The Sandbox, one of the most developed virtual worlds in the metaverse at the moment, intends to continue its momentum. The project has announced the establishment of an incubator for startups, with a fund of 50 million dollars.
A $50 million incubator for The Sandbox
This initiative was made possible by a partnership with Brinc, a “business gas pedal”. Through this incubator, The Sandbox will support 30 to 40 startups per year over a three-year period. Each of them will receive up to $250,000. The most successful ones will also receive SAND tokens and LAND, which represents the parcels of the virtual universe.
The first group of startups will be supported by The Sandbox incubator starting in the second quarter of 2022.
“The program will invest, mentor, educate and support the development of promising startups and projects, while providing access to potential partnerships and development opportunities within The Sandbox, Animoca Brands and Brinc networks.”
Supporting the development of the metaverse
The goal of The Sandbox’s incubator is to develop the ancillary businesses that will make the metaverse of tomorrow. Interoperability is one of the goals of the project, and the release mentions Meta without naming it, choosing the party of inclusiveness:
“The Sandbox’s metaverse accelerator program will support the open metaverse, built on shared values, and with open, transparent and decentralized governance. This will replace the current paradigm where platforms are closed, through a powerful network effect.”
The Sandbox intends to position itself as an alternative to Meta, whose metaverse project is very centralized. Indeed, we note the beginning of a demarcation line between the “historical” projects of virtual universes like The Sandbox, and the big companies which begin to turn to the domain these last months. The positioning of The Sandbox is therefore particularly symbolic.
