Incubation vs Acceleration
When New Order initially launched, the goal was to build DeFi startups from concept to Mainnet through Incubation. While Incubation is still at the core of what we do, we’ve created an additional path by partnering with Outlier Ventures, the leading Web3 accelerator, to create its first DeFi Accelerator Program — DeFi Base Camp.
With a number of project launches on the horizon for New Order this quarter, we want to distinguish the difference between Incubation and Acceleration.
The Similarity
Before we break down the differences, it’s important to clarify that both paths lead to the same end result for a startup — a successful launch on Mainnet. Regardless of the state of a project, we provide expertise in any area needed ranging from technical (protocol architecture, development, etc) to non-technical (fundraising, growth, etc).
With that said, we see numerous startups in various stages that have different requirements. This is why we decided to have two forms of execution in order to better suit certain needs and to increase the scalability of our venture platform.
Incubation
For those unfamiliar with the New Order ecosystem, two projects have been incubated so far: Redacted and H2O. We’ve built these projects from just a concept all the way to a successful launch. The incubation process follows the ordered list below:
Note: The list below doesn’t highlight all of the nuances and steps needed for a successful launch, but it does hit the key broad areas where we lend our resources.
- Concept Phase & Research
- Team Building
- Legal Compliance
- Technical Development
- Business Development
- Mainnet Launch
- Launch Marketing
- Fundraising
- Token Design
As you can see, going from concept to launch requires a massive amount of manpower, resources, and time — all of which most founders are bottlenecked by. This is why New Order exists — to be a co-founder to projects that need valuable resources and not just capital.
Scalability
Initially, the Incubation process was the only form of execution for us at New Order. Despite the historical success and end result of larger allocations to New Order, this process raised a few questions:
- Can we incubate a large number of projects each year?
- Are we reaching all of the sub-sectors in DeFi that we believe have potential?
- Do all startups need the complete Incubation process?
The quick answer is no. We’re usually working on multiple projects at once and suffer from the same scalability issues that all organizations do. In result, we needed a solution to increase our bandwidth and reach across DeFi. This is why DeFi Base Camp was created.
Acceleration
Alongside Outlier Ventures, we’ve created an Accelerator Program (DeFi Base Camp) and we will soon announce our first Cohort of projects. Projects selected for the 12-week Accelerator Program will work in close collaboration with us and Outlier Ventures in the following areas:
- Networking
- Mentorship (from experienced founders and subject matter experts)
- Partnerships
- Community
- Team Building
- Legal Compliance
- Fundraising
- Token Design
Again, there may be some categories left out of the list above, but it covers the broad areas that help paint the picture. The key takeaway should be that DeFi Base Camp is catered towards projects that are past the concept phase, and we’re happy to say it has proven to serve its purpose as we received over 290 applicants for the first Cohort! Out of the 290 applicants, only 6 projects were selected. The reasoning behind this was to ensure that the program remains exclusive to the absolute best founders and projects.
Going forward, we still plan to only select 6–10 projects per Cohort which should equal to 12–20 projects a year. At this rate, we’re on track to scale with DeFi as a whole.
What’s Next?
This blog post should cover everything you need to know about the differences/similarities of Incubation and Acceleration. For more information, browse our resources below:
For those interested in having New Order as a co-founder, apply below:
