Top Web 3 incubators and accelerators [in 2024]

Whether you’re a startup looking to operate in the Web 3 space or a corporate exploring Web 3, you may find yourself in one of the following situations:

• You’re interested in blockchain technology as a startup and want to explore the use cases and experiment with the technology.
• You’re a Web 3 startup looking to go to market and find investors.
• You’re a tech company that is looking to increase the adoption of your blockchain and are spending a lot of money on grants without getting as much value as you'd like.
• You’re a corporate that has the funds to invest in early-stage startups but want to make sure the startup teams are ready to deliver strategic ROI.

In this article, I'll go through:

1. Top Web 3 incubators and accelerators in 2024
2. How we run the Tenity Web 3 incubators
3. Why work with Tenity as a corporate?
4. Example of a successful Web 3 collaboration: SIX tokenises their private shares on the blockchain

Are you a startup looking to apply to a Web 3accelerator or incubator? Check out our latest startup programs to find one that would be best for you!‍

Note: At Tenity, we have successfully launched programs for blockchains including Klaytn and Ripple. We’ve set up a program for private bank Julius Baer allowing them to experiment and explore use cases for Web 3. Get in touch with us to learn more. 

Top Web 3 incubators and accelerators in 2024

Tenity

Since we’re the ones writing this article, we’ll start with ourselves.

At Tenity, we operate as a global innovation ecosystem and early stage investor that focuses on the fintech industry. We work with startups, mentors and corporate partners to run startup accelerator programs and enable collaboration between corporates and startups.

Since we started running corporate accelerator and incubator programs in 2016, we have facilitated over 100+ successful collaborations between corporates and our startups, including programs in the Web 3 space. 

Our Web 3 programs offers:

• A strong scouting process that generates 80-200 applications per program.
• Exposure to a network of founders, mentors, corporate partners and investors.
• A program on-site in key Web 3 hubs such as Singapore and Switzerland. 
• Masterclasses with Web 3-specific content.
• Access to events and conferences such as Token2049. 
• Grants of $50,000 or investments between €50k - €100k.

‍Read more about our upcoming Web 3 programs:

• XRPL Accelerator - Launch Program. April to June 2024
• Singapore Pre-Seed Incubator Batch 8. August to December 2024
• Zurich Pre-Seed Incubator Batch 13. August to December 2024
• Nordics Pre-Seed Incubator Batch 4. August to December 2024

Outlier Ventures

Outlier Ventures, headquartered in London, is a Web 3 platform operating in line with the principles of the "Open Metaverse" thesis. The thesis, or playbook, aims to build free and equitable digital environments.

The accelerator offers a program, known as the ‘Base camp accelerator’ that scouts Web 3 startups from various verticals, including DeFi, NFTs, infrastructure, and gaming. Startups can join the three-month remote program and receive funding in exchange for 6 percent equity. The program helps founders with token design, tech stack selection and fundraising. 

Get access here: Outlier Ventures

Alliance 

Alliance offers a Web 3 accelerator program with daily mentoring from 'crypto veterans' and live lectures by Web 3 experts. They provide ‘founder-friendly’ funding of up to SG 250k on flexible terms. Graduates have the opportunity to join the Alliance DAO founder community for ongoing support and networking from program alumni. 

Get access here: Alliance

Brinc

Brinc’s Web 3 program, ZK Advancer, aims to foster Web 3 innovation in diverse fields including culture and the arts, entertainment, gaming, financial services and decentralised finance (DeFi). The program is remote therefore anyone in the world can apply. Participants in the program receive a curriculum of support starting with building a customer persona to developing a fundraising strategy. Brinc provides successful applicants with $250k in funding and in return take equity and an operational fee for running the program. 

Get access here: Brinc

Starta Capital

Starta Capital is a venture ecosystem supporting startups worldwide. They offer a Web3 accelerator for various verticals including DeFi, Gaming, Blockchain, and the Metaverse. The program includes access to Web3 tools, training sessions on web3, marketing support and introductions to investors. Participating startups also get certain perks including access to a co-working space in New York and discounts on software packages such as Hubspot.

