Future Perfect Ventures is an early-stage VC firm focused on decentralized technologies including blockchain, crypto, IoT, and AI. The company invests globally with a mission to bring economic opportunities to the underserved on every continent. Future Perfect Ventures partners with mission-driven entrepreneurs who seek to accelerate their ideas through the company's team's international network, passion for inclusive innovation, and decades of domain expertise.

Future Perfect Ventures

Founded in 2005, True Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups. With more than $3.8 billion under management, True provides seed and Series A financing to entrepreneurs in some of today's growing markets.  With more than 40 team members including special advisors, operations professionals, and founders-turned-investors, True represents one of the largest and most experienced teams dedicated to the ecosystem.  The True team believes creativity flourishes when founders are supported fully and empowered to pursue brave ideas. To that end, the True Platform offers programs that inspire professional and personal growth. To date, True has helped more than 350 companies launch and scale their businesses, creating over 85,000 jobs worldwide.  True was awarded Venture Firm of the Year by the National Venture Capital Association in 2018. To learn more, visit www.trueventures.com.

True Ventures

Galaxy Interactive is a venture capital firm focused on interactive content and technology companies.

Galaxy Interactive

Vy Capital is an investment firm that focuses on the internet and software industry. It was founded in 2013 by Alexander Tamas and is headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Vy Capital

Homebrew is a hands-on, founder-friendly seed-stage fund created by Hunter Walk and Satya Patel to invest in the ''bottom-up economy.'' Homebrew has adopted the Diversity Term Sheet Rider.

Homebrew

Uprising is a fund and platform to catalyze epic entrepreneurial endeavors that matter. The firm prefers to make seed, early and later-stage investments. Lyft, Change.org, PeerIQ, Lending Club, Upworthy, AltSchool, ClassDojo, Minerva, Zopa, Grow Local Project. It was founded in 2012 and is based in San Francisco, California, United States.

Uprising Ventures

Kindred is an early stage venture capital fund based in London that practices equitable venture. Kindred aligns ambitions and achievements with the portfolio. In structure and in spirit. Every single founder that the company backs will become a co-owner of the fund.

Kindred Capital

Galaxy Digital operates as a technology-driven financial services and investment management firm that provides institutions and direct clients with a full suite of financial solutions spanning the digital assets ecosystem. Galaxy Digital operates five synergistic business lines: Trading, Asset Management, Principal Investments, Investment Banking, and Mining.

Galaxy Digital

Hashkey they offers investment opportunities and solutions to institutions, family offices, funds, and professional accredited investors across the digital asset and blockchain ecosystem.

Hashkey Exchange

IDEO CoLab Ventures is invest in early-stage distributed web startups and co-create with them to ship new products and protocols.

IDEO CoLab Ventures

Founded in 2018, Fin Capital is a global asset manager focused on full lifecycle investing in B2B FinTech software companies. Fin Capital is passionate about rolling up its sleeves and partnering with repeat entrepreneurs that have deep financial services experience, differentiated products, and a global mindset. Fin is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Los Angeles, London, Miami, and New York.  Fin Capital brings a scalable operating value playbook focused on global BD, corporate dev, capital formation, product/GTM, key talent sourcing, and board leadership – leveraging proprietary AI/ML platform.

Fin Capital

East Chain Co. is an investment firm focused on transformative blockchain applications. Blockchain technology is paving the way for a digital asset economy that will transform the world. At East Chain, we plan to take part in and lead this transformation to build the future we imagine.

East Chain Co.

Braintrust

Braintrust is a blockchain-powered freelancer marketplace that connects technical and design talents with organizations. The marketplace that the company offers a user-controlled talent network that provides enterprises with highly skilled technical and design talent that they need. It connects organizations directly to top tech talent, offering 40-70 percent savings by removing middlemen. The company charge a flat 10 percent project fee and talent keep 100 percent of their revenue. Braintrust aims to build a talent platform that disrupts traditional hiring methods and aligns incentives and redistributes value to talent and organizations. Adam Jackson, Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski, and Brian Flynn co-founded Braintrust in San Jose, California in 2018.

<div>Launched in June 2020, Braintrust is an online marketplace for freelancers with skills in mobile, web, and software development. The platform is user-controlled, and its decentralized network is a space where contributors (freelancers) earn cryptocurrency (named BTRST)&nbsp; in return for referring clients and vetting other freelancers. The platform does not charge freelancers for using the platform&mdash;a unique feature for freelance marketplaces. BTRST has been made available to trade in the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Pro since September 2021.&nbsp;</div>

The on-demand economy has finally reached white collar work.

