Many Web3 startups have recently emerged from Vietnam
By all accounts, Vietnam is the world’s most surprising crypto hotspot. The Southeast Asian country has seen strong adoption of Web3 products, including metaverse games and NFTs, in recent times. “The local community is diligent and has a strong learning urge. The passion and involvement of users for Web3 in the country are crazy,” said Nicole Zhang, Investment Director at Binance Labs, in a recent interview with e27.
Indeed, the Web3 growth in Vietnam is hardly surprising, given the country has given birth to several leading metaverse games startups, including Axie Infinity, which is a rage among the youth. Beyond metaverse and NFTs, there are some other companies that are making waves in the country and beyond.
Here, we bring you the list of Web3 startups founded by Vietnamese entrepreneurs who are proving the Web3 industry is way beyond Axie Infinity and metaverse games (we have also included Axie Infinity on the list since it is one of the most popular companies built out of Vietnam).
Sky Mavis (Axie Infinity)
Sky Mavis was founded in early 2018 by Aleksander Leonard Larsen, Nguyễn Thành Trung, Đoàn Minh Tú, Hồ Sỹ Việt Anh and Jeffrey Samuel Kim Zirlin. It is the creator of Axie Infinity, a popular NFT-based play-to-earn (P2E) game where players breed, battle, and trade digital pets called Axie.
Axie claims to have more than 1.8 million daily active users. The firm, a unicorn now, claims it has helped create income-generating opportunities for underserved people worldwide — 25 per cent of players are unbanked, and 50 per cent have not previously used cryptocurrencies.
Sky Mavis is backed by the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Accel Partners and Paradigm, Libertus Capital, Animoca Brands, Hashed, Pangea Blockchain Fund, Consensys, and 500 Startups Vietnam.
In late March this year, hackers stole more than US$600 million in cryptocurrency from Sky Mavis breaching the Ronin bridge, which is used to support the exchange and interoperability of different cryptocurrencies from different blockchains.
Sipher
Founded by prominent Vietnamese entrepreneur Nguyen Trung Tin (CEO), Sipher aims to unify state-of-the-art blockchain tech, artwork, storytelling, and multiplayer gaming with decentralised financial technologies. Its vision is to create an expansive world that attracts and keeps the player base engaged for years to come as new worlds, characters and factions are introduced.
Sipher intends to create an ecosystem where people can play for fun while earning rewards for their time spent in-game. It also provides the community with ownership of in-game assets, which directly contributes to the growth and success of the gaming industry.
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Last October, Sipher announced the closing of a US$6.8 million financing round, co-led by Arrington Capital, Hashed and Konvoy Ventures. Defiance Capital, Signum Capital, Dragonfly Capital, CMT Digital, BITKRAFT Ventures, Delphi Digital, Alameda Research, Fenbushi Capital, Sfermion, Hyperchain, GBV, Kyber Network, Coin98 Ventures, YGG and Merit Circle also participated.
Summoners Arena
Established by serial entrepreneur Hung Tran in May 2021, Summoners Arena is a role-playing game (RPG) that aims to redefine user experience in the blockchain gaming space. It integrates traditional and blockchain gaming elements to provide a multi-layered experience for players to participate in immersive gameplay and experience true ownership over gaming assets while earning digital assets.
The firm is scheduled to launch two official versions of the game, a non-blockchain free-to-play (F2P) version where users cannot earn digital assets and a play-own-earn version. Players of the F2P version are rewarded with free characters and features when they join the POE version.
In the blockchain version (Mainnet), players can play a specific set of game features out of more than ten features already favoured by the players of the traditional version, such as PvP (person vs person), PvE (person vs environment), Dungeon, Weapon Forging, and Black Market.
To date, the gaming startup has raised US$4.25 million across seed funding and strategic financing round. The investors include Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Onechain Technology, GuildFi, Merit Circle, Cosmic Guild, Coin98 Ventures, Istari Ventures, Spartan Group, Impossible Finance, Kyber Ventures, and Kyros Ventures. Prominent angels, including Chang-Han Kim, CEO of Krafton, and Mirza Uddin from Injective Labs, are also among its backers.
