Accelerating Web 3: DeFi and beyond
Coming winter 2021, the Base Camp virtual accelerator for early stage founders to incubate and accelerate world changing ideas.
Applications are now open
With Base Camp, we are recruiting, financing and providing launch pad for pre-seed projects anywhere in Europe. Providing product support, hub services, and partnering with you on your web 3 concept. Join us for five months in a bespoke Convergence Accelerator to define and build your project.
- 5 month remote first accelerator program
- $50,000 immediate funding for 6% equity and tokens
- Up to $200,000 total funding available per team
- Startup resources, legal and back-office support
- World-beating investor and mentor ecosystem for Web 3
Leveraging the combined resources of our tried and tested venture platform of experts, mentors and ecosystem we will add measurable value where each team needs it most.
Delivered fully remotely, and targeting founders in the EMEA region, this extension of the successful Outlier Ventures venture platform that has partnered and collaborated with Fetch.ai, Sovrin, Ocean Protocol, DIA Data, Enigma, Cosmos, Parity and Chainlink.
This program will enable you to refine your pitch, positioning, and to develop traction in your product to be in the best possible shape to secure your first token sale or seed round of funding. This is a unique opportunity to get inside access to the industry and build your venture with the leading minds of Web 3.
Building on six years experience in the decentralised technology space, this isn’t a cookie-cutter program, but a bespoke solution for accelerating the billion dollar token networks and transformational Web 3 businesses of tomorrow.
A team of multi-disciplinary experts across Europe, Asia and the USA dedicated to Web 3
We have been incubating early stage companies in the convergence ecosystem since 2013, working with founders, enterprise, academia and industry to accelerate the adoption of decentralised technology. We partner with leading Web 3 protocols and a growing team of technology providers to fast track your roadmap and product execution.
Selection
We work with our ecosystem of leading Web 3 founders and investors to source and select startups for the program via our extended network, and open, community based selection process.
Funding
Selected founding teams will receive $50,000 in immediate investment for 6% equity and any potential token supply, and up to $200,000 of total funding, plus the value of our platform and back office support to accelerate your business.
Resources
We provide critical in-house mentorship that will turn your decentralized concept into a fundable project. Outlier Ventures will provide mentoring, capabilities, hub services and valuable domain expertise.
Connections
Our global network with investors, exchanges, development talent and others, will expand and enable your future network. The teams we have worked with have raised over $130m in funding, and secured contracts with major organizations.
Ecosystem
Access to the Convergence ecosystem will bring corporate, academic and blockchain-based relationships within arm’s reach.
What we are looking for
Leaders and teams with concepts in the decentralized space
We are looking for driven, humble, empathetic and passionate founders who want to build a more equitable data economy. You will likely be a small team with both technical and business expertise. You may have raised a small amount of money before, and are looking for your next step to accelerate your proposition, and get it in front of customers and the wider industry.
We are particularly interested in projects that fit our vision of the future web: The Convergence Stack. Spanning hardware, software, networking and applications, the stack underpins a private, secure, and accessible digital infrastructure.
We want to make sure that this web is designed and built by people with diverse backgrounds and experiences to ensure the future web is inclusive and works for all.
Read our full thesis
We are particularly interested in opportunities in the following industry vertical segments:
You might already be working on a startup in this space or a founder team passionate about the domain but looking for a great startup idea. Both of these come with ready made open source technology, partners and in some cases investors however the idea is applicants truly make it their own based on a distinct interpretation.
P-DIDI – A tokenized instance of the Sovrin SSI protocol You can’t have a decentralized web until you solve for decentralized identity. With Evernym and The Sovrin Foundation we have built an open source protocol specifically for DID read write access to deliver SSI and verifiable claims. READ MORE
ZIP – Layer 2, stablecoin for DApp interoperability It is impossible to build a SaaS business via a DApp on a public network today because of the underlying volatility of tokens and gas prices. ZIP stabilizes both via a unique open source stablecoin. READ MORE
How our Base Camp works
The applications for the winter virtual cohort are now open until the end of October
Applications are now openCommunity based selection process
We will be reviewing the applications ongoing during the recruitment campaign, and if you are successful we will be in touch for an initial call, a video of your presentation, and then a meeting. We will be evaluating with our partner network for thesis fit, team fit and for the quality of your ideas. Don’t worry, we are looking for potential rather than for fully fleshed unicorns at this stage.
The only way to join the program is to apply online using the simple form, please do not contact the team directly - during the recruitment period we are getting a huge volume of inbound requests and it is not manageable to respond to everyone directly.
Onboarding
We will make sure we get to know your business in detail prior to the commencement of the program and we will ensure your corporate setup is suitable long term and that all your legal agreements are in order. We have relationships with service providers to help get legal, accounting and banking do not become barriers later.
During the first week of the program we will support you to establish what success of the program looks like, and how you will define and demonstrate the traction needed to take you to the next stage. This is not a cookie-cutter program so these insights will help define the rest of the program for you and your team. An OKR framework will be established and we will support you with reporting for this both within the cohort, and with your advisers.