Online Freelancing Platforms

<div>Braintrust is a decentralized web3 talent network that connects skilled, vetted knowledge workers with companies seeking talent. The company&rsquo;s business model allows talent to retain 100% of their earnings and claims to enable organizations to hire skilled personnel at a fraction of the cost of traditional staffing firms.&nbsp;</div>

A decentralized version of the web powered by the blockchain

Web3 Ecosystem

<div>
 
 Launched in June 2020, Braintrust is an online marketplace for freelancers with skills in mobile, web, and software development. The platform is user-controlled, and its decentralized network is a space where contributors (freelancers) earn cryptocurrency (named BTRST)&nbsp; in return for referring clients and vetting other freelancers. The platform does not charge freelancers for using the platform&mdash;a unique feature for freelance marketplaces. BTRST has been made available to trade in the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Pro since September 2021.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of September 2021, Braintrust is reported to have a network of over 50,000 freelancers and a gross service volume of USD 30 million (which was up from USD 3.5 million in 2020). The company claims to be profitable and serves clients including Coursera, Mural, Nestl&eacute;, Pacific Life, 
 <a href="https://crunchbase.com/organization/deloitte">
 Deloitte, 
 </a>
 and Porsche.&nbsp;
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22254">
 September 2023
 </a>
 , Braintrust partnered with Stripe to offer crypto payment options to its users
 
 
 Funding and financials&nbsp;
 
 
 Braintrust raised USD 18 million in October 2020, led by Blockchange Ventures and ACME Capital to further assemble its core team and boost client acquisition. The round came after the platform&rsquo;s recent rapid growth, which was twice the targeted rate, fueled by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. 
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Tempo is a UK-based platform connecting businesses to local freelancers. The company is currently based in London and Manchester.
 
 
 The company claims it can significantly lower hiring lead time and cut recruitment costs by 65%. As of February 2022, the platform has worked with 2,500+ clients in sectors such as financial services, software, and e-commerce. The platform has a pool of 80,000 candidates up for permanent and temporary roles.
 
 
 The platform’s most recent funding came in June 2020 when it raised its Series A extension worth USD 6.4 million led by industry incumbent The Adecco Group. The fresh capital will be used to fuel its expansion across the UK and boost hiring from 35 to 50 team members in 2020.
 
</div>

Tempo

<div>
 
 Textbroker is a platform for creative writing freelancers to connect with businesses. Textbroker freelancers work on projects such as social media posts, news stories, and blog posts. The platform provides content in over 35 languages, while connecting businesses with freelancers in the target country.
 
 
 As of October 2020, the platform served over 80,000 clients and has processed over 10 million orders. The platform's pricing starts at USD 1.5 cents per word and serves clients including Ebay and Staples.
 
</div>

Textbroker

<div>
 
 Procurement Freelancers provides freelancers for procurement functions such as sourcing/category management, quality control and assurance, and advisory.
 
 
 The platform is free to use for freelancers, while clients purchase subscriptions to hire and manage freelancers at no added cost.
 
 
 In March 2019, the company acquired Dragon Sourcing, a procurement and sourcing service provider.
 
</div>

Procurement Freelancers

<div>
 
 Kolabtree is a UK-based freelancer marketplace connecting businesses and scientists. The platform provides businesses with skills such as data analysis, product development, scientific consulting, desk research, and other science related services within 24 hours of receiving business requests.
 
 
 As of September 2020, the platform had a pool of over 15,000 freelancers (across 170+ countries) qualified in over 2,000 scientific disciplines. In addition, the company has worked with over 3,500 businesses over the past three years and has 8,000 active users. 
 
</div>

kolabtree

<div>
 
 Codersera is a freelance marketplace for businesses seeking developers. The company claims to provide the top 1% of developers through its five tier vetting process. The platform’s freelancers cover a spectrum of developer and data science technologies such as iOS, Android, Python, and Java.
 
</div>

Codersera Inc

Solutions use AI/Ml for to match freelancers with clients and to vet freelancers

Some solutions introduced by players in this hub are using a B2B SaaS model

Platforms that offer expertise related to web, mobile and software development with freelance developers fluent across major programming languages.


<div>
 
 Braintrust is a decentralized web3 talent network that connects skilled, vetted knowledge workers with companies seeking talent. The company&rsquo;s business model allows talent to retain 100% of their earnings and claims to enable organizations to hire skilled personnel at a fraction of the cost of traditional staffing firms.&nbsp;
 
 
 Braintrust is built on the Ethereum blockchain and has its own native token (BTRST), through which it aims to incentivize the community for building the decentralized network, inviting and vetting talent, and referring clients. The token can be also used by members to engage in the governing process of the network.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 The company claimed it had over 700,000 members on its platform as of December 2021 and was used by 474 enterprise clients including Fortune 1,000 companies such as Deloitte, Intel, Nestl&eacute;, Porsche, Goldman Sachs, and Nike.
 
