As a seasoned analyst with over two decades of experience in the tech industry, I find Samsung’s latest move into the web3 ecosystem through their investment in Startale Labs and participation in the Soneium Spark program intriguing. With my roots tracing back to the days when Samsung was just starting to make waves in the global market, it’s fascinating to witness their strategic evolution and expansion into new frontiers such as blockchain technology.
Samsung Ventures, a subsidiary of the South Korean technology powerhouse Samsung, has revealed their involvement in the Soneium Spark initiative by making an investment in Singaporean startup incubator, Startale Labs.
In a recent blog post, Samsung Next investor John Yim didn’t disclose specific details but did mention that this investment supports Startale Labs, a pioneer in addressing significant issues within the Web3 environment.
In 2023, Sota Watanabe established Startale Labs with a focus on collaborating with Astar Network for its development. Initially independent, it later became a joint venture with Sony Network Communications Inc. Notably, both Startale Labs and Astar Network were founded by Sota Watanabe, who also serves as the director at Sony Blockchain Solutions Labs. This lab recently introduced Soneium, an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain.
As Sony reports, Soneium aims to simplify access to web3 for users by providing a multitude of practical applications. This network will utilize optimistic rollups, constructed with the Optimism OP stack, and will incorporate the base structure of Startale’s Astar zkEVM platform as its underlying foundation.
Sleepum has unveiled a nurturing initiative called Sleepum Flare, designed to motivate web3 programmers to construct decentralized applications (dApps) on the blockchain. This program offers potential investments of as much as $100,000 for each team as an incentive.
As stated by Yim, Samsung Next is set to join an incubator program aimed at nourishing a collective of imaginative thinkers and pioneers in technology. The objective behind this collaboration is to transform innovative concepts into tangible solutions that promote sustainable development within the web3 industry in the long run.
As an analyst, I find myself joining a prestigious incubation program that includes heavyweights such as Circle, Alchemy, Chainlink, and The Graph, all key players within the blockchain industry. Notably, this program also welcomes Sony subsidiaries like Sony Music and Sony Pictures, further expanding the diverse ecosystem of participants.
Previously this year, Startale Labs secured $3.5 million during a prolonged seed financing phase, with investments coming from Samsung Next and United Overseas Bank Venture Management. Yet, there’s some ambiguity about whether this funding is identical to what was mentioned in the latest blog post.
Samsung’s web3 ventures
Samsung has delved into the web3 space through various partnerships in the past. Last year saw Samsung team up with Savage, a Polygon-based streaming service, to make their app available on Samsung smart TVs. In 2022, they collaborated with Theta Labs to provide exclusive NFTs to customers who preordered their smartphones.
Samsung is additionally collaborating with the Bank of Korea on the creation of their central bank digital currency, with a primary focus on establishing a digital currency system that functions independently from an internet connection.
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2024-09-04 12:44