Venture Hub by the Cardano Foundation

A pilot program empowering your blockchain vision.

The Cardano Foundation works to support the adoption, operational resilience, and understanding of Cardano as a public infrastructure. In alignment with this mission, the Foundation regularly lends its technical expertise to numerous ecosystem initiatives. This support is facilitated through over 500 Telegram and Slack channels for emerging and established projects, a practice the Foundation has honed over recent years.

To expand on these efforts, our educational arm, Cardano Academy, proudly introduces Venture Hub by the Cardano Foundation as a pilot program designed to refine our support structure through widespread, curated assistance. This initial pilot will focus on increasing the visibility of participating ventures, allowing those who qualify to collaborate with our internal teams and ecosystem experts while we gather data and feedback to shape the future of the program.

A robust pilot program for diverse projects

As a selective program designed to accelerate the growth of exceptional initiatives, the pilot will accept applications from entities operating across three distinct categories:

•Web 2.0 Businesses: Established companies leveraging blockchain to improve client services.
•Web 3.0 Ventures: Existing projects looking to grow and scale their solutions or projects seeking to migrate solutions to Cardano.
•Web 3.0 Innovators: New projects launching scalable solutions on Cardano's blockchain platform.

The Cardano Foundation, a not-for-profit Swiss organization, does not provide financial incentives to selected projects. However, Venture Hub provides a springboard for high-potential projects, boosting their visibility within the Cardano ecosystem and equipping them with the tools and resources to boost growth.

The initial pilot will provide customized support to up to five teams, with projects selected based on their alignment with the Foundation’s strategic objectives and capacity to leverage the support offered.

Delivering a curated program experience

Venture Hub offers a unique blend of personalized guidance, impactful programming, and flexible structure to cater to the diverse needs of participating projects. This is achieved through a core framework comprised of three distinct modules exploring key topics relevant to ventures:

•Technical: Connects each venture with in-house technical experts for tailored, high-impact guidance and support.
•Business: Equips projects with the business acumen and strategic guidance needed to achieve sustainable growth and success within the Cardano ecosystem.
•Boost: Facilitates exposure and fundraising through a designed Demo Day, amplifies visibility, and drives community engagement to maximize impact and reach.

Building on this structure, Venture Hub by the Cardano Foundation provides a comprehensive program that prioritizes participant requirements.

•Personalized Guidance: Cardano Foundation technical experts provide personalized guidance on intricate aspects of each project. A curated network of ecosystem partners offers further support through allocated hours of 1:1 consultations on a diverse choice of topics, including regulatory and compliance, finance, accounting, business operations, go-to-market strategy, and more.
•Impact-Driven Approach: The Venture Hub expands on traditional acceleration programs using a framework to "individually sculpt," "meticulously refine," and "blast-expose" selected projects, enhancing their credibility, visibility, and overall success within the Cardano ecosystem.
•Stage Agnostic: The pilot program welcomes projects at various stages of development, considering early-stage ventures, those demonstrating initial traction within the ecosystem, and even projects originating from Web 2.0 companies seeking blockchain integrations.

The program further aims to guide cohort ventures toward diverse funding opportunities, including venture capitalists through a curated Demo Day, Project Catalyst via application workshops, and enterprise collaborations dependent on product maturity.

High-touch, high-exposure

Venture Hub by the Cardano Foundation provides needed visibility, marketing, and PR amplification, community engagement opportunities within the Cardano ecosystem, as well as strategic positioning advice from experienced industry leaders and Foundation executives. This offering generates valuable, long-lasting benefits for selected projects.

•Refined Technical Strategy: Improved project technology through direct support from Cardano Foundation's technical experts.
•Accelerated Business Development: Access to a network of ecosystem partners for guidance on finance, legal, operations, go-to-market strategy, fundraising, and networking.
•Increased Credibility and Visibility: Enhanced reputation and increased visibility within the Cardano ecosystem.
•Improved Investment Readiness: De-risked investment opportunities for both projects and investors.

The pilot application window opens on January 13, 2025, and closes on January 31, 2025. Application evaluation and subsequent interviews will occur on a rolling basis, with the Cardano Foundation announcing final application decisions in February 2025. The 12-week program starts on March 17, 2025, welcoming the first cohort of participants.

For further details, please visit the Venture Hub website.