 
 Funding and Financials
 
 
 Braintrust raised USD 100 million through a private token sale of BTRST led by Coatue with participation from Tiger Global Management, True Ventures, and Blockchange Ventures in December 2021. It aimed to use the new capital to expand the network and fund community grant programs.
 
 
 Braintrust reported that in the 18 months up to December 2021, its gross services volume (GSV) grew from USD 1.2 million to USD 28.2 million.
 
 
 
</div>

<div>
 
 NEAR Protocol is an open-source layer-1 blockchain launched in October 2020. The blockchain uses a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism to validate transactions while incorporating sharding technology to improve scalability. Its native token is NEAR, which can be used to pay for transactions and storage on the blockchain, while also allowing token holders to participate in the platform&rsquo;s governance process.&nbsp;
 
 
 NEAR allows users to sign up for a wallet (account) using unique human-readable names (e.g., johndoe.near, in comparison to cryptographic and randomly generated private keys, which is a characteristic of chains such as Ethereum), which in turn enables easy sign-ins for dApps for users and improves the overall usability of the blockchain. The platform also allows developers to prepay gas fees for first-time users, allowing the latter to interact with a dApp for free. NEAR also offers the Rainbow Bridge, which allows users to transfer ERC-20 and NEAR tokens or any other digital asset between the Ethereum and NEAR blockchain. In addition, the platform provides tools such as SDKs, CLIs, and APIs for developers to create dApps on its blockchain. In addition, NEAR allocates 30% of the transaction fees to developers to encourage them to build applications on its platform, with the remainder being burnt.
 
 
 As of July 2022, NEAR had 100 validators on its blockchain, which it expected to increase in proportion to the number of transactions. The platform uses an auction system to select and determine the seat price for its validators every epoch (time interval of 12 hours). The platform claims to be able to scale infinitely by adding more validators owing to its underlying architecture.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In June 2021, NEAR joined ICON&rsquo;s Blockchain Transmission Protocol (BTP), which seeks to improve cross-chain communication. The partnership allowed data to be transferred between the NEAR blockchain and other BTP partners such as Polkadot and Harmon. Moreover, NEAR partnered with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23393">
 Nym Technologies
 </a>
 to integrate end-to-end encryption and privacy safeguards into the NEAR blockchain ecosystem.
 
 
 In addition, NEAR partnered with Ardana, a stablecoin and decentralized exchange (DEX) liquidity pool built on the Cardano blockchain in November 2021, to build a bridge to support integrations and token transfers between the NEAR and Cardano blockchains. It had also planned to enable cross-chain smart contract functionality and allow the NEAR token to be used as collateral on Ardana to mint stablecoins in the future.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In April 2022, NEAR raised USD 350 million in a private equity round led by Tiger Global. The funds were geared toward improving the adoption of the blockchain by increasing the number of its regional hubs in key communities such as Latin America, Turkey, and India.
 
 
 
</div>

NEAR Protocol

<div>
 
 Ava Labs develops the open-source layer-1 blockchain, Avalanche. The Avalanche network architecture contains three separate blockchains in order to address the decentralization, security, and scalability limitations of blockchains. These include 1) the Exchange Chain (X-Chain), which is the default blockchain on which assets are created and exchanged and also includes Avalanche&rsquo;s native token&ndash;AVAX; 2) the Contract Chain (C-Chain)&mdash;which is based on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)&mdash;allows for the creation and execution of smart contracts with cross-chain interoperability; and 3) the Platform Chain (P-Chain), which coordinates validators and enables the creation and management of subnets (a sovereign network that defines its own rules for membership and tokenomic). Avalanche uses a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and is able to execute 4,500 transactions per second. As of December 2022, ~1,000 projects were built on Avalanche, including DeFi projects like Tether, SushiSwap, Chainlink, and Circle. As of the same date, the network processed on average two million daily transactions and was secured by more than 1,200 validators.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 Ava Labs launched Core, a dedicated non-custodial crypto wallet for AVAX as a browser extension, through which users are able to browse dApps on the Avalanche blockchain. In April 2023, the company announced plans to launch &ldquo;
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17583">
 Evergreen Subnets
 </a>
 ,&rdquo;&nbsp; a suite of blockchain deployments, tooling, and customization services specifically designed for financial institutions to run their own private, permissioned chains with approved parties. In addition, financial institutions will be able to communicate and transfer data with other subnets through Avalanche&rsquo;s native communication protocol Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM) without relying on any third parties. It also launched 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18842">
 AvaCloud
 </a>
 in May 2023, a no-code Web3 launchpad that assists businesses in building fully managed blockchain ecosystems. AvaCloud consists of four main components: an automated blockchain builder, managed validators, comprehensive data tools, and chain interoperability within Avalanche subnets.
 
