One explanation for the rise in Web3-centric businesses could be that older Web2 businesses are shifting their business models to take advantage of the new realities. Web3 developers and entrepreneurs are contributing their intellectual capital to open-source crypto and Web3 projects, developing platforms like Ethereum, etc., out of a sense of liberty and/or altruistic tendencies. But keep in mind that the 10 companies represented are only the tip of a larger iceberg, and as Web3 expands, so will the Web3 businesses that make up the Web3 ecosystem.
The way entrepreneurs and commercial companies conduct business will be revolutionized by Web3 and open-source software, which were established on the foundation of blockchain technology. This will also change how customers engage with products. Web3 firms are fostering more of a community in the entertainment space, where users and players can choose a great deal about how, when, where, and why they participate. Decentralized networks, which have diminished the power of the major social media players to influence the game’s rules, have made this possible. And when more businesses fully convert to Web3 businesses, the shift to this modality is expected to pick up speed.
In contrast to its predecessors in the Web 2.0 era, Web3 companies provide enterprises complete control and ownership, eliminating the middleman or intermediary and improving services. They also increase transparency and trust, which improves the ecosystem’s effectiveness and the growth and nurturing of ideas.
Braintrust
The first decentralized Web3 talent network, Braintrust links qualified, screened knowledge workers with top businesses. The people who own and build Braintrust are also the community that uses it to find employment, guaranteeing that the network always serves the requirements of its users rather than being run by a centralized organization. Additionally, because the community of knowledge workers and contributors receives ownership and control of Braintrust in exchange for their contributions to the network’s expansion through the native BTRST token, new Talent and positions have joined the network at a record-breaking rate.
There are more than 700,000 people in the Braintrust community, including knowledge professionals and project contributors from all around the world. Numerous Fortune 1000 companies around the world, such as Nestlé, Porsche, Goldman Sachs, and Nike, trust it.
OpenSea
Devin Finzer and Alex Atallahis created the NYC-based firm OpenSea in 2017, which is the first and largest peer-to-peer marketplace for NFTs. Collectibles, gaming products, domain names, digital art, and many more items backed by a blockchain are examples of NFT applications. OpenSea is a free, open, and welcoming Web3 platform where users may learn about NFTs and connect to buy and trade NFTs. Stanford, Pinterest, and Google alumni make up the OpenSea team, which is backed by YCombinator, Founders Fund, Coinbase Ventures, 1Confirmation, and Blockchain Capital.
Since its founding, OpenSea has raised an astounding $427 million in outside capital, and as of January 2022, the company was valued at $13.3 billion.
Immutable
With Immutable X, the first scaling solution for NFTs that doesn’t affect the security or decentralization of the most popular public blockchain in the world, Ethereum, Immutable is scaling the entire world’s digital assets.
Immutable, an Australian startup with offices in Sydney, was established in 2018 by James Ferguson, Robbie Ferguson, and Alex Connolly. It powers the upcoming Web3 games.
Immutable has raised $279.8 million in capital altogether over five rounds, and as of March 2022, the Animoca-backed business was valued at $3.5 billion.
TRON DAO
Using blockchain technology and decentralized applications, the Singapore-based business TRON DAO is working to hasten the decentralization of the internet (dApps). The TRON network, which was established in 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, has kept up its excellent performance since MainNet began in 2018.
In 2018, BitTorrent, a pioneer in decentralized services with up to 100 million monthly active users, was also included in the ecosystem. Over 69 million users and upwards of 2.7 billion transactions have been made on the blockchain of the TRON network in recent years, demonstrating its tremendous growth.
BitGo
The startup BitGo was established in 2013 by Ben Davenport, Michael Belshe, and Will O’Brien in Palo Alto, California. It offers financial and digital asset services, as well as liquidity, custody, and security for institutional investors and cryptocurrency platforms.
