General Manager at the Solana Foundation, Johnny B. Lee, has stated the funds are primarily intended for Solana-based projects in the country.
Solana Ventures and Solana Foundation have set aside funds amounting to $100 million to invest in Korean web3 startups.
While Solana has launched different funds in the past, this is the first one with a unique geographical focus. In November 2021, the firm set up a $100 million gaming fund together with FTX and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Later in December 2021, it launched a $150 million fund with Forte and Griffin Gaming Partners.
Compared to the first two funds focused on gaming, the focus of this investment seems broader. This is obvious when you consider it is coming weeks after the Terra ecosystem collapsed, and left the Korean crypto market reeling. Until the Terra collapse, many crypto start-ups were building on the network. Thus, the crash left them in the lurch and with a need to develop their products elsewhere.
Also, Solana’s blockchain has suffered multiple outages, with one lasting up to 4 hours. Its native SOL token has also crashed by as much as 46% since May. Solana will be looking to use the investment funds to drive new projects to its platform and push up its utility.
How Korean Web3 Startups Will Benefit
General Manager at the Solana Foundation, Johnny B. Lee, has stated the funds are primarily for Solana-based projects in the country. Consequently, the fund will be available for Korean web3 startups. Also, he noted that it will also support projects that were previously based on Terra. Lee believes the firm has been working long enough with Korean developers in the ecosystem to understand what the country’s market looks like.
“Korea is at the forefront of web3 game design and development and we are focused on helping even more builders in Korea bring their ideas to reality.” Thus, the funds will focus on gaming, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance projects.
Regarding how the firm will disburse the funds, Lee had this to say:
“There’s a wide range of project sizes, team sizes, so some of [our investments] will be venture-sized checks.”
In addition, Solana will also serve in a technical and advisory role for the Korean developers, helping with product and engineering.
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