 
 Key customers and partnership
 
 
 Avalanche has partnered with several cloud services providers to improve its network such as 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15079">
 Alibaba Cloud
 </a>
 (December 2022) to improve its infrastructure and support for its validators. Users of the Avalanche blockchain can launch new validator nodes using Alibaba Cloud&rsquo;s plug-and-play infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), while dApp developers can use the latter&rsquo;s storage and computing resources for the efficient running of their dApps. It also collaborated with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15640?industryIds=144">
 AWS
 </a>
 (January 2022) to scale and improve blockchain adoption and support its dApp ecosystem, while also enabling one-click node deployments through the AWS marketplace. 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In September 2021, Ava Labs raised USD 230 million in a private sale of AVAX tokens, co-led by Polychain and Three Arrows Capital, with the funds geared toward supporting the Avalanche ecosystem.
 
</div>

Ava Labs

Based in Australia, Immutable is a developer of blockchain-based video games and a provider of a Web3 game development platform. The company develops and publishes its games through Immutable Game Studio, and released its first game, Gods Unchained, in March 2021. The game is a NFT strategy card game, and had ~80,000 active players as of January 2022. It also claimed that over USD 25 million of Gods Unchained digital assets have been traded as of the same date. In February 2024, the company launched the mobile version of Gods Unchained, available on Google Play and Apple App Store.Its Web3 game development platform, Immutable X, provides a SDK that offers APIs and smart contracts to allow developers to leverage ready-made Web3 infrastructure to quickly build and deploy blockchain-based games. These include an onboarding solution (non-custodial wallet) called <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16041">Passport </a>, transaction infrastructure, and NFT minting tools. The platform also consists of a developer hub which allows developers to launch and manage their projects in one-place and obtain related performance analytics.In addition, Immutable X also acts as a layer-2 scaling solution on the Ethereum blockchain. It uses <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/607497">StarkWare's </a>StarkEx roll-up technology and can process 9,000 transactions per second, with zero gas fees, while claiming to be carbon-neutral. Its native token IMX can be used to pay for transactions as well as stake and govern the network. Notable companies building on Immutable X include GameStop, TikTok, OpenSea, Ember Sword, Illuvium, GreenPark Sports, and Vee Friends (Gary Vee).Key customers and partnershipsImmutable partnered with Stepico, a video game developer to create Guild of Guardians, an action role-playing game. Stepico will develop the game, while Immutable will be responsible for publishing. The game was open for pre-registration, with over 150,000 users already signed up as of August 2022. The company also partnered with several game developers, such as Turner Sports and Kongregate, to build Web3 games on the Immutable X platform.The company collaborated with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/786111">Polygon</a> to launch its <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24881">zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine</a> (zkEVM) scaling solution to bypass the scaling limitations of the Ethereum blockchain and promote Web3 gaming. The network developers to completely abstract transaction fees that allow a frictionless player onboarding and improved user experience. Furthermore, Immutable partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22566">Amazon Web Services (AWS)</a> to develop infrastructure solutions to assist companies in developing and scaling blockchain-based games, and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24637">Amazon Prime Gaming</a> to list in-game content for Gods Unchained in the latter’s platform. This partnership also aimed to introduce the game to a broader audience circle through Amazon's platform, which boasts over 200 million Prime Gaming members. It also collaborated with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25892">Axelar</a> to integrate games built on Immutable's zkEVM into the Axelar network to enhance user onboarding across blockchain.Funding and financialsIn March 2022, Immutable raised USD 200 million in a Series C funding round led by the Singapore state investment fund Temasek at a valuation of USD 2.5 billion. The company planned to use the funds for its gaming studio improvements, geographic expansion, and potential mergers and acquisitions. Immutable also planned to hire 200 new employees.

Immutable

<div>
 
 Mythical Games is a video game studio building games based on blockchain technology, playable NFTs, and play-to-earn game economies. The company was developing two games&mdash;NFL Rivals and Blankos Block Party.&nbsp;
 
 
 Blankos Block Party is the company&rsquo;s flagship game, launched in June 2022 as an early access edition for PCs only. The game is an open-world multiplayer game with a focus on custom art and design, building, and exploration. It is free to play, with the option for purchasable in-game cosmetics, accessories, and limited edition Blankos (NFT character).
 
