Archipelago Labs (A-Labs) has officially opened its doors to Filipino Web 3 startups. Its goal is to help and speed up the growth of the best Web 3 businesses and people in the Philippines.
A-Labs features a robust community of business professionals, mentors, and investors who will guide and support Filipino startups in their development. Some examples of these partners are the Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX), Oak Drive Ventures Inc., and the Magellan Digital Investment Group (MDIG).
Why did Archipelago Labs start?
A-Labs believes that the Philippines will be at the forefront of Web 3 because of the large number of new users that joined in 2021. They also think this is just the start of new technology applications that use blockchain and crypto to make products and services that are useful and impactful for both end users and developers.
Similarly, they believe that Web 3 startups will have a better chance of making it through the space if they have a reliable support system. Through A-Labs, they want to use Web3 technologies to give every Filipino a better digital experience.
How Will Archipelago Labs Help Filipino Web 3 startups?
A-Labs will help startups by providing capital for investment, expert advice, and organized programs like hackathons, incubators, and accelerators that are specific to the needs of certain industries and phases of development.
They mostly support early-stage startups that fill industry gaps with sustainable business models and good token economics. A-Labs was founded by people who have a good track record in technology, crypto, and business. It looks at how Web2 and Web3 consumer apps, infrastructure, tools, DeFi, and the Metaverse all fit together.
“This marks the start of our journey in equipping founders, startups, and builders with the support and tools they will need to create meaningful and impactful products, infrastructure, and services. “Doing these provides value from the ideation to the growth stages of each startup and will, in return, create a better ecosystem for Web3 here in the Philippines,” Archipelago Labs Executive Director Lance Pormarejo said during a briefing in Makati City last week.
Three founders and three principals make up A-Labs. All of them have already made important contributions to the startup and Web3 world in general.
Besides that, Playdex is one of the first startups to join A-Labs, along with many other promising projects. It is a company that is building infrastructure for Web 3 gaming through an NFT rental marketplace.
Therefore, we can see that this program has a lot of potential to change Web 3 startups in the Philippines and will play a big part in the country’s adoption of Web 3 in the long run.
“We are in the early days of Web 3 and there’s still a lot of building that’s happening, but we’re seeing the most volume we’ve ever seen because of all the talent joining the space and coming up with new tools,” said Nichel O. Gaba, CEO and founder of PDAX, at the launch.
The future of A-Labs
A-Labs plans to release the first version of the State of the Archipelago, a quarterly report on everything Web 3 in the Philippines, by the end of 2022.
In 2023, the first group of people will go through the Archipelago Labs Accelerator Block (ALAB), which is an 8-week accelerator program.
“We are growing our line-up of partners across venture capital, technology, and ecosystem to further support the startups coming out of the labs. We believe that the building blocks of Web 3 are found in the Philippines and that the country has much to offer in the Web3 space. With that, we invite proponents of the space to get in touch with us as we build a better future through Web3,” Pormarejo said.
CHECK OUT Archipelago Labs here: https://archipelagolabs.xyz/about/
