The country’s first and only accelerator focused on Web3 ventures is backed by the leading and homegrown crypto exchange, Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX).
16 November 2022, Manila, Philippines – Archipelago Labs (A-Labs), a startup accelerator, has been officially launched to invest and accelerate the growth of the most promising startups and talents in the Philippines’ Web3 ecosystem.
Backed by reputable partners from the Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX), Oak Drive Ventures Inc., and Magellan Digital Investment Group (MDIG) with a fund size of $10 million, A-Labs boasts a strong network of mentors, experts, and capital partners who will support the startups in growing their ventures.
The program aims to back startups and founders at the grassroots level through investment funding, advisory, and structured programs such as hackathons, incubation and accelerator programs targeting specific verticals and stages of development and growth.
A-Labs focuses on deploying capital in early-stage startups that address the gaps in the industry through sustainable business models and sound token economics. It is led by founders that have a good track record in technology, crypto, and business, with sectors focused on the intersection of Web2 and Web3, consumer applications, infrastructure, tools, DeFi and the Metaverse.
“This marks the start of our journey in equipping founders, startups, and builders with the support and tools they will need to create meaningful and impactful products, infrastructure, and services. Doing these provides value from the ideation to the growth stages of each startup and will, in return, create a better ecosystem for Web3 here in the Philippines,” Archipelago Labs Executive Director Lance Pormarejo said during a briefing in Makati on Thursday.
Founded in 2022, A-Labs is made up of three founders and three principals who have already made significant contributions to the startup and Web3 arena. “We believe that with a credible support system, startups can have a higher chance of success navigating and traversing the archipelago. Through A-Labs, we aim to create better digital experiences through web3 technologies for every Filipino,” Pormarejo said.
Part of the A-Labs’ inaugural cohort is Playdex, a startup building infrastructure for Web3 gaming through an NFT rental marketplace.
By the end of 2022, A-Labs aims to release its first iteration of the State of the Archipelago, a quarterly report on all things Web3 in the Philippines. In 2023, the accelerator program will run its first cohort for the Archipelago Labs Accelerator Block (ALAB), an 8-week cohort-based accelerator program.
“We are growing our line-up of partners across venture capital, technology, and ecosystem to further support the startups coming out of the labs. We believe that the building blocks of Web3 are found in the Philippines and that the country has much to offer in the Web3 space. With that, we invite proponents of the space to get in touch with us as we build a better future through Web3,” Pormarejo said.