The Sandbox Invests $50m In Metaverse Startup Accelerator Program

The Sandbox, a metaverse subsidiary operated by Animoca Brands, has announced its commitment to support new startups aiming to build on top of its Open Metaverse.

The investment of US$50 million will be provided to Brinc, a venture capital and accelerator firm, with a new program planned out to serve between 30 to 40 blockchain startups per year.

Metaverse development is facing worldwide interests, with tech behemoths such as Meta Inc. (formerly Facebook) and Microsoft pouring vast amounts of investment into the new frontier. Brinc founder and CEO Manav Gupta sees metaverse platforms as a way of reducing carbon footprint exacted from physical products which may have unsustainable production processes.

“As digital experiences develop, we will find ourselves having fewer reasons to emit carbon to travel for work or play,” opines Gupta.

Dubbed as the Sandbox Metaverse Accelerator Program, the investment will see the platform allocating up to $250,00 for potential projects, with additional incentives for top-performing ones. Projects that qualify for the incentives will also be granted access to high-profile mentors and additional grants. According to The Sandbox, bonuses for blockchain projects building on its metaverse platform will come in the form of up to $150,000 worth of $SAND tokens, as well as $LAND rights, two digital assets within its metaverse.

Sebastian Borget, co-founder at The Sandbox, says that the accelerator program expands on the platform’s goal of supporting a new generation of metaverse entrepreneurs.

 “We’re especially eager to support underrepresented founders in their ambitions as they explore the infinite possibilities offered into The Sandbox ecosystem,” Borget shared.

Animoca Brands Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Yat Siu weighed in on the metaverse platform’s announced investment, saying that an open metaverse, one that’s not owned by single entity, represents an “incredible opportunity to create a participatory and collaborative nonzero-sum environment based on openness, equitability, user governance, and digital property rights.”

The accelerator program now accepts applications, with the first batch of investments slated for Q2 2022. The program will be operated from Launchpad Luna, an initiative launched by Animoca Brands and Brinc.

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