Indian Venture Capital Firm Invests Heavily in Web 3.0 Startups

An Indian venture capital firm is investing heavily in Web 3.0 startups as product developers  for the next phase of the Internet, featuring a decentralized online ecosystem powered by blockchain technology.  Antler India, an Indian venture capital firm that is part of Singapore-based venture capital platform Antler, has initially committed to investing in 2,530 blockchain and Web 3.0 startups over the next 23 years. He plans to invest $100 million of $150 million in over 100 Indian startups over the next three years, of which up to $50 million will be invested in the Web 3.0 space.

Nitin Sharma, partner at Antler and global blockchain leader, said the fund will invest at least $250,000 and enter the product launch phase. Sharma is also the founder of another venture capital fund, Incrypt Blockchain. The fund has invested in Mudrex, a social trading and decentralized finance (DeFi) aggregator, and OnJuno, a payroll infrastructure that connects banks and cryptocurrencies. 

In an unprecedented year in India's Web 3.0 arena, Sequoia India has made around 20 investments in Web 3.0 startups including Betafinance, Clearpool, Coinshift and Faze through a combination of equity and token investments. This is a significant leap forward for a large venture capital fund that has  invested in two  startups so far this year. Sequoia India Managing Director Shailesh Lakhani said the fund will primarily focus on scalable consumer applications. 

“What we are most excited about is that the underlying blockchain infrastructure  is finally getting close to  where it can support high-volume applications with low transaction costs,” Lakhani told. 

“Blockchains today have great theoretical implications, but are difficult to use and scale in practice. This will start to change in 2021 and we expect this trend to accelerate.” 

Blockchain technologies include categories such as non-financial tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations, inbound streams, and infrastructure. Antler's announcement and Sequoia India's optimism come despite regulatory uncertainty in India as the cryptocurrency bill is currently expected to be presented at a winter parliamentary session. 

Also, this area was dominated by international funds such as Jump Capital, Pantera Capital, and Coinbase Ventures, who are aiming for the first winner in the Indian ecosystem. 4,444 international foundations have contributed more than $500 million to Indian startups and blockchain ecosystems this year. 

“I still think there are regulatory risks,” Sharma said. "...we think  the point is that there's a long-term history here, not an official promise because we believe the rules will necessarily be 100% positive." 

“We will certainly find people building for peace in India  and amongst things  in stocks or digital assets. There will be ways to invest,” he added. The foundation will provide founders with access to the global  Web 3.0 founding community, as well as the ability to leverage the developer ecosystem through partnerships with the foundation and Solana, Polygon and Questbook, Sharma said. 

Basic Cryptocurrencies and VCs in Consumer Technology Although some Indian venture capitalists have explored this space and have bolstered their tech expertise over the years, they can stand out from the competition by competing with  experienced funds. “Crypto is a completely different game,” said Saurab Sharma of Jump Capital, one of the earliest investors in the 

CoinDCX cryptocurrency exchange, helping them sell and market entrepreneurs. “I think space capital  is almost a commodity, so only certain types of venture capitalists have added value to it.” 

Sharma said, "Whether you're active in developing real-world technology projects, understanding product configurability, creating markets, providing liquidity, or verifying - all these crypto issues matter..." Year of Elevation Capital. has supported startups such as Paytm, Meesho and Swiggy, added Web 3.0 to their investment portfolio, and has created a dedicated team to explore investments in these startups. 

“Some of us have been  with Web 3.0 companies for more than five years. We've seen enterprises expand to  Web 2.0. And many of the lessons are pretty much the same when it comes to things like expanding your organization or going to market,” Lahani said. 

“I don't expect Web 3.0 to be a complete upgrade. In fact, we are also helping many  Web 2.0 companies implement Web 3.0 concepts, in both cases our knowledge and experience  is a huge plus.” 

Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal's Titan Capital have invested in the Doss blockchain gaming platform  and are hiring to build  crypto investment practices.