Slime Royale
Slime Royale develops a fun NFT game, where players can gain real benefits while having fun. It operates as a platform where players are supported to create, own, and exchange their digital assets. It strikes a balance between play-to-earn and play-for-fun gamers.
The firm has designed what it calls a Balancing Economic System (BES) to protect the game economy from inflation and secure the benefits of NFT owners.
Although the most successful NFT games can attract two-three million players, this number is only a very small set of customers in the vast game market. (The entire world has three billion video gamers, top games can attract from one billion to 1.5 billion players). Slime Royale believes if it can attract dozens or hundreds of millions of players, it will add enormous value to the gaming industry as a whole.
As per Crunchbase database, Slime Royale is backed by Appota.
Poriverse
Poriverse is an NFT game that allows players to lend and trade NFT to earn more. It originated with a special NFT system of Porian pieces and classes, which allows gamers to purchase or strategically grow their own Porian NFTs. Fair winning opportunities among players are designed through unique Porians rented randomly for higher-value Porian breeding.
The startup also offers a metaverse game in which different worlds could be created, designed, owned and traded among players, world developers and game investors for greater earnings.
Poriverse enables you to collect Porians in Poriverse to create a team for your adventure and sell or rent your PORI NFTs to other players in the marketplace.
ASPO
ASPO is a game universe, which is currently developing a project called ASPO World. It is a tactics-based game that allows people to interact with one another in the virtual world it creates. ASPO tokens are available on BSC mainnet.
In the game, players freely set up for themselves a squad, including one main general and four spirits. Different spirits have different skills and have different advantages. After arranging the squad, the two sides will start fighting. There are two battle modes: manual control to adjust the amount (rage) and auto-attack to help players free their hands. Each character will fight in turn until the last champion of 1 side falls.
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Players joining ASPO World are required to choose one of the three classes ASPO has designed (Fighter, Hunter and Witch) as their main character along with four other companions (spirits) to form a strong team in the arena. By engaging in the battles and activities, players can claim NFTs that can be traded on the marketplace.
ASPO has secured US$2 million in funding so far from nine investors, including Icetea.io and Hashed.
VerseHub
VerseHub has developed NextVerse, a VR-ready social-oriented metaverse. It aims to build a community where users can present themselves and communicate immersively and earn assets by playing games and watching videos. According to the firm, the game provides a real user experience as close to real-life experiences with unlimited possibilities.
It also provides a combined solution for communication, asset management, and co-working. Besides, it provides strategic, technical, and financial support to business teams and projects for their research and development, thereby helping them to adopt blockchain for better results.
VerseHub is based in London, with a physical and operational presence in Vietnam.
In November 2021, a group of angel investors injected US$1 million into VerseHub.
Meta Spatial
Meta Spatial is a metaverse virtual universe developed by the Spatial Studio. Meta Spatial is inspired by science fiction novels. The Spatial Universe is an “unlimited super universe” where the spaces are linked together through the Spatial Portal.
The firm aims to provide users with “the most extensive and authentic experiences” by creating unlimitedly different spaces and applying XR, virtual reality and extended reality technology in the Meta Spatial ecosystem.
The startup has also built a supporting technology platform for other startups to build metaverse applications for the community. Meta Platform wants to be the first in the world that allows personalisation to bring a citizen from the real world into the virtual world.
Meta Spatial has received capital from more than 100 investors around the world, including Okex, Polygon, Mex, CMC, X21, Master Venture, Redkite, and ZBS.
Ancient8
Founded in July 2021, Ancient8 is building a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) that develops a community and software platform to enable everyone to play and build the metaverse while earning rewards simultaneously.
Employing blockchain technology, the startup provides users with a comprehensive set of products and services, including scholarships and education, community, software, and investment in GameFi.
It allows users to borrow non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to play popular games, earn rewards, and receive instruction from experienced gamers. Users may also invest in new games and have early access to NFT and game testing for superior user rewards.
