Cosmos-built EVM-ready blockchain Cronos selects first cohort of $100 million accelerator » CryptoNinjas

Cronos, the first EVM-capable layer-1 blockchain built on the Cosmos SDK, today announced the nine participants selected for the first cohort of the flagship $100 million 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 range 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 first accelerator cohort:

1. DGPals (Web3 Gaming)

DGPals 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 allows players to spend 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 that augments Free-to-Play experiences with a crypto-economic layer.

4. The New Resistance (Web3 Gaming)

The New Resistance is a First Person Shooter game that offers 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 map (Infrastructure analysis)

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

7. Meshlink (Infrastructure analysis)

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

8. ReferReach (SocialFi)

ReferReach is the first referral platform of its kind that allows users to 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 that offers an innovative Discretized-Liquidity-AMM DEX model that maximizes capital efficiency by allowing users to deploy liquidity in certain price tags and enabling non-custodial limit orders on the chain.

These nine participants will be matched with recognized industry mentors who will provide them with dedicated mentorship. Furthermore, these participants will benefit from weekly workshops led by Cronos laboratories and external subject matter experts, covering key topics related to early 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 program established a precedent for our program to champion projects that have potential to lead the way in engaging and onboarding the next generation of web3 users. We are eager to work closely with these exceptional participants to track their growth at Cronos and beyond.”
– Ken Timsit, CEO of Cronos

Cronos Accelerator has a number of venture funds, gaming guilds and infrastructure partners who will provide support to 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.

In addition, Cronos Accelerator has also brought in 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 (CEO, 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 (CEO, NGC Metaverse Ventures)

“Cronos has quickly become one of the leading web3 ecosystems and I am excited to see the progression of the supercharged Cronos Accelerator program. The range of quality mentors and access to resources will enable entrepreneurs and teams entering the program to build impactful web3 companies.”
– Jon Russell, Investment Partner at Crypto.com Capital