Near Foundation will play a part in helping to support the promising Web3 projects of India. Near Protocol is governed by a Switzerland-based non profit organisation. It announced the creation of a regional hub for India that will help to identify and support blockchain-related talent. This is what forms the backbone in the Web3 industry. With this, the Near Foundation has recognised India as the country with the largest startup and entrepreneur communities in the world that also houses some of the “most talented developers and Web3 creators.”
Near Foundation’s India hub supports entrepreneurs who want to solve specific public problems through Web3 elements, such as the metaverse, NFTs and cryptocurrencies.
The hub’s two main focus areas are GameFi and DeFi.
Play-to-earn in nature, ‘gameFi’ refers to the financialisation of video gaming — that, as a sector, reportedly The market cap reached $55.38 billion, or roughly Rs. 4,38,500 crores as of February 20,22
DeFi, also known as decentralised financing, is an emerging fintech sector that relies on virtual assets like cryptocurrency and doesn’t rely on central banks or intermediaries. As per CoinMarketCapThe current market cap for DeFi crypto is $45.83 billion, or roughly Rs. 3,63,000 crore).
Near India hub hopes to add 15 to 20 quality projects to its ecosystem in the first year.
“We are extremely excited to be supporting the rich and exciting developments taking shape in India — and with our new hub, there will be an incredible opportunity for developers and creators to come together to learn, educate and further their talent and build on our blockchain. This hub gives us the chance to nurture the local talent that will have global opportunities in the near future – and we look forward to seeing the amazing applications and initiatives that will come out of this ecosystem,” said Marieke Flament, CEO of the Near Foundation.
Aayush Kanchan and Yash Khanchan, who were the Terraform Labs’ India strategy leads, were given the responsibility of running the Near India hub at Bengaluru.
India is currently awaiting detailed crypto rules to protect the sector against scammers and loopholes. India allows the trading, exchange and holding of virtual assets. However, India is still waiting to determine if future uses can be allowed.
The Near foundation has launched a regional hub for Kenya in order to speed up Web3 projects throughout the continent. This platform aims to educate and nurture talented people in the country.
Caerus Ventures, the platform’s partner, launched a fund of $100 millions (roughly Rs. 700 crore to support promising Web3 projects.
