Binance Labs is Binance’s venture capital and incubation arm whose goal is to identify and support founders with innovative ideas who are building projects that are shaping the future of the Web3 industry. Binance Labs’ investments are chain-agnostic and stage-agnostic, with a core focus on supporting the success of early-stage projects through its incubation programs.

Since 2018, Binance Labs’ portfolio covers 250 projects across 25 countries, with a 14X rate of return on investments. Binance Labs’ investments in Web3 has resulted in backing notable companies such as: Optimism, LayerZero, Celestia, Aptos, Mysten Labs, Trust Wallet.

More than 50 of the portfolio companies have been Binance Labs incubations, including Dune Analytics, Injective Labs, Polygon, and SafePal.

Embracing Resilience in The Face of Transformation

Binance Labs has remained committed to investing in projects with transformational solutions amidst the market downturn in 2023, accounting to over 25 investments in the Web3 landscape. Crypto VC funding faced headwinds in 2023 with Q3 2023, reporting a 36% downtrend in capitalization and deal counts compared to the previous year. According to Messari, Binance Labs was the most active VC in Q2 and Q3 of 2023, specifically in the DeFi and Web3 Gaming sector.

The Binance Labs investment thesis continues to support projects that are laying the groundwork for a sustainable ecosystem and fosters scalability, while simultaneously exploring application layers that facilitate mass adoption across blockchain applications. Investments in 2023 have focused on infrastructure and tooling empowered by Zero-Knowledge Proof techniques, Web3 Gaming that catalyzes widespread adoption, and innovations in DeFi that are taking major strides ahead for Web3.

Investment Highlights

Infrastructure

• $10M investment in Neutron, a cross-chain smart contract platform on Cosmos that was the first chain to launch on Replicated Security.

• Investment in AltLayer through the MVB 6 Program. AltLayer is a system of highly scalable application-dedicated execution layers that derive security from an underlying L1/L2.

DeFi

• Investment in Radiant Capital, a lending and borrowing protocol bridging fragmented liquidity across DeFi.

• $5M investment in Curve DAO Token (CRV), supporting Curve and its deployment to the BNB Chain.

• $10M investment in Helio Protocol, a decentralized stablecoin lending and borrowing protocol on the BNB Chain offering multi-chain StaaS and LS

Web3 Gaming

• $15M investment in Xterio, a Web3 game platform and publisher led by gaming veterans that bridge free-to-play and on-chain gaming.

• Seed funding investment for GOMBLE, a South Korean developer of blockchain-based casual games and affiliate of game publisher, 111Percent. 

• Investment in Sleepless AI through the MVB 6 Program. Sleepless AI is an AI blockchain-based virtual companion game utilizing AIGC and LLMs to create rich story-based gameplay and organically evolving interactions with characters. 

Tooling

• Early-stage investment in Delphinus Lab, an infrastructure provider that has implemented the first known open-source zkWASM virtual machine.

• Investment in Arkham Token (ARKM), the native token of Arkham powering its intelligence economy, Intel-to-Earn.

Incubation Programs

In 2023, over 2,000 global startups applied to Binance Labs’ incubation programs across two seasons. Binance Labs offers two bi-annual Incubation programs with four programs across each year, providing early-stage founders and builders with a curated curriculum, and 1:1 mentorship from the Binance Labs Investment team. These programs leverage resources and expertise across the Binance ecosystem, supporting projects in their path toward achieving product-market fit. 

• Binance Labs Incubation Program - a chain-agnostic program focused on Web3 startup building that helps founders succeed in a dynamic industry environment for long-term growth. 

• The Most Valuable Builder (MVB) Accelerator Program - a BNB Chain-focused program organized in partnership with BNB Chain, supporting exceptional builders and startups that are driving progress within the BNB Chain ecosystem and beyond.

  • Startup Track - focuses on accelerating early stage crypto projects

  • Founder Track - focuses on supporting and incubating builders to help them grow into successful founders

To kick-off Season 6 of The Binance Labs Incubation Program, Binance Labs hosted a founder-focused meet up during EthCC Paris in July for program alumni, portfolio founders and founders interested in the program to network and meet the Binance Labs Investment team. In addition, Binance Labs hosted the first Incubation Showcase during Binance Blockchain Week 2023, allowing projects from the Incubation cohorts the opportunity to present their pitches to investors and gain exposure with attendees. 

The 7th season of MVB program has expanded to include two tracks with CMC Labs joining the partnership. The Startup Track, which has been the core to MVB since its inception, is designed to support early-stage startups building on BNB Chain on their path to finding product-market fit. While the newly added Founder Track serves as a venture studio committed to incubating 100 innovative ideas that address real-world needs. These ideas are intended for deployment on BNB Chain, with backing and close collaboration with the Binance Labs investment team. In addition, Binance Labs and BNB Chain have teamed up with CMC Labs, the accelerator arm of CoinMarketCap to provide higher exposure and services to participating projects during the programs’ 7th season.

In 2023, Binance Labs provided funding to nine standout projects that participated in Binance Labs Incubation Program Season 5, and MVB Accelerator Program Season 6: AltLayer, Bracket Labs, dappOS, KiloEx, Kinza Finance, KryptoSkatt, Mind Network, Sleepless AI, zkPass and have incubated and accelerated 36 projects.