 
 In May 2022, NFL and the NFL Players Association partnered with Mythical Games to develop an NFT-based video game NFL Rivals. The game was launched in 2023, with players taking part in arcade-style gameplay, assuming the role of NLF general manager. They can collect and trade players represented as NFTs on the secondary market via the iOS and Android apps, as well as Mythical&rsquo;s web-based marketplace. In addition, a unique feature of the game is the &ldquo;squad system,&rdquo; which enables players to team up with fellow players to compete with others.
 
 
 Mythical Games also enables other game developers and publishers to build or integrate blockchain-based play-to-earn economies into their games through The Mythical Platform. The platform also includes built-in regulatory KYC/AML compliance and indemnity as well as a verified wallet for transacting both real and cryptocurrencies. Further, the company also offers a marketplace that enables users to sell and trade their digital assets.
 
 
 The Mythical Platform is built on an EVM-compatible sidechain Mythical Chain, which uses a proof-of-authority consensus mechanism to validate transactions. The chain also offers interoperability features, allowing players to transfer and trade NFTs across multiple blockchains. It also claims the minting of NFTs and integrating the marketplace over its platform does not require mining.&nbsp;
 
 
 It acquired 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15966">
 DMarket
 </a>
 &ndash;a digital gaming asset marketplace&ndash;in January 2023, and utilized its technology to launch an improved version of its own marketplace (Mythical Marketplace 2.0), with features such as a blended payment gateway and AML and fraud protection systems.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of June 2023,&nbsp; the company reported to have achieved daily gross sales exceeding USD 1 million and gained more than 2.5 million new users over the past year. Moreover, it expects to reach over 20 million player accounts across its entire game portfolio by the end of 2023, primarily propelled by NFL Rivals and the upcoming release of Nitro Nation World Tour.
 
 
 The Mythical Platform&rsquo;s first developer partners were announced by the company in November 2021, which includes 1) CCG Games to create Epic Spell Wars: Magic Fight, a trading card game; 2) Creative Mobile to create Nitro Nation &ndash; World Tour, a racing game; and 3) Abstraction Games to create a new action strategy title. These were slated to be released in 2023.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In November 2021, Mythical Games raised USD 150 million in a Series C round led by Andreessen Horowitz at a valuation of ~USD 1.3 billion. Additionally, it raised 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19719">
 USD 37 million in a Series C1
 </a>
 funding round led by Scytale Digital in June 2023, at a similar valuation. This funding round is expected to close later in 2023 and reach USD 57 million-67 million. It had planned to utilize the fresh funds toward initiatives that will drive profitability within the next year and expand its games and infrastructure to reach a larger audience.
 
</div>

Mythical Games

<div>
 
 Storj Labs developed the Storj Decentralized Cloud Storage (DCS) network that works by compressing, encrypting, and splitting files into more than 80 smaller pieces to distribute and store them across a global network of individual storage nodes, which are excess hardware space rented out by individuals in return for a fee. Storj audits its network through random file verification every hour, which ensures its files are consistently being hosted by its nodes; it automatically reconstitutes the data when it is required by the user. The company claims to have more than 10,000 active nodes with over 6 petabytes of available storage capacity spread across the world, as of August 2022. It uses its native token STORJ, which is used by customers to pay for providers of decentralized storage.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Storj partnered with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/792614">
 Matter Lab&rsquo;s
 </a>
 zkSync Era (
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18986">
 in May 2023
 </a>
 ) to integrate the latter's zero-knowledge roll-up technology into its cloud storage platform to optimize transaction speed, reduce gas fees, and improve the overall efficiency of the payment process. Additionally, the partnership enables EVM-compatible composability for decentralized storage payments, providing customers with increased flexibility and a wider range of customization possibilities. As part of the development, Storj also had plans to develop and maintain two open-source libraries, Crypto-Batch-Payment and Storjscan, which will focus on creating a seamless onboarding experience for its customers on the zkSync Era network.
 
</div>

Storj

Includes companies that form the Web3 ecosystem

Web3 is based on blockchain tech, a key enabler of the industry

GenAI tools help develop smart contracts and query the blockchain for data

Providers of node-as-a-service and SDKs to build dApps operate under this model

A decentralized alternative to traditional social networks that operate on independently run servers on the blockchain. These are community-owned and reward user participation.

Braintrust

Online Freelancing Platforms

Key stats

Recent Updates

Monthly News Summary (September 2023)

Braintrust launches its cryptocurrency on Coinbase

Company Brief

Funding

Investors

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless