Chiliz Labs has announced a $50 million incubator fund to support blockchain start-ups. A release from the organization said that the fund will support early-stage projects that have the potential to deliver long-term value to users in the Web3 space.
Chiliz has been a leader in Web3 sports and entertainment. It encourages developers and entrepreneurs who wish to build with the technology to leverage the Chiliz blockchain. It stated that the network is collaborating with Socios.com through its Chiliz blockchain for sports and entertainment.
Building a community of fans and brands dedicated to sports
On March 1, Chiliz announced its $50 million incubator and accelerator program. The program, which is backed by Jump Crypto, will enable Chiliz Labs to promote and support innovative early-stage projects that build on the Chiliz blockchain for entertainment and sports. The blockchain’s genesis block was validated on February 8. The Socios.com network is its partner in strategic funding and guidance. The partners intend to build the largest community of fans and brands dedicated to sports within the Web3 space.
Enterprise level projects to build on Chiliz
Two companies, LiveLike and FanFest, have already indicated their interest in building on the new Chiliz blockchain. The release by Chiliz said that 8–10 other enterprise-level projects are poised to follow. These companies cover areas such as NFT ticketing, third-party athlete-focused Fan Tokens, infrastructure builders for entertainment and sports, and more.
This includes NFT ticketing pilots, third-party athlete-focused Fan Tokens, and Web3 infrastructure partners. These are buildings for the sports and entertainment industries.
According to Kanav Kariya, President of Jump Crypto, “Chiliz has developed a unique solution to one of the most salient problems that sports teams and leagues face, which is how to sustainably and affordably scale their brands and maximize fan engagement globally.
Changing how fans and sports teams interact
Kariya said that Chiliz has changed the perception of what a fan of a sports team actually is. He said that his company is supporting Chiliz in its work of bringing sports teams closer to their fans. He highlighted that his company will work on building engagement with the community via events such as hackathons.
Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Chiliz and Socios.com, said,
“Chiliz Labs is a central pillar of this strategy, and with the help of our partners at Jump Crypto, whom we thank for supporting our vision, we look forward to welcoming some of the most promising, viable, and innovative projects in the blockchain space to the Chiliz Chain.”
Chiliz is behind Fan Token and the Socios.com rewards app for sports fans. Fan Token, a fungible token, enables fans to connect with their global audiences and fan bases. The platform already has 170 partners and 1.8 million wallets.
The medium post from Chiliz said that the platform launched Gameused.com, a memorabilia authentication service for sports.
