Empowering Web3 Communities and Revolutionizing Fan Engagement: Meet Manuela Seve, CEO of Alphaa.io
I had the pleasure of interviewing Manuela Seve a Brazilian-born, Los Angeles-based tech entrepreneur with a futurist mindset and a background in finance. She is the CEO and co-founder of alphaa.io, a women-led Web3 company that is revolutionizing fan engagement across sports, fashion, CPG, tourism and more. She has been a thought-leader in tech for the past 8 years, her newsletter has 25k subscribers, she was named one of Bloomberg’s 100 Influential Latinos of 2022, and she has spoken at numerous panels including at TechCrunch Disrupt, L’Attitude, NFT NYC, and a16z’s Google’s demo day at LA Tech Week 2023. She received her Economics degree from IBMEC in Rio de Janeiro and a certificate from Stanford GSB’s Latino entrepreneurship initiative. This year, Manuela launched Crypto Bros: an interactive game that serves as a modern day parody of the lack of diversity in Web3. She holds widely attended community events and educational programming that connect women-run VCs and startups in Los Angeles — all from her home-headquarters in Venice Beach.
What motivated you to launch your startup?
I have been inspired to democratize access to technology in the real world from the beginning. Then in 2017, my first trip to Burning man completely changed my outlook on humanity as a whole. Even though Burning Man is a closed container, this experiment in the desert brought out the best in people: they became collaborative, helpful and the collective was more important than the individual. From that point forward, I knew that my life would be about building community and providing tools for communities to really shine.
What is it that excites you about what you’re building?
I am most excited about the diverse and powerful community we are building in the web3 space. I am proud to say that Alphaa.io has a majority minority and female team. Our ESG-centric strategy prioritizes clients that are using tech to build a better world. As we build our client portfolio, we see the alphaa.io community as influential in creating a better future, more focused on efficiency, social and environmental responsibility, and traceability.
We run environmental and social issue campaigns every year, and are constantly bringing more opportunities to light for minorities and women. We recently launched our wildly successful interactive game Crypto Bros that serves as a modern day parody of the lack of diversity in web. We are now working on a Pride Bros scavenger hunt that highlights women, LGBTQ+, and POC-owned businesses in Los Angeles during LA Tech Week and Pride Month. I also host community events and educational programming for women in tech — all from my home-headquarters in Venice Beach. Our annual Female Founders and Funders event during LA Tech Week this June, which connects hundreds of women-run VCs, entrepreneurs, and startups, with thousands applying to join the wait-list.
What has been your biggest challenge when growing your startup?
When we started the company we set off to raise an initial round of funding and we quickly found an angel that immediately understood what we wished to accomplish. We were raising $500,000 at the time, but he thought that wasn’t enough capital so he agreed to fund us for $1 million. Needless to say, we were ecstatic. Part of our deal was that we’d have to relocate to the most expensive city in the world, New York City. We came in the summer to meet him and finalize the deal. However, he delayed his trip several times, forcing us to move between hotels, friends’ apartments, etc.
We moved six times until we received the first wire transfer, which to our surprise was only $20,000. We had planned and budgeted for $1 million, but we only received a total of $200,000 over the course of a year. Despite all of this, we didn’t give up. We kept going, found more funding and were able to move on without him. Looking back, it was a valuable learning experience about perseverance and believing in your vision. It would have been impossible to continue without a team. You really become a family, especially as we were going through all this at the same time. There was always a moment when someone was freaking out and the other one was cool as a cucumber.
What are your future plans for your startup?
We’re on the verge of a massive back-end transformation worldwide. In order for blockchain to get to mainstream adoption, we need to put best efforts forward as an industry to develop serious products, and use our technology to bring more transparency specifically into use of funds. The alphaa.io framework will be responsible for adding millions of users to this new back-end through our communities across industries. We offer fan engagement solutions for the brands of the future that solve for authenticity, resale and community engagement across industries. We are like salesforce for web3 with a complete tech stack and uncanny ease of use. Our plan is to grow our network and revolutionize the back-end.
This year, we have watched our fan engagement strategy take off via our partnerships across industries, and we have seen a huge potential in the sports industry. And we are just getting started. So far we have created fan engagement experiences for two NBA teams, and we’re currently working on a rollout for The Royal Belgian Football Association. Our platform allows teams to gamify the experience of visiting a stadium in person, collect points for buying items, merchandise and collectibles and provide immediate rewards such as seat upgrades to fans that are active.
If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a Founder who’s about to start their own startup, what would they be?
A fresh outlook is always helpful. Listen to your clients and understand how a product is accepted, or if any changes need to be made. Also, move quickly, be proactive, and stay on top of your team. In Brazil, we have a saying: “The owner’s eyes make the cattle get fatter.”
Last year, I completed a program at Stanford’s GSB for Latino entrepreneurs, and having all of those new eyes on my business, especially during these complicated times, was truly a game-changer. We ended up bringing in one of the program’s mentors as a full-time advisor and he oversaw the re-design of our new platform. That being said, seek out those you admire and ask for advice…you never know where the conversation will lead.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manuseve/
Alphaa.io Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alphaaio/
Crypto Bros Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cryptobrosthegame/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/motherofalphaa
Personal Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuseve/
Alphaa.io Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alphaa-io
This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!