With the introduction of BitGo Prime, the first and only fully integrated custody, trading, and lending solution, the business achieved significant milestones in 2020. The company now controls operations across wallets, exchanges, and service providers with the introduction of BitGo Portfolio and BitGo Tax.
It introduced BitGo Trust Company in 2018, the first certified custodian created specifically for the storage of digital assets. BitGo supports more than 250 currencies and tokens and processes more than 20% of all Bitcoin transactions worldwide. The largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world are among BitGo’s customers, who are spread across more than 50 nations and include certified custodial companies in Switzerland and Germany.
In May 2021, Galaxy Digital paid $1.2 billion to acquire BitGo. BitGo had secured $69.5 million in fundraising throughout seven rounds before the acquisition, with the help of investors like Goldman Sachs, Craft Ventures, Digital Currency Group, DRW, Galaxy Digital Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners.
NFTY Labs
NFTY Labs, situated in Miami, Florida, was founded to develop community-based solutions to encourage the recently discovered growth inside token ecosystems. NFTY Labs was established to facilitate cross-chain NFT standards and procedures in addition to developing novel standards and technology for NFTs. NFTY Labs will assist in leading the development of the technology needed for these new NFT ecosystems to assure their success as NFTs continue to alter the landscape in the upcoming digital economy.
In 2020, NFYT Labs was founded by James Lawrence, Ty Blackard, Kevin Caffery, and Jonathan Ballinger.
Spatial
Anand Agarawala and Jinha Lee founded Spatial in 2016 with funding from iNovia Capital, White Star Capital, Expa (founded by Garrett Camp), Kakao Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Leaders Fund, Samsung NEXT, and angel investors like Mark Pincus (Founder of Zynga), Andy Hertzfeld (Co-Inventor of the Macintosh), Mike Krieger, and others (Co-Founder of Instagram).
The mission of Spatial, a passionate team of 3D Design and AR/VR experts based in New York and San Francisco, is to assist brands and creators in creating their own spaces in the Metaverse to share culture. Spatial does this by enabling its users to use their stunning spaces to share eye-catching content, form close-knit communities, and generate significant revenue for their artistic creations and products. It also gives users the ability to design stunning and useful 3D environments that they can sell or rent to other people who want to hold mind-blowing events or mint as NFTs.
Throughout five rounds, Spatial has so far secured $47.3 million in funding.
Project Galaxy
Project Galaxy, developed by Bullet Labs and based in San Mateo, California, is the world’s biggest Web3 credential data network. Project Galaxy, which is built on an open and cooperative architecture, enables developers and organizations to use digital credential data to create better Web3 communities and products.
Project Galaxy was founded in 2021 by Charles Wayn, Harry Zhang, and Xinlu C. and has received about $10 million in investment.
Okcoin
One of the biggest and fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Okcoin has offices worldwide and its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. Millions of people use Okcoin every day to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, MiamiCoin, and a variety of other crypto assets. Okcoin also has offices in Malta, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and Korea. Additionally, it is creating an inclusive financial future that offers new chances for everyone to develop their financial literacy, preserve their assets, and amass wealth.
Okcoin was established in 2013 by Star Xu, and in the nine years since, it has raised $10 million in funding over two rounds.
8th Light
Micah Martin and Paul Pagel launched the software consulting business 8th Light in 2006. Since then, it has collaborated with hundreds of clients to design systems that unleash human potential and create beloved products, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 organizations.
8th Light, based in Chicago, Illinois, is developing the newest Web3, cryptocurrency, and Blockchain apps, including DApps.
Conclusion
The twenty-five Web3 businesses on the list represent a future in which we will see a radical shift in how people think about how business is conducted, both in terms of the product or service and how the customer interacts with it.
The 10 Web3 companies described in this piece are some of the earliest. As more legacy companies adopt a Web3 mindset and the number of Web3 startups rises, a pattern will emerge where the old world, that of Web 2.0, will gradually disappear, being replaced by the new order.
