated at around 900 million monthly active users gives Ton ecosystem’s an added advantage.
The platform has seen games like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin accessible through it as mini apps, enjoying a strong uptake. However, there are also concerns raised over the presence of bots. Commenting on bots in Ton based games, Wittkopp acknowledged that this is a thorny issue affecting Web3 games in general, adding the there were mechanisms in place to detect them and clean data within the open league.
Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/ton-ventures-launch-with-a-40m-for-startups/