Today, the leading web3 software technology company, Consensys, announced the launch of its pre-accelerator program, Consensys Fellowship, to support early stage web3 startups. Consensys has heard a consistent need from web3 builders for more support for early-stage startups who often suffer from an education, mentorship and funding gap. The Fellowship will help early-stage startups bridge the gap between an idea with potential to the foundations of operable business, product, tool or application.

The 12-week program will offer guided workshops, weekly curricula, mentorship and access to Consensys’ network to accelerate up to 15 startups. In partnership with Tachyon and ConsenSys Mesh, Fellowship teams will be eligible for follow-on investments from a $1.5M fund. The Fellowship builds on Consensys’ commitment to supporting the web3 ecosystem, by providing funding and support for web3 entrepreneurs at the beginning of their projects’ development.

“We’re excited to collaborate with builders that are heads down designing the future of the web3 ecosystem,” said Matt Wright, Director of Accelerator at Consensys. “For the first cohort, we won't require any ownership stake (equity). Our approach is to provide the Consensys software suite to assist these teams. We have the belief that by enabling these teams to develop new use-cases using our software suite, this external innovation has the potential to significantly benefit the Ethereum community in the long run.”

Projects will be considered across three verticals:

• Extensibility - Consensys aims to support projects that leverage the capabilities of web3 technologies to drive extensibility within the web3 ecosystem via access layer (wallets), or the application layer. 

• Optimization - projects offer valuable tools, middleware, and other solutions that streamline the development process.

• Scalability - projects related to layer 2 solutions and zero-knowledge proofs that contribute to scalability and performance of Ethereum and EVM chains.

Consensys is proud to receive the support of numerous community partners to provide mentorship and education to Fellowship teams including: SheFi, Bankless DAO, Open Zeppelin, SAFE, GitHub for Startups, Aave Companies, Polygon, Utopia Labs, Gitcoin, and more. The program leverages the expertise of industry professionals and subject matter experts such as Austin Griffith, Co-founder, of Build Guidl; Lindsey Winder, Co-founder, of Hedgey Finance (Tachyon Alumni), Vanessa Grellet Managing Partner, of Algaé Ventures The Fellowship will also have the benefit of expertise from leading venture capital firms including, Algaé Ventures,Ethereal Ventures, Superscrypt, 1kx, Delphi Digital, OP Crypto, Bankless Ventures, P72, ConsenSys Mesh and more.

“Tachyon was the first group to take a chance on us. Once we were inside, an incredible amount of teams, resources, and hands on guidance helped us shape our company in a way I couldn't have imagined, said Lindsey Winder, Co-founder, of Hedgey Finance (Tachyon Alumni). “Today, a big leap for these builders is leaving high paying, stable careers and leaping into starting their own venture. While an abundance of VC funding has entered the space, there's a gap when it comes to funding seed stage companies, and that stops many talented people from entering tech crypto. Consensys Fellowship bridges that gap and gives this type of person exposure to world-class resources in an environment primed to validate their ideas.”

The program will officially commence on November 6, 2023, leading up to an immersive IRL Demo Day on April 5th, 2024. As well as mentorship and education, the 12-week Consensys Fellowship program, will also consist of:

• 25 workshops hosted by industry leaders.

• 20+ hours of dedicated mentorship with an industry expert based on each Fellowship teams’ needs.

• Networking and education with guest speakers, Consensys product leads, ecosystem partners, successful founders and VCs.

• An IRL Demo Day where Fellowship teams can present their project to industry experts and executives, VCs, and the Consensys acquisition team.

• And, $1.5M from Consensys Mesh in potential follow-on capital allocation to Fellowship teams.