Nervos kicks off first CKLabs cohort with Portal Wallet and Tocial
A few months ago we launched CKLabs, an incubator for early-stage startups and blockchain teams that want to build and scale with the Nervos ecosystem. We received dozens of applications from all kinds of dApp projects for our structured four-month program. Though it was a hard decision to make, we’re pleased to announce we’ve chosen two projects — Portal Wallet and Tocial — to be part of our first cohort.
Through CKLabs, we’re able to give teams a deep dive into the Nervos infrastructure and the resources needed to launch or scale products on Nervos, including funding and hands-on support. Portal Wallet and Tocial were ultimately selected based on their experience in the internet and blockchain spaces, strong technical competence, plans to utilize Nervos’ infrastructure, and resources to bring their projects to life.
Ben Morris, Global Head of Business Development, cites the success of the Grants Program as the reason Nervos continues to identify and nurture the most promising blockchain projects across DeFi, gaming, oracles, social, storage, and more sectors.
“We were excited to bring on even more passionate teams to build user-centric projects in the Nervos ecosystem through CKLabs. Both Portal Wallet and Tocial have very clear visions for the future, so we look forward to helping them launch and scale their projects.”
Portal Wallet, a new generation crypto wallet
Portal Wallet, or P-Wallet, is a wallet built on Nervos’ Common Knowledge Base (CKB) that runs in any Ethereum wallet’s dApp browser by leveraging Nervos’ unique low level virtual machine and crypto primitives. To help make blockchain products more easily accessible, Portal Wallet will also run in EOS Wallet and other public wallets, as well as internet browsers like Chrome, in the future.
This project was submitted by Lay2, a blockchain developer team with over 10 years of experience in internet applications and blockchain research and development.
According to Lay2’s Frank Lou, removing barriers, such as complex account creation processes, and increasing the uses for blockchain will open up the technology to more users.
“There are many different applications for blockchain technology, but it’s still very intimidating for the average person. By customizing the cryptographic primitives used in smart contracts on the Nervos CKB, we can support mainstream blockchain and internet infrastructure.”
Tocial, a blockchain photo sharing social platform
Tocial is a digital platform that enables cosplayers in China to share photos, make friends, and monetize their work. Currently in closed beta with more than 20,000 users and an official launch planned for August, Tocial’s collaboration with Nervos will allow users to store their images in an on-chain storage system via Nervos or donate CKB tokens to their favorite cosplayers.
Speaking with the Nervos team, Tocial’s Spike Fu says his goal is for the app to become the Instagram of China — with a marketplace element that allows creators to earn money directly from their users.
“It’s difficult for cosplayers and other photo content creators to make money on social apps in China because the fees can be very high. Under Nervos’ guidance, we’ll be able to expand our offerings and add new features, like a wallet and image hash storage.”
In addition to a deep dive into Nervos’ technology, Portal Wallet, Tocial, and future projects in the CKLabs program receive up to $100,000 in funding, a dedicated program manager, executive mentorship from Nervos’ co-founders, networking opportunities, and access to a network of top blockchain investors, including Polychain, Blockchain Capital, Multicoin, Dragonfly, and 1confirmation.
Stay tuned for more developments from the Portal Wallet and Tocial teams, as we’ll be sharing some exciting announcements in the coming weeks.
We accept applications for our four-month programs on a rolling basis. For more information or learn how to apply, visit nervos.org/ck-labs/.
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