Recap 2023
Algorand APAC Accelerator Cohort 1 2023 Recap
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA 6 July 2023
What is the Algorand APAC Accelerator?
Blockchain startups are the driving force behind web3 and blockchain adoption. They are at the forefront of innovation, creating dApps that attract users to the Algorand ecosystem. AXL Ventures is working closely with the Agorand Foundation to inject USD $2.4 million into as many as 48 promising projects over the next three years.
For the Algorand APAC Accelerator Cohort 1 in 2023, 6 innovative startups were selected to enter an intensive 12-week program, building scalable, enduring web3 businesses. Each startup received a USD 50K seed investment.
By design, the program offered 27 structured masterclasses where the teams gained insights on various topics, such as business models, customer & product development, Tokenomics, fundraising and more. We also connected the founders to our network of mentors with diverse expertise, helping them navigate different obstacles.
Key Program Outcomes
We pride ourselves on the program quality and tracking mechanism. We track the startup's performance through two essential tools: the Investment Readiness Level Matrix and a weekly Founder Pulse Survey.
Overall the teams made significant progress throughout the program, with a cohort-wide delivery of an MVP or Product update in Launch Week. Given that the teams are primarily technical founders, there was a heavy focus on the Teams' business models & marketing, as well as generating repeatable and predictable revenue.
From our startup pulse survey, we received an overall 8.5 out of 10. This survey captures eight metrics such as Program value, Progress and support. This metric is a direct reflection of their performance in the program and the quality of the program itself.
"Collaborating with Zach and Viola on the AXL x Algorand APAC Accelerator program has been a delight. The journey alongside our first cohort of six Algorand projects spanned 12 weeks, culminating either in the delivery of an MVP or noteworthy product updates. AXL demonstrated their thoughtful approach by assessing and structuring the program to cater to the specific needs of the participants, many of whom were technical teams. Among numerous enriching aspects, Marketing Week activities stood out as particularly beneficial. Additionally, AXL's comprehensive postmortem program report offered constructive feedback that gave us insights into the growth of the participants and areas for program improvement. Overall, we express our gratitude for the program's significant impact on the maturation of the projects involved."
Kimberley Chang
"I am thrilled to provide my heartfelt testimonial for the exceptional AXL Web3 accelerator program that has profoundly impacted our Project Galapago journey. When we joined this program, it became evident that I had found a transformative platform for setting challenging objectives and achieving them on time. This startup accelerator program has been an invaluable resource, offering unrivalled guidance, mentorship, and networkingopportunities. The program's experienced mentors possess a wealth of industryknowledge and have been instrumental in shaping our strategic thinking,refining our business model, and honing my pitch to potential investors. Theirinvaluable insights and unwavering support have propelled our startup towards success.
The most helpful part of the program is the comprehensive curriculum and marketing strategy that equipped us with the skills and tools necessary to navigate the competitive startup landscape.
We highly recommend this startup accelerator program to aspiring Web3 entrepreneurs seeking a powerful catalyst for their startup's growth. The program's unwavering commitment to our success and comprehensive support system. I am eternally grateful for the opportunities and growth this program has provided to our Project Galapago."
Vivian Wang
"I would recommend the program to builders who want to take their projects to the next level. We liked the creation of hypotheses and then validating them with customer interviews. They have been an eye-opener for us. I think the one-to-one conversation with mentors were also very helpful. We now have a much more scalable product with a good revenue model, which I think is the most desirable outcome from an accelerator."
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We are the team from SafeBay, and would like to share our thoughts on the program. Throughout the entire program, there was loads of sharing from the AXL Ventures team in various aspects with regard to business building, and the team (Michael, Zach, and Viola) has conducted themselves professionally. We can definitely see the passion that they had when they conducted from start till end.I would highly recommend for startups and builders to participate in the program as there’s a well-thought and structured module(s) for business owners to learn, from marketing to technical knowledge, to fundraising, to having a business vision; we believe that this is comprehensive for business owners (whether it’s first-time or recurring) to learn from. The peers in our cohort also made things fun and interesting, and cross-learning exposure and interaction is high.The most helpful part of the accelerator was the exposure to the various mentors, and we had loads of help, especially when it came to tokenomics and structuring our business and product. Interaction with mentors that have familiarity and experience in the Web 3.0 space allowed us to identify that we could be looking to build something larger than we had originally envisioned. The mentors were also in various business verticals, which meant that if we were facing several issues – i.e. legal, or operations, we could always reach out to them, and they were usually open to share.We learnt a lot through the program, and got ourselves familiar with the Algorand Blockchain and ecosystem. Our objective of identifying our audience, the problem that we are solving, and the product mix was achieved during the tenure of the program.
Han Jie Tay
We have been working on Algogator since late 2021, bootstrapping and trying our best to build a company in a fast-paced and ever-shifting landscape. When we were accepted onto the accelerator with AXL Ventures, we honestly didn't realise how much we didn't know about business development and making a successful startup.
The team at AXL, along with the mentors and other cohort members, helped us to realise our ambitions of creating a sustainable and hopefully successful company. We would recommend this program to any founders out there - the wealth of knowledge and genuine interest in each start-up from the AXL team really makes it special.
Initially, we thought the accelerator would be a good place to get some early funding and make some connections - the program far surpassed our expectations and gave us the tools we needed for the future as well as making some lifelong friends along the way.
Kieran Nelson
Importance of Accelerator in the Blockchain Industry
New startups build businesses that bring new utilities, resulting in team expansions. Our teams have hired developers, community managers, and other professionals. For the broader industry, startups are a great funnel to onboard talents.
Furthermore, our graduated startups continue building decentralised applications (Dapps) with a sustainable business model. Specifically, our program prepares founders for fundraising and the challenges after fundraising. We provide mentorship and resources to help startups navigate the complex blockchain industry and build successful businesses.
Our accelerator program supports the blockchain ecosystem's growth by fostering innovation and collaboration among startups, mentors and partners.
Accelerator Program Methodology
Blockchain is just a technology. We encourage our startups to validate their ideas by talking to customers to ensure their products are desirable, viable, and feasible.
Our accelerator is custom-designed to foster growth in blockchain startups. Our data-driven approach is demonstrated in many ways, such as using Investment Readiness Level. This metric allows us to verify the stage of our startups in terms of customers, products, and market.
We have strategically designed Marketing Week to cover all topics related to go-to-market strategies, such as community building, growth marketing, and sales.
Another specialty is Launch Week, which encourages founders to launch something tangible into the market and experiment. Many startups launched new features, campaigns, and whitepapers during our first Launch Week. By running Launch Week, startups can push their limits, commit to releases, and achieve beyond their potential.
Our program is designed for blockchain startups, so we have invited many mentors who have built blockchain businesses to advise our startups. We also implemented a Tokenization Week, where four experts covered the topic from different angles.
Connect with AXL
Are you interested in working with the AXL team to run a bespoke accelerator? Book a call with our team to learn more about our accelerator services: contact@axl.ventures
