Polynize Closes USD $1M Seed Round to Gamify and Tokenize Innovation
Strong support for bringing innovation onto the blockchain.
Polynize is pleased to announce the conclusion of a private seed round of USD $1M led by Borderless Capital. The round was marked by unexpectedly high demand across a diverse set of funds and angels, demonstrating an appetite within the investment community for a new, gamified way of doing early-stage innovation and IP creation.
“Imagine the ‘eSports of Innovation’ — gamified hackathons that run for millions of people, solving problems and minting IP as tradable NFTs for every industry.’ — says Shourov Bhattacharya, Polynize co-founder — ‘That’s always been our vision. We’re looking forward to bringing that to life on Algorand.”
“The combination of the network effect of blockchain technology and the gamified model of Polynize will make incentivizing innovation possible at a global scale.” — says David Garcia, CEO and Managing Partner of Borderless Capital.
Investors and Partners
Polynize welcomes the following early investors in the seed round.
- Borderless Capital, a prominent VC fund driving growth and incubating innovation in the Algorand ecosystem
- SevenX Ventures, a premier crypto investment fund in Asia with a track record of early-stage support for DeFi, gaming and NFT projects
- MEXC, a global digital asset service provider, exchange and accelerator of early stage innovation in token projects
- Elves Long Term Capital (ELTC) & Cognitive Blockchain Capital, early investors on many Layer 1 blockchains and with deep ties with Algorand.
- Angel investors with networks and affiliations in both blockchain and private equity firms
Polynize is supported by the following partners:
- Meld Ventures, a blockchain investment firm building a strong portfolio across the entire Algorand network
- Algorand Inc
- Algorand Foundation
Background and History
Inspired by their experiences of creating globally successful commercial IP in music, software and media, the Polynize founders came together in 2018 with the vision of using play to make innovation accessible, successful and scalable across every industry. Since then, Polynize has been operating as a profitable off-chain business — building and validating an analogue creativity game system that brings diverse groups of people together to solve real world problems and generate tangible IP.
In early 2021, the founding team decided to port the Polynize game onto the blockchain to create a digital platform that can reach global audiences. They connected into the Algorand community and quickly found themselves in the perfect ecosystem.
“The Algorand community has the right mindset and philosophy, with a focus on people and building great projects. They really got our vision and welcomed us.” — says Polynize co-founder Marrs Coiro.
With early support from Meld Ventures and Algorand Foundation, the team was able to rapidly grow a network who share their mission of “tokenizing innovation” and building a growth engine for Algorand and beyond.
Future Plans
With the seed investment, the Polynize team will port their proven analogue game mechanics onto the blockchain by building a digital “innovate-to-earn” platform with four components:
- an interactive “game engine” accessible on any mobile / PC device for players to create and earn from their creativity; and for investors and businesses to sponsor and direct innovation
- a rich data layer that quantifies the innovation process and creates data streams of valuable players and IP
- an NFT marketplace that mints game data streams into tradable “IP assets” with real value, utility and demand from investors and business
- the “Polyverse” — a hybrid metaverse that wraps Polynize in a coherent and entertaining gamified experience for all participants
Polynize has already assembled a world-class team of designers, engineers, executives and advisors to execute their build and go-to-market strategy over the next six months.
The platform will launch end of Q2 2022 with the inaugural Polynize Innovation Tournament for the Algorand ecosystem. The tournament will have the top-level mission of “minting the next big thing on Algorand”.
Longer term, the team has a focus on using the platform to:
- grow blockchain ecosystems by bringing in enterprises from global industry sectors who are currently outside of blockchain;
- pioneering an “innovate-to-earn” model for diverse user communities around the world
- providing a pipeline of innovation talent and IP for incubators and accelerators.
Founder Reflections
Polynize co-founder Shourov Bhattacharya reflects on raising seed finance for a project that is different to the norm:
“It was all about the story. Our project isn’t like the typical DeFi / crypto project, so we were unsure about how we’d be received. But we found that our backstory — of taking the process of innovation from our own work in music — really resonated. We’re thrilled to have found investors who are willing to go deep with us on our project.”
Co-founder Marrs Coiro says the scope of the project attracted a certain type of innovative investor.
“It’s great to see the moment the penny drops in a meeting and investors really understand the scope of what we’re building … that’s why we have some of the most forward-thinking investors on our cap table. We’re building technology that will not only change the way innovation is done, but also change the way investment in seed stage ventures is done in the future.“
Having originally met on the music festival circuit while playing in bands, the founding team has come a long way and is now committed to building their grand vision on Algorand.
“Polynize isn’t just a project for us — it’s really the culmination of both of our careers.” — says Shourov — “It’s just incredible to have found a group of amazing people who are willing back us in our life’s work.”
About Polynize
Polynize decentralizes and tokenizes early-stage innovation and brings it onto the blockchain by using a unique innovation game that solves real problems and mints valuable IP for every industry. Polynize was founded by Marrs Coiro and Shourov Bhattacharya.
Website: polynize.io
Twitter: https://twitter.com/polynize
