- Soonami will hold its second Venturethon between November 27th and December 3rd, 2023.
- The Venturethon will provide up to $125000 for teams with ideas and projects that match the investment criteria of Soonami.
- Soonami also significantly shaped the trajectory of AuditOne, a Web3 security platform.
Africa today is under its greatest revolution, the transition from centralization to decentralization. The concept of web3 is among the primary technologies ushering in the fourth industrial revolution. Since 2009, the web3 industry has accomplished several feats. Among its numerous achievement three stand out: digital ownership from NFTs, digital currency derived from cryptocurrency, and decentralized applications.
Entrepreneurs, innovators, and developers have managed to apply blockchain technology to several sectors like Agriculture, insurance, and real estate, ushering in a wave of decentralized applications in 2023. This new wave caught the eye of Soonami, a blockchain-based VC firm dedicated to bolstering the global adoption of web3.
In recent developments, Soonami announced the second edition of their Venturethon, a platform that offers up to $125,000 in funding for potential web3 and AI startups.
Soonami announces the second edition of Venturethon
In 2014, Gavin Wood first coined the term web3. He saw the future blockchain technology and decentralization could offer the world. It represented a transition that would completely abandon traditional systems and concepts that have governed how organizations and companies operate. He opened the world to the potential blockchain presented beyond its initial application on Bitcoin.
This kickstarted one of the world’s monumental turning points, ushering in a new era of decentralized applications. For instance, developers found a way to utilize digital ownership in music and digital art. This concept revolutionized the media industry, ushering in Web3 Music.
Its ability to shorten the complex supply chain of the entertainment industry, leaving only the company, the musician, and the audience, significantly shorts expenditure costs. Soon, other industries incorporated blockchain’s innate security, integrity, accountability, and performance to keep up with changing times.
Unfortunately, the transition has also seen its fair share of opposition. Innovators cannot use the same tactics and strategies of centralized applications and organizations on blockchain-based startups. This has created a bottleneck for the industry, forcing some bright ideas to die amid the chaos. Fortunately, Soonami, a blockchain-based VC firm, has dedicated its efforts to supporting potential Web3 startups in achieving their full potential.
Read also: Blockchain’s potential in unlocking Africa’s supply chains
Soonami supporting startups from across sectors
According to its official site, Soonami takes a different approach to identifying and supporting startups from all over. The current VC landscape typically favors those with a broad network. This fact has significantly assisted one side of the world but ultimately led to the downfall of the other.
With the growth of decentralization amid many regions, innovation is found outside this favored “hotspot.” To empower the forgotten and the outcast, Soonami launched a Venturethon to identify potential web3 ideas backed by skillful individuals.
The Venturethon is a week-long remote hackathon offering up to $240,000 to winning teams. In addition, the activity will provide up to $125,000 for teams with ideas and projects that match the investment criteria of Soonami.
Criteria for the $125,000 funding
Soonami will hold its second Venturethon between November 27th and December 3rd. The criteria of entry include;
- Join the soonami platform to generate a business plan, website, pitch deck, and more.
- Discover team members, co-founders, advisors, mentors, and contributors from the soonami platform, making it a comprehensive resource for all entrepreneurial needs.
- Generate an IP agreement and a tokenized cap table, all without incurring costs.
- Submit your Venturethon project and win prizes.
- Gain the opportunity to present your venture to the Investment Committee, potentially securing $125,000 in funding for your Web3 or AI project.
The blockchain VC firm aims to enable startups to create, build, and scale by applying the best Web3 and AI solutions.
The Venturethon will act as a filter to identify promising blockchain ideas while identifying those with the skills to develop them. The winning team and ideas will advance to its accelerator program, accessing Soonami’s vast network and support team.
Pioneering global web3 adoption
Decentralized applications represent the net phase of technology. Its application has already redefined the finance industry, leading to a new system, Decentralized Finance(DeFi). Through this, Africa’s fintech has grown exponentially, and other industries have begun adopting the same trend. Soonami has dedicated its resources to ensuring the Web3 industry continues to thrive.
For instance, the blockchain VC firm developed mQuark, a blockchain platform aiming to revolutionize the NFT marketplace. Its mQuark platform has enabled the interoperability, upgradability, and customization of NFT, overhauling its performance.
It has created an ecosystem that has improved performance quality and access for collectors and creators. It contains various tools that allow individuals to subscribe to a creator’s collections and has a URI slot for NFT projects.
Soonami also significantly shaped the trajectory of AuditOne, a web3 security platform. Unfortunately, since the FTX crash, the web3 industry has lost its reputation. The fear of similar occurrences has caused investors, traders, and developers weary of dealing with blockchain-based.
Read also: Africa’s blockchain ecosystem gains a significant ally from Saudi Arabia.
Developing groundbreaking ideas
Through AuditOne, web3 projects have the means to authenticate their legitimacy. Soonami, through their Operations Manager and co-founder, David Velek, significantly aided in the construction of AuditOne. With Venturethon, Soonami can identify potential candidates with the make and the skills to develop groundbreaking ideas.
Christian Sauer, CEO at Soonami, said, “Remote venture building in the Web 3.0 landscape is not just cool; it’s transformative. It’s about breaking free from the constraints of physical location and embracing the potential of a globally connected digital world. The soonami Venturethon enables us to support projects from across the globe and help founders succeed in finding MVPs and eventually securing funding from our ever-growing ecosystem. The soonami hackathons have opened doors for many excellent founders who needed a platform to realize their potential.“
Soonami has already supported ventures like zkfaith, unbounded, and rethink finance. The Venturethon, alongside all its activities, showcases how Soonami is committed to fostering the growth of Web3 and AI solutions.