The Sandbox has announced its “Metaverse Accelerator Program,” which will push metaverse development, investing $50 million in startups. The Animoca Brands subsidiary is partnering with investment firm Brinc to target 30 to 40 innovative startups per year.
Up to $250,000 per project!
The Sandbox is pulling out all the stops to become the leader in metavers. In fact, the Sandbox Metaverse incubator program will allocate up to $250,000 in investment to each potential project. Incentives include the digital asset SAND and LAND, a digital real estate asset within The Sandbox metaverse. In addition, top-performing startups will also have access to additional grants and high-level mentors.
“We are especially eager to support underrepresented founders in their ambitions as they explore the endless possibilities offered by The Sandbox ecosystem.”
Sebastien Borget, co-founder of The Sandbox
Attention enthusiasts, applications are open and the first batch of investments are expected to be made by the second quarter of 2022. The program is part of “Launchpad Luna,” a collaboration between Animoca Brands and Brinc to support the development of innovative startups around blockchain.
The program supports the development of an open metaverse, the metaverse that is not owned by a single entity. According to Animoca Brands co-founder and executive chairman Yat Siu:
“[The open metaverse] presents an incredible opportunity to create a non-zero-sum participatory and collaborative environment based on openness, equity, user governance and digital property rights.”
Developing the metaverse to reduce environmental impact
The other benefit of developing the metaverse, according to Brinc CEO Manav Gupta, is to reduce our carbon footprint.
“As digital experiences grow, we will have less reason to emit carbon to travel for work or leisure.”
Gupta says this may decrease demand for physical products, such as art, and derivative products that have unsustainable production methods. In a highly charged environment of necessary ecological transition, any initiative is good to explore. After all, if in the future we can access culture and art without having to travel, why refuse to enjoy it?
For those of you who couldn’t enjoy the alpha of The Sandbox, a second session will take place soon. We’ll tell you about it, so stay tuned!
Geeks’ fad or new way of life, metavers are still being talked about. It’s clear that with a 50 million dollar budget, The Sandbox believes in its vision. So friends, developers, creators, artists, if you feel like creating the experience of tomorrow, go for it! In the meantime, major brands seem to recognize the potential of metavers.