Jul 21, 2021
Meet the 15 Startups going through to the NEAR Blockchain Accelerator Bootcamp
We’re super excited to announce we’ve chosen 15 exceptional startups to got through to the NEAR blockchain accelerator Bootcamp. These startups have brought us some exceptional solutions that they are building with blockchain technology and we’re excited to introduce them to you.
What set these startups apart
After announcing Shortlist 1 with 44 startups, we set up interviews with each of them to get to know them better. They were evaluated based on:
- Need for decentralization in the product’s use case
- Defensibility considering the size of the problem in market terms and the presence of existing solutions.
- Traction — what the founding team has done bootstrapped and more importantly to understand if they are committed to solving the problem.
- Ability to leverage the NEAR Protocol to build their solution
- The team in terms of product fit and their motivation towards committing to this endeavor.
These 15 teams stood out as best-suited to cross over to the Bootcamp phase. This accelerator is driven by a mission to identify projects that can be supported to provide solid solutions for real-world problems. With that said, we’ve also redirected the startups that weren’t invited to the Bootcamp to explore other opportunities in the NEAR ecosystem with support from NEAR’s Community Team.
Now, without any further ado, here are the movers and shakers you’ve been waiting for!
NEAR Blockchain Accelerator — Top 15
Argo Protocol
Founded by Prashant Maurya and Mitrasish Mukherjee, ArGo Protocol is a platform that enables enterprises, organizations, developers to easily ship their data on decentralized infrastructure with ease.
PredictRAM is a collective intelligence platform for predicting economic & financial markets events using predictive analysis, big data, and machine learning technologies using distributed ledger technologies. The PredictRAM team is founded by Subir Singh, Aashish Garg, Sheetal Maurya, and Dhairy Trip, and is based out of Delhi, India.
NFTGate
Founded by Arjun Naidu, NFTGate is unlocking the future of NFTs mainstream with gate-pad, gate incubation, gate gaming exchange. This Bangalore-based startup is building an IDO launchpad, solving key problems like lottery-based token allocation, with a guaranteed club-based allocation, giving high priority to retail investors in the early stages.
Moopay
Moopay is a startup that is building a solution that simplifies access to low fee payments in any currency with a single blockchain-based wallet. Moopay is co-founded by Ankur Grover and Kamaljeet Singh and is based out of Chandigarh, India.
Based out of Tallinn, Estonia, StartFi is set on simplifying the process of funding digital content. This content management platform uses NFTs via a marketplace and a launchpad to help content creators and celebrities manage their digital assets. StartFi is led by Mohamed Alkomy, Amy Moe and Rabie Almatarneh.
Investin
Investin is a startup based out of Hyderabad, India, founded by Anas Khader and Rehan Mohammed. This startup is a blockchain-agnostic decentralized fund management protocol that connects profitable traders with prospecting investors in a non-custodial/trustless manner just like Uber and Swiggy.
Founded by Ronald David, Genebloc aims to amalgamate genomics into the unbounded technology, While making it accessible and affordable to the general public. They’re based out of Bangalore, India
Founded by Aashay Doshi, Atul Chatur, Harsha Challa and Vedant Kadam, the Motodb blockchain is a new, open-source, public blockchain created entirely to incentivize the adoption, implementation and creation of physical, decentralized On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) devices and associated vehicle data. They’re based out of Pune, India
Semiott Social Ventures is a Calicut-based startup Founded by Gokul Alex. It is a decentralized, dynamic social enterprise for the digital transformation of the circular economy by applying the wonders of Web 3.0 Protocols.
Chainvote enables simplified decentralized governance on multi-chain networks. The solution offers governance features like voting to conduct elections and campaign proposals and manage identities in a decentralized way. The Chainvote Team is led by founders Prasad Kumkar, Kristine Mallari, Marlene Veum, Tevo Saks, and Abhir Elandasserry,
HIRA enables a simplified one-click solution to find verified potential hires. This recruitment SaaS product that leverages blockchain tech to help companies streamline their hiring process with a hyper-focused selection process to identify potential hires. This is a two-member team with Abhinav Yadav and Abhinay Varsh based out of Hyderabad, India.
Lenders.Finance
Founded by Rachi Anand Srivastava, Lenders.finance brings the possibilities for people to explore, invest and earn through DeFi, even without thousands of dollars, empowering equality. They’re based out of Mohali, India.
Founded by Divyang Jain, powercricket is building a 360 Degree Cricket Network on the Blockchain that enables our Unique Fantasy, NFT Marketplace, Native Token, and an Unbelievable Level of Fan Engagement. They’re based out of Bangalore, India
Founded by Nitesh Mishra, Rahul Soshte and Pramodaa Kalkoti, Bramble is a crypto token incentivizing the gaming industry. With a multi-chain interoperable blockchain solution, Bramble helps decongest the network and helps web 2 solutions taste decentralization just by API integration.
Pixelate
Based out of Ahmedabad, Pixelate is a project built by Founders Anirudh Venkatesan, Ronak Amin, and Pranav Burnwal. It is an automated market maker for photographs generated through image sensing devices. Pixelate issued Pixel Tokens (Pt) to unlock the capacity for an average person to take part in a global economy. It brings financial inclusion to all with a smartphone camera.
What’s next?
The NEAR Blockchain Accelerator Bootcamp will gather these teams to provide educational support in arming them with knowledge of how to make it as a crypto/blockchain startup today. Starting on 2 August, this four-week-long engagement will also invite the startups to build their solutions on the NEAR Protocol with support from developers from the NEAR Community. The startups will learn from experts in the industry who will introduce them to topics such:
- Scaling a crypto startup
- Blockchain business models
- Token economics and mechanism design
- Treasury management
- Understanding crypto regulations
- Marketing and growth
- Fundraising
- Product development
The boot camp will result in showcasing a final list of vetted startups who will qualify to pitch for funding at the Accelerator’s finale — the Demo Day.
We’re really excited to kick off the Bootcamp and work with these amazing teams! We wish them the best of luck.
Stay tuned for more from the NEAR Blockchain Accelerator!
