OKX Ventures invests millions to reshape Telegram's future
- OKX Ventures announced a $5 million investment in TON Ventures to accelerate growth within the TON ecosystem.
- The investment aims to establish a network of experienced builders focused on creating best practices for Telegram-native apps.
- This move complements a previous $10 million investment aimed at enhancing the Telegram platform's developer ecosystem.
On December 10, 2024, in the Bahamas, OKX Ventures, the investment arm of the prominent crypto exchange OKX, revealed a substantial $5 million investment in TON Ventures. This venture capital fund is dedicated to fostering growth within The Open Network (TON) blockchain ecosystem. The investment aims to create a network of experienced developers who can establish best practices for building applications on the TON platform. This latest investment follows the recent establishment of a $10 million Telegram Growth Hub, created in collaboration with The Open Platform and Folius Ventures. The primary focus of this investment is to attract technically proficient builders who understand the nuances of creating Telegram-native applications, leveraging the platform's vast user base of approximately 950 million active monthly users and the proven success of existing mini-apps. Directing its efforts toward early-stage consumer applications, TON Ventures concentrates particularly on projects spanning decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, creator economy initiatives, and infrastructure projects. The fund's founders, Ian Wittkopp and Inal Kardan, both of whom previously held significant roles in the TON Foundation, have an established track record of supporting innovative projects. Their work has already led to backing successful enterprises like the DeLabs and Goat Gaming platforms, alongside initiatives aimed at enhancing creator economies and AI applications. As OKX Ventures continues to strengthen its relationship with TON Ventures, the goal remains clear: to foster a thriving ecosystem that not only pushes the envelope in Web3 technologies but also drives mainstream adoption of blockchain technologies among Telegram's massive user base. The collaboration reinforces the commitment to building an indispensable infrastructure for the development of ton-native applications, ultimately benefiting both developers and users within the rapidly evolving landscape of decentralized applications.