Get access here: Starta Accelerator

Yellow Capital

Yellow Capital is a Venture Capital seed program dedicated to assisting early-stage Web 3startups. The platform also runs a number of forums and chats to engage the global blockchain community. Founders can join the Yellow Discord forum to connect and network about all things cryptocurrency. 

The blockchain startup incubator welcomes startups from different verticals including Web 3, blockchain, DeFi, gaming, the metaverse and NFTs. If selected to the program, startups receive a full-cycle funding and a curriculum of training sessions focused on legal, marketing and technical support. 

Get access here: Yellow Capital

How we run the Tenity Web 3 incubators

Here’s a bit more information on some of the Web 3 incubators that we’ve done or are about to launch.

Dedicated XRP Ledger program [August to November 2023]

We’ve partnered with XRP Ledger to launch the 12-week XRPL accelerator program starting in August, designed to support founders in building on the XRP Ledger. 

With this program, the goal is to support entrepreneurs who are building on the XRP Ledger by equipping them with all the skills and resources needed to scale.

During this program, startups have access to masterclasses that cover Web 3-specific topics, such as blockchain application composability, tokenomics, and community building. 

We’ll be working with XRP Ledger Team to identify and select the right projects to build on their blockchain. At the start of the process, we’ll do regional startup scouting to ensure we’ve got the right type of startups participating. We’ll then set up engagement points for XRP Ledger Team to meet the startups and explore a potential collaboration. 

Here is an overview of the key aspects program:

• Mentorship and 1-on-1 coaching with key stakeholders in the ecosystem 
• Access to events including CoinFest, Token 2049 and Singapore Fintech Festival 
• 4 week-long masterclasses including specific Web 3 sessions
• $50k grant from XRPL 
• Final Demo day and chance to pitch for venture funding 

‍Read more: XRPL accelerator

Klaytn Incubation program [October to December 2022]

Klaytn is a public blockchain focused on fields including GameFi, Metaverse and creative content and is the dominant blockchain platform in South Korea. The Klaytn platform is EMV-compatible meaning that any projects built on Ethereum can easily migrate over to their chain.  

During the program, we welcomed several promising startups to participate and start building on the Klaytn platform. This included masterclasses and personalised 1-on-1 coaching sessions to help them refine their customer journey and business model. Also, we provided Web 3-specific training in the form of high level technical support. 

Just like we’ll do for XRP Ledger, with the Klaytn Incubation program we bring the selected startups to Singapore. We give them unlimited access to a co-working space and invite local Web 3 experts to share their expertise with them. For example, we have experienced founders and successful VCs mentoring and providing feedback to the startups.

We ran the Klaytn incubation final demo day during Token 2049, the largest Web 3 conference in the region. This gave startups exposure to a big Web 3 community allowing them to showcase their innovations and gather insights.  

See the startups that graduated from the Klaytn program here: Klaytn incubation program

Julius Baer Global Web 3 program [August to November 2023]

Unlike the Klaytn and XRP Leger programs, this program focuses on early-stage experimentation with Web 3. 

In this case, Julius Baer aims to partner with startups that are already working on Web 3 use cases in the wealth management sector, in order to explore potential value for their clients. The bank is particularly interested in enhancing their product offerings and improving client experience, such as developing new digital products and building in the Web 3.0.

When the program starts in August 2023, the selected startups will directly collaborate with Julius Baer, where they’ll have the right access and exposure to the bank’s extensive resources and financial market expertise.

Here are the key elements of the Julius Baer Global Web 3 Program:

1. Scout and pre-screen startup applicants. 
2. Select a choice group of startups to take part in the program.  
3. Create workshops to structure the program and define appropriate KPIs.
4. Identify an ‘internal champions’ at Julius Baer to provide support to the startups.

‍Read more about the Julius Baer Web 3 program.

Why work with Tenity as a corporate?

Having been originally a spin-off of SIX, corporate innovation is in our DNA: we know firsthand the challenges of open innovation and how to collaborate with startups. If you’re a corporate that’s looking to do a Web 3 incubator, here’s how we can help you.

