Jun 15, 2022
Starter Labs BUIDLs #IRL with its first physical blockchain incubator and coworking DAO in heart of tech scene in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Starter’s new coworking space brings an aura of confidence in blockchain innovation in the middle of a bear market, geopolitical instability, and rising inflation
Starter began as a single chain launchpad on Binance Smart Chain to provide a fully-automated platform for Initial DEX Offerings (IDO) that evolved to a multichain ecosystem, adding Polygon, Ethereum, Fantom and Avalanche. We launched over 60 projects, who went on to raise almost $50M on our platform. We launched a quickly growing crypto fund, Starter Capital, where we invested in promising projects that we incubated via a Certified START path. We created a play-to-earn game, Starchi, during the height of the GameFi movement (which recently launched in Beta at the time of this writing!). Earlier this year we launched our NFT Launchpad, OpenStarter and held our first drops, including our very own Primate Evolution NFT Collection, the sold out FatCats collection, and an upcoming drop from a well known actor (hint: Adrian!!!). Toward the end of 2021, we also began discussing a vision of maturing from a pseudonymous incubator and investor network to a doxxed team operating publicly in real life (IRL) and operating physical incubators and coworking spaces across the United States.
Did we mention — this all happened in just the past 18 months?
We’ve also experienced some setbacks, which we understand are an unfortunate part of the game in this young, yet slowly-maturing industry. Regarding the large hack we suffered last quarter as well as several subsequent attacks by the same perpetrator who maintained single-controlled back-door access into some pools, we carefully evaluated the situation, the market, and the space as a whole to decide on the best way forward. We have fully completed the rebuild of the Starter IDO platform contracts according to our initial plans and have been prepared to launch our new systems for over a month. However, subsequent issues in the market beyond our control — UST’s death spiral, growing inflation driving fears of a recession, Celsius Network’s possible insolvency, and a war-infested geopolitical climate — created a larger environment of uncertainty that caused us to suspend any new platform deployments until further notice. When we decide to launch, we will replenish any pools that were affected by the hacks — including but not limited to Legion, UniLab, a single claiming period for InpulseX — and re-enable claiming with no vesting requirements. Realistically, we expect to be months away from having sufficient confidence in the market to complete these tasks. However, it will remain one of the top priorities at Starter.
After building so much and seeing the success we managed to amass in such a short time despite the challenges, we knew there was no setback large enough to stop us from pushing our vision forward. So we continued to do what we do best: BUIDL!
The umbrella of all our brands, Starter Labs, is the representation of an internally transformed operation. Our entire team is fully KYCd, some have been doxxed, and others will be doxxed incrementally as they prove their longevity. We have opened the first physical version of Starter’s launchpad business in the United States, in Atlanta, Georgia. The initial Starter Labs incubator, named Atlanta Blockchain Center (ABC), will cultivate entrepreneurship, inclusivity and education through project incubation & funding, weekly panels & speakers, pitch events and more. We are now able to sit in the same room as the project owners we are dealing with. Projects are able to pitch investors in-person inside blockchain-themed rooms (called “blocks”) inside of our facility located in the heart of the tech scene in Atlanta. We are working on building relationships with Georgia Tech, ranked 4th in the 2022 America’s Best Colleges for Engineering list; Atlanta Tech Village, America’s 4th largest tech hub with more than 1000 startups (BitPay and Storj were founded here); Georgia State University and their growing Creative Media Industries Institute; Metro Atlanta Chamber, Atlanta’s leading economic development organization and many other credible parties.
And we plan to repeat this model in other growing cities across the world, with the goal of being the #1 blockchain incubator, coworking space, and investor network in real life.
We chose Atlanta because of some little-known, yet mind-blowing facts:
- Atlanta processes 70% of the world’s financial transactions! You read that correctly. They also have a booming fintech industry, worldly financial center, flourishing tech ecosystem and incredibly talented and ambitious professionals.
- A very strong educational ecosystem and the #4 top engineering school in the USA. Finding and nurturing engineering talent is much more feasible.
- Some of the largest companies are headquartered in Georgia — including Coca-Cola, UPS, Delta Air Lines, Intercontinental Exchange, and Equifax — while many others are expanding there, such as Google, Visa, Microsoft, and Walmart just to name a few. Easy access to connect with such large entities is a major advantage for blockchain incubation initiatives.
- Atlanta is the leading music capital and is quickly becoming the film production capital in the US, producing movies such as Black Panther, Spider Man, Avengers, Hunger Games, and more in part or in whole. Having access to such productions is relevant to the future of NFT-based ventures that may be incubated by Starter Labs.
- Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport is the busiest airport in the WORLD, with easy flights in and out of the state to anywhere across the globe.
Our coworking space and training center is not only for established blockchain ventures, but also for students, enterprises exploring blockchain tech, aspiring entrepreneurs, and anyone with an interest in blockchain. ABC will be the ultimate location where entrepreneurs, investors and students can come together to ideate, build and scale the city’s blockchain community. Utilizing our depth of experience in the space and our international blockchain connections, we aim to be the premier blockchain innovation hub globally, with our BUIDL, ELXR, and Primate Evolution holders at the core of this new future.
We are here for the long term.
Our grand opening & ribbon cutting was on June 13, 2022, in Atlanta Georgia, with resounding success.
READ MORE: https://twitter.com/StarterXyz/status/1537100022726246402?s=20&t=MOkE8C5zFjJc1lA_BM_gtQ
