Fintech, DeFi, GameFi, and more: Web3 startups kick off Cointelegraph Accelerator second cohort

Cointelegraph Accelerator, a startup booster that leverages Cointelegraph’s capabilities as a media and strategic partner, announced its second cohort launching in October 2023 for up-and-coming Web3 startups.

Selected from over 1000 startup applications, the 16 participants of the second cohort of the Cointelegraph Accelerator program represent a wide array of Web3 verticals, including decentralized finance (DeFi), fintech, wallets, entertainment, social, and GameFi.

By joining Cointelegraph’s accelerator program, Web3 startups will get marketing strategy expertise, access to Cointelegraph media products, and mentorship programs with industry experts on key start-up development topics, including token design, fundraising, legal frameworks, liquidity management, security, etc. The participants will also benefit from access to Cointelegraph’s broad network of investors, foundations, infrastructure partners, and other industry leaders.

The current cohort of the Cointelegraph Accelerator program consists of 16 Web3 startups focused on bringing innovation to the biggest sectors in the blockchain space. Find out more about them below:

DeFi and trading

In a world where traditional and decentralized finance coexist, bridging the gap between them is crucial. The latest Cointelegraph Accelerator participants focused on DeFi services are pioneering solutions to enhance accessibility, transparency, and efficiency, thus redefining trading and personal finance management for mainstream users.

Changex is a personal finance mobile app that aims to bring traditional finance users to Web3 by combining centralized and decentralized finance on a single screen. As an all-in-one self-custody wallet solution, Changex offers crypto swapping, buying, selling, and staking. The platform has 2,500 monthly active users (MAU) with over $3 million in staked assets.

CryptoRobotics is a crypto trading platform with advanced tools aimed at bringing the crypto community together. Users can utilize the signals and trading strategies coming directly from professional traders and analysts, who, in return, can earn investor rebates for providing their strategies. The platform leverages trading robots powered by smart algorithms with risk management systems to enable automated trading. The team reached over $1 billion in trading volume in 2022 with over 50,000 registered users.

Clip Finance is a DeFi protocol that aggregates and benefits from the investment strategies available to the mainstream audience and other protocols. Users can deposit their stablecoins with a single click and get yield from a pool of various DeFi protocols, including Aave, Thena, Stargate, and Biswap. The platform aims to simplify the creation of risk-analyzed yield portfolios and is currently preparing for the main launch based on feedback from the private beta phase.

Renegade is bridging the gap between traditional banking and cryptocurrencies. The user-friendly platform offers both a full IBAN account and a Visa card, allowing users to pay in top cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH effortlessly. A central product element is the noncustodial wallet, ensuring users maintain full control over their crypto assets. After a promising beta test with 2,500 users, the company is gearing up for an open market launch in Q4 2023.

MC² Finance is a noncustodial, cross-chain token strategy platform. It aims to democratize access to on-chain crypto wealth management through easy-to-use tools and access to aggregated crypto portfolio strategies with a user-friendly UI. The European-based MC² Finance team aims to launch its mainnet after hosting over a thousand users during the platform’s testnet.

Nolus is a semi-permissioned, blockchain-powered platform that bridges lenders and borrowers in a DeFi money market. With its DeFi Lease, borrowers can secure 3x leveraged yield-generating capital. Inspired by traditional leasing, where one pays a fraction upfront and gains ownership after repayment, Nolus’ approach cuts down the DeFi sector’s high overcollateralization standards, which boosts capital efficiency and offers borrowers better loan terms.

Velvet Capital is a DeFi platform on the BNB Chain that helps create and manage on-chain funds and structured products. Asset managers can create portfolios of digital assets and mint synthetic tokens representing them. Users can invest in tokenized portfolios and earn yield from lending, staking, capital gains, or providing liquidity. The company offers a Web3 app for regular users and “DeFi-as-a-Service” (with SDK and APIs) for institutional clients. The platform has a live MVP with over 550 active investors.