You’ll get a bespoke startup accelerator

Whether you’re a tech company looking to increase adoption of your blockchain, or a corporate looking to experiment with new technologies, a bespoke startup accelerator can help you get deeper into the Web 3 ecosystem. 

By working with us, you won’t have to hire an internal team to set up your own accelerator and you won’t have to spend resources on scouting for the right startups and teams. 

We see innovation via three pillars:

1. Learn: understand startups and learn about innovation
2. Collaborate: find ways to work together with startups
3. Invest: get skin in the game

When you partner with us, we’ll help you understand at which stage in the innovation cycle you’re at and what type of accelerator would make sense for you.

Learn more about corporate accelerators: How to get started with a corporate accelerator program

You will be working with experts in Web 3 and corporate innovation

We like to think of our ecosystem as a kind of ‘laboratory’ for ideation and strategy development. 

When you partner with us, you’ll get to:

• Attend ‘Community’ events to discuss topics like Web 3 and AI with expert panels
• Access a pool of 2000+ fintech and Web 3 startups
• Network at our in-person demo days
• Connect with our corporate partners including UBS, SIX, Klaytn and Julius Baer.

We also only specialise in fintech and Web 3. Whereas other startup accelerators are more general with fintech as an add-on, we live and breathe fintech. We’ve only ever done fintech and financial services, and since we were born from a stock exchange, we have the right depth of experience.

You’ll be able to work with startups that are ready for collaboration

Depending on the type of Web 3 accelerator, we can mentor and guide startups to be ready for collaboration once they graduate. Specifically, we set up use case exploration workshops where startups and corporates can explore proof of concepts and evaluate what a pilot would look like.

In our masterclasses, we cover every crucial stage of a startup's journey, ensuring comprehensive support from product development to marketing, sales, and fundraising activities.

Here are the touchpoints in our programs for the startups:

• 1-1 sessions with industry experts 
• Access to 200+ fintech mentors
• Participate in demo days to connect with investors and corporates
• Introductions with investors at exclusive events 
• Attend events and conferences to expand your network

We are located in two key Web 3 hubs: Singapore and Switzerland

I believe that without having people on the ground, you don’t have the best sense of the local market and all the startups in the region. At Tenity, we have offices in both Europe and Asia to make sure we can deliver more comprehensive scouting and access to the best companies. 

I manage Tenity’s operations in Asia from Singapore and this is where we run some our Web 3 programs. The benefits are: 

• Exposure to experts in a key crypto and Web 3 hub.
• Easy to attend key events and conferences like the Singapore Fintech Festival. 
• Invite investors and experts in the local Web 3 community to speak to the startups.
• Singapore is advantageous in terms of regulation and governance of the sector.

In Switzerland, we also run some of our programs, such as Keyrock’s Accelerator Program for Web 3.

Example of a successful Web 3 collaboration: SIX tokenises their private shares on the blockchain

In 2022, we became the first company to issue tokenized equity shares through the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX). We delivered this new innovation in private share issuance by bringing together our corporate partner SIX and a graduate of our incubator program, Aequitic, a provider of digital registry services. 

This collaboration isn’t precisely related to Web 3 but shows how collaboration, leveraging blockchain technology has been achieved through our ecosystem. 

Massimo Butti, Head of Equity at SDX, described the importance of the collaboration: 

“An ecosystem that supports private companies in their funding journey and reduces the complexities and inefficiencies of issuing private equity can only be achieved through collaboration: with existing and new players; by leveraging existing processes; and by creating new technical standards.”

If you want to learn more about the collaboration, read more about it here: SIX Digital Exchange successfully tokenizes private shares

Top Web 3 incubators: get started with Tenity

If you decide to partner with Tenity as a corporate, you’ll benefit from a bespoke Web 3 accelerator that allows you to learn about a new technology or increase adoption for your blockchain. Our fintech-specific expertise you can make sure you’re approaching Web 3 from the right company angle. 

Reach out to us to learn more about how we can help you.