Ancient8 partners with P2E games to produce educational content for local communities in Vietnam and educate people about both blockchain and P2E games. It helps more than 10,000 blockchain game players by providing scholarship and educational opportunities, community, blockchain and software products.
Early this year, Ancient8 announced a US$4 million seed financing led by Dragonfly Capital, Pantera Capital and Hashed. Strategic investors including Mechanism Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research, 3Twelve Capital, Alameda Research, GuildFi, Coin98 Ventures, Kyros Ventures, Raydium, Jump Capital and Sipher also participated in the round along with previous backers Trung Nguyen (Axie Infinity), Santiago R Santos, Nick Chong and Loi Luu (Kyber Network).
AntEx
Antex is a decentralised multi-chain token management platform as a service. It provides the decentralised foundational layers for a new digital economy with the following products: stable-coin, crypto/fiat, DEX, launchpad, lock liquidity and lock token. It also plays the role of a bridge for applying crypto to real daily life through VNDT wallet and VNDT stable coin.
VNDT Wallet builds on the original vision as the payment gateway between cryptocurrency and fiat. It provides a liquidity gateway for crypto-fiat and its transactions via V-Pay by QR-Code in real life. The VNDT Wallet becomes an initial gateway in connecting the users to the decentralized finance ecosystem conveniently.
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In October 2021, Antex raised a total of US$7.3 million in funding: US$4.8 million through token sales and US$2.5 million from NextTech Group and Next100 Venture. The token funding round was led by Gelos Venture and with participants from Halving Capital, Amun Capital, Atlantic Capital, MIC Holding, Victory Venture, AVA Capital, ADN Capital, BSCLaunch, Crypto Era, Trade Coin X1000BTC, Ant Trading, Launch Zone, Easy Crypto, AliTrade, 68 Trading, BFA Group, CHIP Group, KTS Capital, Easy Trading, S-Finances.
KardiaChain
Kardiachain is a scalable and interoperable blockchain platform for decentralised applications. It aims to solve one of the most prominent challenges facing blockchain technology: fragmentation of the blockchain ecosystems. The team has developed a non-invasive solution, called Dual master node (or Dual node for short), to facilitate inter-chain operations among both existing and upcoming blockchain platforms.
KardiaChain follows an “integration without assimilation” approach, which focuses on simplicity and easy-to-use from the standpoint of both the end-user and the developer.
The ultimate goal of KardiaChain is to create a unified ecosystem where developers can easily create smart contracts that can run on multiple blockchains to optimise costs, avoid congestion, and allow communication with smart contracts on other chains in a trustless and secure manner.
Kambria
Kambria is a decentralised open innovation platform for deeptech (AI, robotics, blockchain, VR and AR). Using its platform with NFT IP marketplace and DAOs, anyone can collaborate in researching, developing and commercialising innovative ideas and get rewarded for their contributions.
Through partnerships with government agencies, top universities and leading companies, the Web3 company is building a sustainable open innovation ecosystem to accelerate advanced technology development and industry adoption.
Kyber Network
Kyber Network is a multi-chain crypto trading and liquidity hub that connects liquidity from different sources to enable trades at the best rates. It connects the deepest crypto liquidity from diverse sources to “provide the best rates and maximise returns” for everyone.
Its vision is to become the liquidity hub for the decentralised economy, where any user or application can easily access the required tokens for their liquidity needs.
DareNFT
DareNFT offers a universal NFT 2.0 protocol for digital assets. It is a multi-chain platform that allows users to mint their NFTs across major blockchain networks such as Ethereum, BSC, Polkadot, Solana, Cosmos, and Polygon. Users are also allowed to mint NFTs by staking the platform’s native token DNFT.
The DareNFT Protocol 2.0 will allow the following: creators to receive royalties from the derivative owner’s revenue, supports the co-owner model, supports the multi-chain rental NFT model, and is compatible with the existing NFT 1.0.
In October last year, the Web3 startup raised US$2.4 million in funding from notable investors in the blockchain and crypto industry, such as Kyber Network, AU21 Capital, Basics Capital, Magnus Capital, Momentum 6, and X21 Digital. Using the capital, it launched its GameFi platform entitled DarePlay.
