Beacon Web3 Accelerator Launches Largest Cohort with 17 Startups

[PRESS RELEASE – New York, New York, September 12th, 2024]

Beacon, a prominent web3 accelerator program, has unveiled its fourth and largest cohort to date. This initiative, which funds projects ranging from pre-seed to Series A, has chosen 17 innovative companies for its upcoming three-month program, representing a significant growth compared to past cohorts.

This new group comprises the most distinguished firms in Beacon’s history, which was founded by Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal in 2022. The cohort includes multiple Series A companies supported by renowned VC firms such as Pantera, Founders Fund, Framework, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and covers various web3 domains, including DeFi, infrastructure, and AI. Noteworthy participants include Stakestone, EXO, Nubit, Aligned Layer, and eoracle.

“We are excited to announce our largest and most varied cohort to date,” stated Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon and Beacon. “The quality of companies joining us in this program is truly remarkable, and we are eager to see how they will influence the future of web3 and beyond, supported by our mentorship and resources.”

This announcement follows the successful graduation of Beacon’s S23 cohort, which comprised 10 companies that have made significant impacts since their selection. Notable alumni from S23 include 0G, a scalable data availability layer, and ORA, a verifiable oracle protocol, both of which have reached unicorn status post-graduation.

ORA recently secured $20 million in a funding round led by Polychain Capital, while Inco, a universal confidentiality layer, completed a $4.5 million seed round with leadership from 1kx, along with contributions from dao5 and Robot Ventures. Additionally, the Ethereum L2 solution Fluent raised $7.5 million in a seed round co-led by Polychain Capital and dao5.

These success stories have set high expectations for the latest cohort, especially considering the impressive backgrounds and initial traction of the participating companies. Both Aligned Layer and Nubit have already completed Series A rounds, raising $20 million and $12 million, respectively. The full list of companies in Beacon’s Cohort S24 is as follows:

• Aligned Layer – A decentralized network that verifies zero-knowledge/validity proofs and posts the results to Ethereum, providing high throughput and cost-effective proof verification.
• Avantis – Avantis’ infrastructure enables traders to access leverage of up to 100 times for major cryptocurrencies, forex, and commodities pairs.
• Compute Labs – Utilizing its self-created Compute Tokenization Protocol, Compute Labs financializes AI, offering direct exposure to compute assets and creating derivatives that allow investors to yield effortlessly from compute.
• Crynux – Founded by former Google team members, Crynux is developing a permissionless and trustless protocol for genuinely decentralized AI.
• eoracle – A programmable data layer that bridges Ethereum Proof of Stake with real-world data, enabling smart contracts to interact with off-chain information.
• EXO – EXO allows users to operate their own AI cluster at home using everyday devices.
• EZKL – EZKL offers a developer-friendly framework for verifiable AI and analytics, generating tens of millions of proofs monthly to support a range of delegated and decentralized systems.
• Lorenzo – A liquidity finance layer for Bitcoin that meets growing global demand across L2s, DeFi, and trading platforms, facilitating efficient investments in top yield opportunities.
• Nodekit – Developing Javelin, the first superbuilder aimed at restoring composability to rollups.
• Nubit – A scalable, cost-effective data availability layer secured by Bitcoin, enhancing Bitcoin’s data capacity for applications like Ordinals, Layer 2s, and price oracles.
• Othentic – Othentic simplifies the development of distributed services on Eigenlayer, with over 30 projects utilizing their infrastructure.
• PADO – A decentralized zkAttestation and Computation Network focused on liberating locked Internet data to the Web3 ecosystem.
• Pallet – The hub for digital culture, community, and ownership on the Sei platform.
• Pin AI – An open platform for personal AI that leverages open-source technology and crypto to ensure data ownership and privacy.
• Stakestone – An omni-chain Liquid Staking Token (LST) protocol that boosts staking yields and liquidity on Layer 2s through a multi-chain liquidity architecture.
• TAC – The TON App Chain (TAC) serves as an interoperability layer for TON blockchain and EVM-compatible applications.
• Warlock – Warlock aims to create new primitives that will transform and disintermediate the MEV landscape.

“With the exceptional talent and innovation we are observing in this cohort, we firmly believe they can match or even exceed the accomplishments of their predecessors,” remarked Nailwal.

Beacon’s biannual three-month program equips startups with vital mentorship, resources, and capital to expedite their growth and advancement, solidifying its standing as a top launchpad for web3 innovation.

About Beacon:

Beacon is an early-stage web3 accelerator aimed at promising startups. Co-founded by Sandeep Nailwal of Polygon and Symbolic Capital, the program provides financing, mentorship, and resources to support endeavors in DeFi, gaming, infrastructure, AI, and other web3 projects that fulfill real-world needs. The 12-week program is conducted twice a year.