TON Fires Up a Web3 Mini-App Renaissance in Asia

In November last year, we teamed up with Future3 Campus, Hashkey Capital, and Wanxiang Blockchain Labs to kick off our first TON Acceleration Program focused entirely on Asia. Our shared goal is to introduce builders to the TON Ecosystem and together build Telegram into the world’s biggest SuperApp.

The TON accelerator represents our ongoing efforts and shared vision to build a sustainable Web 3 ecosystem where Future3 Campus will formulate dedicated training courses for selected projects and provide them with the support they need to compete in today’s Web3 market. TON Accelerator participants can take advantage of a spectrum of marketplace opportunities and present their products and services to our audience of industry leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs at the 2024 Web 3 Festival’s demo day pitch and showcase events. Top performers also have a great chance to get up to $500,000 in funding from Future3 Campus Eco Fund,” said Du Yu, General Manager of Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, Initiator of Future3 Campus.

The logic behind Telegram SuperApp is obvious – Telegram Mini Apps built around Telegram Messenger and Wallet’s crypto payments form a coherent ecosystem. We decided to take the Asia-first approach because Asian audiences are familiar with the concept of SuperApps such as Weibo or WeChat. In contrast, in other regions, this concept seems quite alien, and all the attempts to introduce SuperApps have failed.

The State of Web3 Development

Despite 2023 not being the best year for Web3, the crypto ideology of building in bear markets proved strong, with new projects and features introduced almost nonstop last year. Strong and well-positioned teams remained building, ignoring the market volatility, regulatory pressure, and decrease in user adoption, to prepare their product for the next bull market regardless of when it comes.

According to Alchemy’s 2023 Web3 Development Report, the number of EVM smart contracts created across Ethereum Mainnet, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Polygon was up by 303% YoY in 2023. From TON’s perspective, the developer library downloads, active addresses, and mobile wallet activity reached record numbers in Q3 of 2023. This confirms that Web3 development continues to grow regardless of market trends.

The TON Ecosystem displayed its development strength consistently across the last year, with new features and projects launching every week. The user adoption, new wallets, active wallets, and the number of active projects continue to grow and we believe that 2024 will be even better for the ecosystem than the last year.

The Web3 markets are volatile and easily influenced by factors outside of Web3, such as black swan events, economic fluctuations, and regulatory pressure, but as long as the development activity continues, we’re confident that the bull market and new wave of user adoption will come sooner or later.

Web3 Renaissance in Asia

In just a month after opening the application process, we received almost 200 applications from various projects. After a thorough review, the committee admitted 12 projects to the program that will go through a 10-week curriculum focused on product development, operations, compliance, and marketing. The mentors will help them understand Telegram’s unique environment to leverage the built-in wallet and design stable tokenomics.

“We are thrilled to welcome 12 outstanding teams to our accelerator run in partnership with Future3 Campus and the Hashkey network. This accelerator, as well as future accelerators, are an invitation for builders to leverage Telegram’s strong global base, TONs Web 3 technology, and key monetization primitives to build the next generation of SuperApp products.” commented Ian, Acceleration Lead, TON Foundation.

Among the mentors are exceptional professionals and experts from both traditional backgrounds and Web3, including Dr.Xiao, Chairman & CEO of Hashkey Group, Deng Chao, President & Hashkey Capital CEO, and Dr. Zou, Chief Economist at Hashkey Group.

The curriculum officially began on Jan 28, 2024 in Hong Kong during the private event with selected participants, and it will finish in May with a Demo Day event.

Meet the 12 Selected Accelerator Teams

It’s never easy to pick the best projects from almost 200 applicants, but after hundreds of hours reviewing the applications and consulting the experts, the committee selected these 12 teams.

• Tradoor: A next-generation decentralized platform for trading derivatives, leveraging TON's scalability for an enhanced user experience.

• NFBT Ticketing: A TON and Telegram mini-app enabling cinemas to sell movie tickets to users with TON wallets.

• WowFish: The first social fishing casual game in the Telegram-TON ecosystem.

• Xircus: The first no-code platform for building, deploying, and managing cross-chain dApps and mini apps compatible with Telegram/mobile, catering to both Web3 and Web2 businesses.

• Bounty Bay: A TON-native social commerce platform designed for creators and brands to distribute products effectively, utilizing The Open Network. Check out their Community and Mini App on Telegram.

• BOOM UP: A dynamic GameFi mini application, offering a blend of social engagement and profit opportunities through building, defending, and enhancing personalized towers with NFT buffs built on TON Blockchain.

• Anome: An issuance and lending protocol for value-based fully on-chain gaming NFT assets.

• Telemetree: The first analytics service built specifically for the TON and Telegram Mini App ecosystems. You can find their Telegram group here.

• TonStash: A project that revolutionizes micro-investing by utilizing spare change, making it easier for users to engage in decentralized finance (DeFi).

• HypeSaints: An NFT-gated mobile playing console.

• DaoBot: A decentralized community management bot on Telegram.

• TonsofFriends: A dynamic directory where users can effortlessly buy and sell access to premium Telegram communities, streamlining the discovery of groups in an enjoyable and rewarding way.

To learn more about future acceleration programs, please visit the official accelerator website.