ZUG, Switzerland, April 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Aleph Zero Foundation, the non-profit entity overseeing the development of Aleph Zero, a public, permissionless, and leaderless blockchain boasting ink! WebAssembly (WASM) smart contracts and Liminal (privacy-enhancing ZK-SNARKs and MPC technology), announced today the launch of the $50 million Aleph Zero Ecosystem Funding Program. The program consists of grants, incubation, and acceleration across all stages of product development, and is dedicated to supporting developer teams to build on Aleph Zero. Interested parties can apply at alephzero.org/EFP.

The grant recipients will receive up to $500,000 per project in grant funding, and gain exclusive access to Aleph Zero’s venture capital pool. Aleph Zero’s partner, Kudelski Security, will also provide free or heavily-subsidized security design consultations and code audits, while Amazon Web Services will provide infrastructure credits to selected teams and projects via its Activate program. Core developer of Aleph Zero, Cardinal Cryptography, will assist with research and development as well as token economy design. In addition, the Aleph Zero partner network will provide marketing, branding, UX, product design, and operational support as needed.

“The Aleph Zero Foundation is thrilled to announce the launch of the Ecosystem Funding Program, a monumental step forward towards empowering projects to build on Aleph Zero. Project ideas can range from proof-of-concept and other early-stage companies to experienced teams with solutions deployed on different platforms,” said Magdalena Oleksy, Ecosystem Lead. “The Foundation is particularly interested in supporting teams that are focused on use cases in DeFi and broader economic empowerment, but we’re open to assisting ambitious teams from all verticals. Applications showcasing Aleph Zero’s unique features and focused on compliant privacy solutions are of particular interest. The Foundation is also eager to support various network improvements and tooling for the WASM ink! ecosystem.”

With the recent release of ink! 4.0 smart contracts on Aleph Zero Mainnet, Aleph Zero is ready to house new dApps. With around 30 different products already in development, Aleph Zero Foundation is keen to provide more resources to its developer community. To date, a number of projects are being built under the Ecosystem Funding Program’s pilot program, such as:

• Abax: A decentralized lending and borrowing protocol boasting an innovative position risk model;
• ArtZero: An NFT marketplace built on Aleph Zero that grants users quick and easy access to digital collectibles;
• AZERO Domains: A leading domain name service on Aleph Zero;
• DRKVRS: A unique, dark metaverse experience designed by world-renowned writers and producers.
• Gatenox: An enterprise-grade decentralized identity platform that allows exchanges, applications, Web 3.0 services, as well as fintechs and banks to integrate a seamless, near-zero cost, instant Know-Your-Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) processes. Gatenox raised $2.5m in their seed funding round.
• Interlock: A decentralized security platform that delivers Web3-centered solutions to combat cybercrime by allowing users to share anonymized data regarding online threats and rewards them through Interlock’s native token. Interlock is currently closing its seed funding round.
• Syncra: A no-code solution for creating privacy-enhanced DAOs using Aleph Zero and Liminal.
• Metamask Snap: A dedicated Snap to onboard users to the Aleph Zero network.

“Our experience in Aleph Zero's Ecosystem Funding Program has been invaluable. The grant and guidance have enabled us to code and audit our smart contracts with ease, which set us up for a successful token and product launch,” said Andrew Ciaccia, Co-founder and CMO of Interlock. “The consulting and feedback we received have been immensely helpful in refining our DeFi security products.”

'We're excited to support the Ecosystem Funding Program and have already made contributions to a number of Aleph Zero projects'', says Maciej Skrzypczak, partner at Block54 Capital and advisor to the Aleph Zero team. 'With prior experience in building and exiting companies, as well as working with a number of enterprise customers, we're looking to support developers holistically—beyond simply providing funding.'

In addition to the Aleph Zero Foundation, the Ecosystem Funding Program is also backed by other long-term contributors to the project, such as Skynet Trading, NxGen, Diamond Atlas Capital, BlackDragon, Necker Ventures, Block54 Capital, Hodl.nl and Hodl Ventures, Pragma Ventures, RR2 Capital, Cardinal Cryptography and Cardinal Ventures, Bellwether Rocks, Offbeat Ventures, 727 Ventures, and others, as well as Aleph Zero core developers and a number of angel investors.

Participating VCs and angel investors will have the opportunity to engage with teams individually, and make future independent decisions with ecosystem projects. The Aleph Zero Foundation and its partner network aim to fund and empower innovations from developer teams that expand the capabilities, functionalities, and adoption of the Aleph Zero blockchain.

About Aleph Zero Foundation

The Aleph Zero Foundation oversees the research and development of the Aleph Zero blockchain, promotes its use, and funds ambitious teams seeking to bring innovative projects to the Aleph Zero community.

About Aleph Zero

Aleph Zero is a public, permissionless, and leaderless layer 1 blockchain built for use cases focused on optimal security, speed, and scalability. Aleph Zero can also support a variety of privacy-enhanced use cases through its Liminal technology. The goal of the platform is to enable builders from all verticals to benefit from a fundamentally improved distributed ledger design.

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Ana Lezama
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