3 months ago
24 ARTICLE AD
Two alumni of the TON Foundation – Ian Wittkopp and Inal Kardan – announced the launch of their for-profit VC firm TON Ventures with an inaugural funding of $40million. The goal of this new entity is to create the next generation of Telegram mini apps.
Ian Wittkopp was the former head of the TON accelerator program while Inal Kardan was the former head of gaming at the TON Foundation. The duo also said that they would use these funds to invest in startups that build on the TON blockchain network. TON Ventures will focus on investing in early-stage projects with investments of $0.5 million or less.
“The fundraise was very informal over a period where it began to make sense to make the move and go independent, but the full amount was raised around a month ago,” said Wittkopp. He also stated that the fund size could increase in the future if more partners join them. Without naming the fund’s investors or limited partners, Wittkopp uncovered that they are individual private investors willing to support the long-term growth of the TON ecosystem.
TON Ventures has already backed a couple of startups including Tradoor, Catizen, and Evaa Protocol. Besides, they have also participated in later-stage “strategic” deals, that include the large protocols entering the TON ecosystem. Wittkopp anticipates the $40 million fund will be fully allocated within a year due to the strong demand from Tier 1 builders.
TON Ecosystem to See Billion-Dollar Companies
As said, TON Ventures would invest in early-stage startups within the TON ecosystem. Wittkopp said that the first wave of Telegram and TON blockchain adoption will feature “billion-dollar companies” across gaming, decentralized finance (DeFi), as well as regulated financial products using the TON blockchain network.
“We will invest across the app level in those verticals as well as tooling that makes the development and monetization process for TON ecosystem apps more seamless and higher quality,” he said. Besides, he also said that Web3 products using the TON blockchain will “become legitimate challengers to established incumbents in verticals like remittance and make headway in banking underbanked segments” in the next 3-5 years.
VC firms have been closely observing the developments in the TON ecosystem due to the unique integration of the TON blockchain with messaging giant Telegram. The biggest advantage of the TON ecosystem is Telegram’s massive user base of over 900 million monthly active users.
Recent games like Notcoin and Hamster Kombat, developed on the TON blockchain and available as mini-apps via Telegram, have gained significant traction — although concerns about bot activity remain.
