Walmart’s incubation arm, Store Nº8, has collaborated with Outlier Ventures to unveil their web3 accelerator program, known as Store Nº8 Base Camp. TechCrunch was granted an exclusive preview of the inaugural cohort.
Walmart and Outlier Ventures’ Web3 Accelerator Initiates Operations, Welcoming Five Startup Innovators
This 12-week virtual incubator initiative has assembled an impressive roster of five companies that specialize in various aspects of web3 technology, including marketing, advertising, and advancements in payment technology. These startups are headquartered in the United States, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
Thomas Kang, Vice President and General Manager at Walmart and responsible for metaverse commerce at Store Nº8, expressed Walmart’s vision for leveraging the growth of immersive virtual worlds.
He views it as an opportunity not only to revolutionize customer engagement but also to explore innovative forms of commerce. According to Kang, web3 opens up possibilities for customers to acquire both virtual and real-world products, bridging the gap between the physical and virtual realms. In his words, “Over the next year, you’ll see us testing a variety of experiences in virtual worlds that seamlessly connect with in-store commerce and vice versa.“
The primary focus of this program is on “decentralized commerce,” which seeks to enhance the retail and consumer experience through web3 innovation.
As an example, just last month, Pudgy Penguins, renowned for its 8,888 NFT collection, introduced its toy line in over 2,000 Walmart stores across the United States. Benjamin Meyer, Chief Product Officer at Outlier Ventures, emphasized the transformative potential of decentralized commerce. He believes it can break down the traditional structures of commerce into more decentralized and adaptable protocols, ultimately fostering efficiency, trust, equity, and a superior user experience for retailers and consumers on a global scale.
The program operates with a protocol-agnostic approach, with participating teams engaging across various blockchain platforms. Each project has been granted $200,000 in stipends courtesy of Synergis Capital, and they are benefiting from valuable enterprise guidance provided by KPMG U.S. Furthermore, the startups will enjoy access to the extensive networks and support infrastructure of Store Nº8, encompassing e-commerce, retail, marketing, media, web3, gaming, and venture expertise.
Despite the ongoing bear market in the crypto space, both the incubation program and other accelerator initiatives remain optimistic about the future. Ruth Galvin, Program Manager at Outlier Ventures, sees this challenging period as an opportunity for founders to fine-tune their core value propositions, achieve market traction, and cultivate a culture of innovation and efficiency.
More than 370 startups applied and just these five teams made it to the final cohort.
Company name: HypeLab
What it does: web3 advertising
Founders: Joe Kim, Edward Weng
Stage: Seed
The pitch: HypeLab wants to make web3 advertising simple. It aims to help companies get their products in front of web3 users through its design services like its “self-service advertiser portal,” which can help build campaign assets. The startup also provides on-chain and off-chain options for advertisers to pick where their ads are placed. It offers users a software development kit that can insert advertisements into decentralized applications “in 20 minutes or less,” according to the company. It’s backed by investors from Coinbase Ventures, Shima Capital, Dispersion Capital, OP Crypto and others.
Company name: Reveel
What it does: Programmable payout infra
Founders: Adrien Stern
Stage: Seed
The pitch: Reveel is an on-chain payout infrastructure and creator tool that can help startups automate their accounting and payout infrastructure. Its ecosystem consists of a number of applications, brands, and networks like Ethereum, Polygon, Alchemy, and Zora, according to its website. The platform helps startups manage all of their revenue through one dashboard as well as provides customizable payment flows. The infrastructure is multi-chain friendly and allows for any token to be processed on its platform. Developers can also implement Reveel’s revenue-sharing protocol into their projects through its software development kit so creators can share their revenue with others. It’s backed by Binance Labs, Moment Ventures, Anamcara, and Pixelynx.
Company name: Tide Protocol
What it does: Data-driven web3 marketing
Founders: Silvio Busonero, Vincenzo Manzon
Stage: Seed
The pitch: Tide Protocol is a marketing and analytics suite that helps web3 startups create and customize marketing campaigns. It’s powered by Polygon Studios and works on any Ethereum-compatible blockchain, without the need for a coding background. It is backed by Outlier Ventures, according to Crunchbase.
Company name: Tokenguard
What it does: Analytics platform for web3 growth
Founders: Kamil Gorski, Jakub Rojek, Damian Rolek
Stage: Pre-seed
The pitch: Tokenguard is an analytics platform focused on helping web3 projects grow. It supports blockchains and crypto projects like Polkadot, Moonbean, Aleph Zero, Astar, Kusama, and more. The platform provides decentralized applications as well as on-chain and off-chain analytics, ecosystem growth tracking, and crypto APIs. It is backed by Outlier Ventures and NCBR Investment Fund ASI S.A., according to Crunchbase.
Company name: Unblock
What it does: Cross-border payments
Founders: Bivu Das, Rémi Tuyaerts, Alastair Preacher, Didier Baclin
Stage: Seed
The pitch: Unblock’s portal helps enable business payments in web3 through its free API infrastructure. It also helps simplify the on-and-off ramping process into crypto. Its API-based solutions can remove complications associated with user KYC, and help customers with compliance, risk monitoring, and more. The platform is available for businesses, individuals, and applications through its white-label API and provides transfer speeds under 20 seconds and transaction fees starting at 0.5%. It is backed by Outlier Ventures, Celo Ecosystem, and others, according to Crunchbase.
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