PANews reported on August 14 that according to Cointelegraph, a new venture capital firm Open Network Ventures has officially launched a $40 million fund to support early crypto projects within the TON ecosystem. The new venture capital firm was founded by former senior members of the TON Foundation and aims to connect investors with builders to promote the development and innovation of TON.

The press release states that TON Ventures will focus on consumer applications that leverage Telegram's social platform: "TON Ventures will focus on Telegram's social graph, Telegram Mini Apps, and tools and infrastructure to support founders in building mass-appeal applications." In addition to the financial support provided by the new venture capital firm, the selected projects will be able to "tap into the team's global resources and rich experience." Selected projects will also receive a number of benefits, including "Telegram advertising, media support, strategic partnerships," etc.

Early members of the TON Foundation and “former TON builders” founded the new venture capital firm, combining their previous experience backing successful TON Web3 games such as Gatto and Catizen. Inal Kardan, former head of gaming at the TON Foundation, will lead TON Ventures.