Idea refinement
The first few weeks of the program will be focused on helping you to think through your core value proposition, getting your pitch straight, and then connecting you with valuable contacts who can guide and mould the delivery of that. We have a wide network of potential mentors, and the first two weeks of the program you will have the opportunity to meet many of these and refine your story. Some of these may become valuable advisors to you throughout the whole accelerator program and beyond.
Product development: customers
The core of the central part of the program will be focused on developing your product, and creating momentum with your key performance metrics. To achieve this core program content will be focused around understanding your market and competitors, supported by our research team, and understanding all the stakeholders within that ecosystem. A series of workshops will be run, to identify stakeholders, map the user stories and map the journeys.
Product development: technology
The program team will support you around key decisions in technology architecture. Outlier Ventures Labs takes an active role in our portfolio, including developing integrations and supporting with technology relationships, and partners.
Together Outlier Ventures and its partners are building the Convergence Stack - a complementary set of technologies that will make up the core infrastructure for web 3. The Base Camp program gives you the opportunity to contribute and integrate with this Stack, and collaborate with the technologists building it.
We hosted "Diffusion" in Berlin in October 2019 and gathered over 600 people building the future together.
Product development: corporate partners
A core strength of Outlier Ventures is the depth of our relationships with innovation and strategy teams in some of the world’s biggest companies. No project can develop in isolation, and in addition to connecting you to the crypto-community, we will also be focused on ensuring your concepts are stress tested with large organisations who will be fundamental to adoption and success of the technology long term. There will be a product development theme during the core syllabus focused on this, and connecting to our Convergence Alliance working group.
Elective content
During the program there will be a focus on your challenges and your particular situation. Working hand in hand with the Outlier team we will adapt the program to your needs.
If your particular need is working out token economics in more detail, or regulatory considerations, we will be able to dive into that in more detail with dedicated time mid-way through the program.
Fundraising
The final third of the program is dedicated to taking the evolved proposition, and the product development progress that you have made and bringing this to a wide range of potential supporters of your project.
To achieve this we will support you on developing the commercial proposition, and then in a structured way pitching to angels and VCs through a series of training sessions, warm introductions with feedback. The program will conclude with a Demo Day event in a conference venue where you will present to a broader audience of angels and VCs as well as ecosystem participants.
Aftercare
After the first three months of the program concludes we will support you with the terms and finalising any further fundraising that has been agreed. There will also be operational support to ensure product and ops setup is seamless. If needed we can help with securing non-execs and advisors for your corporate governance. Finally, as an Alumnus of Outlier Ventures, you will have access to all the connections in our ecosystem
Core Terms
We keep it really simple, we provide $50,000 of immediate funding in exchange for 6% of your company and/or 6% of token supply.
Applications are now open
FAQs
Where will the Base Camp program be run?
The Base Camp Accelerator is currently planned to be a primarily remote program. We have moved our London accelerator currently in progress to remote-only and will continue this model for as long as required by the global health situation. There may be the opportunity for in-person summits in London or other European locations
Are you running Base Camp in North America?
We are now fully virtual and looking at global teams. Once it is safe enough we are considering expanding the residential Base Camp program to North America. Please sign up for our updates and we will announce future launches when finalised.
What type of idea are you looking for?
We are focused on building out our vision of what is necessary for Web 3 to be successful - the “Convergence Stack”. We are already supporting projects across the stack but there a few areas that are currently underserved: learning, storage, networking, middleware and user experience. We are interested to see applicants from all areas of the stack but will prioritise those focused on underserved components.
Tell me about founders that work well with you?
We are looking for driven, humble, empathetic and passionate founders who want to build a more equitable data economy. You will likely be a small team with both technical and business expertise. You may have raised a small amount of money before, and are looking for your next step to accelerate your proposition, and get it in front of customers and the wider industry.
Why is Outlier Ventures the right early stage investor?
Outlier Ventures is a venture platform designed to support decentralised projects to design, build, and scale at every stage of their development.
We provide early-stage funding, as well as providing support via relationships, introductions, and access to specialists from across the venture platform. We have incubated and supported leading web 3.0 teams, and can bring a powerhouse of support to ventures building web 3.0 infrastructure.
How long will the program run for?
The core program will be 13 weeks long, with a further 9 weeks of ongoing support, running over the winter-spring of 2021.
What will the program consist of?
This is a foundational product development accelerator for decentralised technology, that will develop momentum and traction in foundational technology concepts for Web 3
What happens after the end of the program?
The aim of the Base Camp program is to set founding teams up for long term success. We aim to leave you with clarity on your mission, momentum in achieving it, and being ready to close a significant fundraising round.
How do I apply for Base Camp?
We are working with F6S.com for the accelerator application process. Please visit our application form on their site and create a profile
Investment and support for ideas that accelerate the open data economy
Applications are now open