WhiteList Zone is a marketplace where crypto investors and enthusiasts can buy “front-row seats” for upcoming Web3 projects. Its mission is to democratize the market of early Web3 investments in the most efficient and accessible way. Users can buy and trade whitelists, which grant exclusive rights to participate in launch events such as initial DEX offerings (IDOs). The platform hosts over 50 projects and over 7,000 whitelist submissions, attracting nearly 4,000 users.

Data storage and digital assets

Data sovereignty and security are paramount in the digital age. By offering decentralized data storage and robust digital asset management solutions, these projects ensure a seamless transition toward digital ownership and secure data management.

GhostDrive is a Web3 native data storage platform and user application on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) and Filecoin, a decentralized alternative to Google Drive where users can store, share, and access data. Users can join by logging in with MetaMask or the traditional email and password combination and start storing data in a decentralized cloud securely.

NGRAVE is the first complete solution for full control of digital assets, focusing on self-custody, maximum security, and ease of use. The hardware wallet, Ngrave Zero, is the world’s only financial product featuring a secure OS with the highest security certification: EAL7, developed with world-renowned cryptography and security experts. The company also offers its users a stainless steel encrypted backup for their keys and a mobile app to track their digital assets.

SocialFi and Marketing tech

The conventional social media landscape often overlooks fair revenue distribution and user control. However, innovative platforms are being developed to merge social interactions with financial incentives, creating a more equitable social media ecosystem for both content creators and consumers.

Pop Social is an AI-powered social gateway to Web3. The platform explores a new approach to social media where users create and share their content, interact with each other, and get rewards with native Pop Tokens for active engagement with the app. AI algorithms are used in the content creation features and in the process of generating individual post feeds. Pop Social has already reached over 250,000 downloads on the App Store and Google Play Store and has over 40,000 daily active users.

ReadON is a social app with a Web3 sharing economy where content is owned by creators, and part of the ad revenue is distributed back to them. Creators earn tokens for sharing, users earn tokens for reading, and advertisers buy and burn tokens to place ads and access users’ interests targeting data. The app has reached over 510,000 user registrations and app downloads, 45,000 daily active users, and over 563,000 content pieces.

GAMI is a Web3-focused venture builder that hosts a variety of products tailored to the blockchain industry. Gami’s flagship product is Midle, an all-in-one marketing platform that helps optimize user acquisition and community engagement, working with 100+ partners from the Web3 space. Midle has already reached over 22,000 unique users who have completed over 400,000 quests.

EdTech and HRTech

Exclusivity and a lack of verified talent pools hinder the growth of the Web3 domain. Some projects, however, are working on democratizing access to Web3 solutions and education, bridging the gap between academic institutions and the blockchain industry, and facilitating continuous innovation.

Talentre is a Web3 talent platform where users have access to blockchain education courses, events, certifications, and a traceable tokenized achievement system. At the same time, Web3 companies and projects get access to a verified talent pool. More than 50 universities have already partnered with Talentre, and the platform has reached over 170,000 registered wallets and over 50 business clients, including Circle, BNB Chain, Solana, and many others.

Entertainment

Monetization and user engagement are pressing challenges in the entertainment sector. By embedding blockchain technology in streaming and gaming platforms, these innovative projects are crafting a rewarding and engaging entertainment ecosystem for modern audiences.

Replay has developed a blockchain-powered streaming service called RewardedTV that empowers viewers and creators to take control of their video streaming experience. RewardedTV uses blockchain tech to reward viewers with digital tokens and collectibles to drive engagement. The platform has over 100,000 registered users, and more than 4,000 videos-on-demand (VOD) live TV channel options, with more partnered streaming apps on the way.

Fanton is a Web3 fantasy football game playable on Telegram and integrated with The Open Network (TON) blockchain. Similar to traditional fantasy sports games, which comprise a $25 billion market, the game allows players to create their dream team with NFT cards of soccer superstars and earn points based on the players’ real-life performances. The product has had a successful launch reaching more than 11,000 registered users to date.