Near Foundation wants to play its part in nurturing promising Web3 projects in India. The Switzerland-based non-profit organization that controls Near Protocol announced the launch of a regional center in India dedicated to finding and supporting talent in the blockchain technology that forms the backbone of the Web3 sector. With this, the Near Foundation has recognized India as the country with the world’s largest startup and entrepreneurial communities, which also have some of the “most talented developers and Web3 creators”.
Near Foundation’s India Hub will identify and support entrepreneurs who plan to solve specific public problems through Web3 elements such as Metaverse, NFTs and Cryptocurrencies.
GameFi and DeFi are the two focus areas for the hub in India.
In play-to-earn nature, ‘GamFi’ refers to the financialization of video gaming – as a sector, Allegedly Touches a market cap of $55.38 billion (approximately Rs 4,38,500 crore) by February 2022
At the same time, DeFi, or decentralized finance, is emerging in its own right as a field of fintech that relies on virtual assets like cryptocurrencies and is not dependent on central banks and centralized intermediaries. According to CoinMarketCapThe market cap of DeFi crypto is currently $45.83 billion (approximately Rs 3,63,000 crore).
In the first year, the Near India Hub aims to include 15 to 20 high-quality projects in its ecosystem.
“We are extremely excited to support the rich and exciting growth that is taking shape in India – and with our new center, an incredible opportunity for developers and creators to learn, educate and advance their talents and build on our blockchain. There will be opportunities… This hub gives us the opportunity to nurture local talent who will have global opportunities in the near future – and we look forward to seeing the amazing applications and initiatives coming out of this ecosystem,” said CEO of Near Foundation Marykay Flament said. ,
Aayush Gupta and Yash Kanchan, former Head of India Strategy for Terraform Labs, have been assigned the responsibility of leading the Near India Hub in the city of Bengaluru.
India is currently awaiting detailed crypto regulations to protect the sector from loopholes and scams. While the trading, exchange and holding of virtual assets in the country are taxed and activities are permitted, India has still not clarified the future use cases of these digital assets that may be allowed.
Earlier this month, the Near Foundation launched a regional center in Kenya to accelerate Web3 projects across the continent. The platform seeks to nurture and educate talented individuals in the country.
In fact, just this week, the platform partnered with Keras Ventures to launch a $100 million (about Rs 700 crore) fund to support promising projects in the Web3 space.