Finblox
Founded by Peter Hoang and Dmitriy Paunin, Finblox provides a “secure on-ramp” into stablecoins and popular crypto-assets such as Axie Infinity and Polygon. The platform allows users to earn a yield on their assets passively, with no limits on minimum balances or withdrawal periods. The services are available in over 100 countries.
The firm claims it offers one of the highest interest rates available in the digital asset space. Users can earn a 15 per cent annual percentage yield on USD Coin. It also offers up to 90 per cent yield on other major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche and Axie Infinity.
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The returns are enabled through Finblox’s partnership with established crypto institutional borrowers and trusted DeFi protocols.
In March this year, the Web3 company attracted an oversubscribed US$3.9 million seed financing. The capital came from strategic investors, including Dragonfly Capital, Sequoia Capital India, Three Arrows Capital, Saison Capital, MSA Capital, Coinfund, Venturra Discovery, Kyros Ventures, First Check Ventures, and Ratio Ventures. Coins. ph’s Founder Ron Hose, and Xfers Founder Tianwei Liu.
Tomochain
TomoDEX is a decentralised exchange (DEX) powered by the layer 1 protocol TomoX. It combines the speed and experience of a centralised exchange and the security of decentralisation, letting operators bring a DEX to market without needing extensive technical knowledge.
With TomoX, one doesn’t have to wait to fulfil extensive requirements to launch one’s own intuitive DEX platform.
It takes just five minutes to launch a DEX. With a simple one-time deposit of 25000 TOMO into the Registration portal, anyone can propose a DEX in real-time. There is no need to go through lengthy due diligence processes associated with already established centralized exchange Cloud services, like Binance Cloud, nor deal with technical challenges to host and run it like with other DEX options.
All Day
All Day is a fantasy world that offers a lot of games, including a party game, a co-op game, a quiz game and also a turn-based RPG. Its Battle Royale Contest is a series of party games that massive multiplayer compete together.
Thetan Arena
Thetan Arena is an e-sports game. Its gameplay is designed to revolve around the combination between your personal skills and teamwork. Thetan Coin is its main in-game currency, which can be achieved by playing game modes and participating in many other activities. Apart from Thetan Coin, Thetan Gem is an exclusive currency that makes players become investors.
Thetan Arena’s mission is not just to create an e-sport game but a platform game that connects crypto owners with gamers and streamers. These three components will create a sustainable ecosystem that makes gaming, sharing, and in-game peer-to-peer exchange famous worldwide.
Metain
Metain is a blockchain-empowered co-investment platform focusing on real estate. Its vision is to provide high-yield, transparent and secured investment opportunities to middle-income customers. The platform aims to grow the Vietnam real estate investment market and improve its accessibility using blockchain technology to complement, not replace, existing reliable approaches.
The platform provides investors with NFTs that represent a dividend of property on a secure and decentralized platform via Smart Contract. Each share is backed by an NFT compliant with the ERC-721 standard. Thus, this allows the permanent integrity of the assets.
Metain Co-investment platform brings earnings to NFTs and stable coin holders with an interest of 15-25 per cent annual percentage yield.
In March, IDG Capital Vietnam invested in the Web3 venture.
ToCom
Tocom is a community platform where gamers can find new earning opportunities from the metaverse and be equipped with the necessary skills to earn from P2E games.
DeHR
DeHR is a decentralised social career metaverse. It can be described as a “decentralised LinkedIn” where users can connect, earn, and exchange data on a daily basis through “connect to earn career” activities. Users can kick-start their earnings immediately by staking their resume, expanding their network and engaging with others through pre-designed missions and social activities. They can earn more with another source of passive income, staking and providing their own services.
The Web3 firm users can possess a unique avatar profile NFT. The avatar profile serves as a career passport and helps them get connected with the ecosystem of global talent, companies, and organisations through daily social feeds, DeFi and data marketplace.
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Copyright: ximagination
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