The Sandbox Unveils a $50 Million Metaverse Accelerator Program

The Sandbox, Animoca Brands’ metaverse subsidiary, has committed a $50 million fund to venture capital firm Brinc as part of a new program seeking to invest in and mentor startups building beyond the platform’s Open Metaverse.

Mentorship, education, and development support for startups will be a major component of the accelerator, as will access to potential partnerships and business development opportunities across The Sandbox, Animoca Brands, and Brinc networks.

The Sandbox Metaverse Accelerator Program, according to a press release, is a dedicated track within Launchpad Luna, an accelerator launched in mid-2021 as a collaboration between Brinc and Animoca Brands.

The new program aims to accelerate 30 to 40 startups per year over a three-year period, with initial investments of up to $250,000  per startup. The best-performing startups will also receive additional grants of up to $150,000 in SAND tokens and LAND grants through The Sandbox, according to the companies.

The metaverse, or virtual worlds that use a combination of technology such as blockchain and augmented reality, is expected to generate trillions of dollars in revenue in the coming years. It’s also why Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is expected to pour billions of dollars into the new medium as part of its effort to broaden its narrow social ad revenue model.

According to the release, the performance of the startups in the program will be judged based on their traction, technical expertise, and ability to “deliver unique experiences.”

“The Sandbox’s Metaverse Accelerator is a significant extension of our ongoing commitment to assisting the next generation of metaverse entrepreneurs,” said Sebastien Borget, co-founder of The Sandbox and chairman of the Blockchain Gamer Alliance. “Startups from all over the world can realize their visions and drive societal impact by creating more opportunities for everyone with imagination, ideas, and hard work. We’re especially excited to support underrepresented founders as they explore the endless possibilities offered by The Sandbox ecosystem “He continued.

In response to the announcement, Yat Siu, executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands, stated, “The open metaverse will not be owned by any single entity and thus presents an incredible opportunity to create a participatory and collaborative nonzero-sum environment based on openness, equitability, user governance, and digital property rights.”