Cosmos-built EVM-ready blockchain Cronos selects 1st cohort of $100M accelerator

Cronos, the first EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain built on the Cosmos SDK, announced today the nine participants selected for the first cohort of its flagship $100M-backed Cronos Accelerator Program.

The Cronos Accelerator is a 10-week program designed to accelerate the growth of top project teams building on the Cronos chain. The Cronos Accelerator Program is funded by the $100M Cronos Ecosystem Fund and will feature 3-4 accelerator cohorts per year.

Since the official announcement of the Cronos Accelerator Program in June, Cronos received over 300 applications across a variety of DeFi, web3 gaming, and infrastructure projects.

Applicants were assessed based on their market potential, product attractiveness, team experience, and the synergies they have with Cronos Chain.

After a rigorous selection process, Cronos Labs has selected the following nine participants for its inaugural accelerator cohort:

1. D.G.Pals (Web3 Gaming)

D.G.Pals is an interoperable multi-game, multi-genre NFT web3 Gaming Project across V-pet simulator, 5v5 auto-battler, Virtual town, Simulation SLG Tower Defense.

2. Eyeball Pool (Web3 Gaming)

Eyeball Pool is a multiplayer skill-based mobile game that lets players utilize NFTs across Pool events, tournaments, and head-to-head games to earn rewards.

3. Harbor (Web3 Gaming)

Harbor aims to be a web 2.5 multi-genre mobile gaming platform amplifying Free-to-Play experiences with a crypto-economic layer.

4. The New Resistance (Web3 Gaming)

The New Resistance is a First Person Shooter game offering both a Multiplayer PvP experience with custom game modes and a Co-op PvE Generative Dungeon.

5. Wild Forest (Web3 Gaming)

Wild Forest is a Free-to-Play & Play-to-Earn mobile real-time strategy game with direct unit control, and deep card collecting elements.

6. Bubble Maps (Infrastructure Analytics)

Bubblemaps is a supply auditing and analytics visualization tool for tokens and NFTs. The platform’s unique and colorful bubbles make on-chain data easy to understand.

7. Meshlink (Infrastructure Analytics)

Meshlink is an all-in-one smart-contract management and transaction analytics platform.

8. ReferReach (SocialFi)

ReferReach is the first-of-its-kind referral platform that lets users easily discover, organize and prioritize business referrals. The platform integrates artificial intelligence with users’ network knowledge to create more business opportunities.

9. Glass Finance (DeFi)

Glass Finance is a DeFi protocol offering an innovative Discretized-Liquidity-AMM DEX model that maximizes capital efficiency by allowing users to deploy liquidity in certain price ticks and enabling non-custodial on-chain limit orders.

These nine participants will be matched with reputable industry mentors who will be providing them with dedicated mentorship. Furthermore, these participants will benefit from weekly workshops led by Cronos labs and external subject matter experts, covering key topics relating to early-stage protocol building.

“Cronos is dedicated to supporting a vibrant and growing ecosystem of dApps and users of DeFi, GameFi, SocialFi, and infrastructure analytics. Ultimately, this first cohort of the Cronos Accelerator Programme established a precedent for our program to champion projects that have the potential to lead the way in engaging and onboarding the next generation of web3 users. We are eager to be working closely with these exceptional participants to fast track their growth on Cronos and beyond.”
– Ken Timsit, Managing Director of Cronos

The Cronos Accelerator features a line-up of venture funds, gaming guilds, and infrastructure partners who will provide support to the participants through workshops and panel discussions.

Partners include Spartan Labs, Mechanism Capital, Crypto.com Capital, Ubisoft, IOSG Ventures, OKX Blockdream Ventures, Lingfeng Innovation Fund, Protocol Labs, Altcoin Buzz, Dorahacks, NGC Metaverse Ventures, AP Capital, Simmons & Simmons, AvocadoDAO, PathDAO, Re:base Ventures, and more.

Additionally, the Cronos Accelerator has also onboarded several mentors who will offer dedicated mentorship and tailored advice to the participants.

Mentors include:

• Benson Yan (Partner, OKX Blockdream Ventures)
• Eric Yang (Managing Partner, Fundamental Labs)
• Eugin Lee (Angel Investor)
• Eva Wu (Principal, Mechanism Capital)
• Jon Russell (Partner, Crypto.com Capital)
• Josh Wang (Venture Investor, PathDAO)
• Ken Timsit (Managing Director, Cronos Labs)
• Nicole Zhang (Partner, Lingfeng Innovation Fund)
• Queenie Wu (Partner, IOSG Ventures)
• Shashwat Gupta (CEO & Founder, Altcoin Buzz)
• Shaun Heng (Head of Spartan Labs)
• Usman Choudhry (Head of Crypto, AP Capital)
• Zihao Chen (Managing Director, NGC Metaverse Ventures)

“Cronos has quickly become one of the leading web3 ecosystems and I’m excited to see its progression super-charged with the Cronos Accelerator program. The line-up of quality mentors and access to resources will enable founders and teams who enter the program to build impactful web3 companies.”
– Jon Russell, Investment Partner at Crypto.com Capital

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