If you take global investment bank Citi at their word, the metaverse, and the Web3 technology it’s built on, could generate a cool US$13 trillion in annual revenue by 2030. On the more conservative side, Goldman Sachs say the Web3 industry could be printing roughly US$8 trillion by the same time.
This is just one of the reasons why firms like blockchain development agency Labrys and Web3 accelerator Metarise are on a mission to find (and fund) the best and the brightest in Australia’s rapidly growing Web3 industry.
Today, the inaugural Australia Web3 Incubator came to a close, with five main startups making the final cut. The startups pitched industry leaders to receive investment and partnerships.
Initially selected from a pool of 50 initial applicants, the final teams recently completed a seven week journey where mentors from big hitters like Animoca Brands, The Sandbox and BlockTower Capital provided them with education and coaching on all things Web3.
Australia, meet your finalists. The following five startups were the ones that made it through the intensive program. Today they were given the opportunity to pitch to more than 80 different founders, VCs and angel investors in the Web3 industry.
Web3 Australia: Finalists
NFT FC
NFT FC is a decentralised platform to identify and support upcoming football players. For the football fans out there, NFT FC helps players from all backgrounds gain access to the financial support they need, while providing fans with the opportunity to participate in their success.
NFT FC Founder, Finley Hayhurst, took to Twitter to share his take on the growth of the project.
MetaTrees
MetaTrees NFT are shaking up the conservation game, by allowing investors to mint a tree NFT, with each NFT symbolising a real tree planted on land in NSW. The goal of the project is to plant 25,000 trees on a farm to start the regeneration process.
UpsideFinance
Next off the ranks was UpsideFinance, a portfolio tracker and DeFi aggregator that allows users to easily manage their DeFi investments in one place. According to its official Twitter account, the alpha version of the mobile app is set to launch in the near future.
Racer Club
In good news for car enthusiasts, Racer Club made its way into the final five. Racer Club is an Ethereum-based racing community game where holders can play in their own Racer Club with their own NFTs as 3D racers. Each club uses their own NFTs and tokens in their game economy.
Insider.xyz
For those looking to streamline their brand membership process, the Insider platform is looking to disrupt the traditional protocols of loyalty programs. Insider offers its users a no-code tool that enables brands to build custom NFT brand memberships and create deeper community activation.
Web3 Australia: Only scratching the surface
Speaking to the success of the finalists in the Web3 incubator program, Labrys Founder and Director, Lachlan Feeney weighed in on the day’s proceedings.
“We’ve not even scratched the surface of Web3’s immense potential, but through initiatives like this we’re helping to turn theoretical potential into practical reality,” he said.
“With the right regulatory support, [and] the innovation of start-ups like these, Australia can establish itself as a global leader in the most important technology since the invention of the internet itself,” Feeney added.
To Feeney’s point, regulation remains at a critical juncture in the Australian crypto landscape.
Web3 Australia: Inaction
Recently, Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg called out the Federal Labor government for its inaction on crypto policy, claiming that delaying clear guidelines for blockchain businesses “squanders” an opportunity for Australia to become “an international blockchain hub”.
Regardless of the current state of regulation, development in the Web3 industry is only just warming up. According to figures from Labrys, just 0.1% of the world’s 30 million software developers are currently involved in building Web3 tech.
Because of this, major blockchain protocols and organisations are going out of their way to make sure that software developers are onboarded into the industry. Avalanche (AVAX), Harmony (ONE), Algorand (ALGO) and TRON have all launched ecosystem funds, collectively adding up to approximately US$1.1 billion worth of funding.
