Ex-TON Foundation execs launch $40M TON Ventures fund

The Open Network Ventures, a new venture capital (VC) firm, has officially launched a $40 million fund to support early-stage crypto projects within TON ecosystem.

The new VC firm, founded by former senior members of the TON Foundation, aims to connect investors with builders to boost growth and innovation on TON.

A press release shared with Cointelegraph states that TON Ventures will focus on consumer applications that utilize Telegram’s social platform:

“TON Ventures will [...] leverage Telegram’s social graph, Telegram Mini Apps, and tools and infrastructure that support founders as they build mass appeal applications.”

Support for selected projects

Alongside the financial support provided by the new VC firm, selected projects will be able to “leverage the team’s global resources and extensive experience.”

According to the press release, chosen projects will also receive several benefits, including “Telegram Ads, media support, access to strategic partnerships” and more.

Speaking with Cointelegraph,Ian Wittkopp, the former director of TON Accelerator, explained that the VC firm will “provide early-stage TON-based startups with new support and capital.”

“The fund will focus its support on early-stage projects — anywhere from the idea stage to a built project — that are relevant and exciting to the masses. We hope this encourages builders in our ecosystem to experiment freely.”

Founding members

Early members of the TON Foundation and “former TON builders” founded the new VC firm, combining previous experience that supported successful TON Web3 games like Gatto and Catizen.

Wittkopp and Inal Kardan, the former gaming lead at the TON Foundation, will lead TON Ventures.

In the press release, Wittkopp explained that the team aims to connect “visionary investors with cutting-edge projects” to accelerate growth in the TON ecosystem:

“Now, we have the exciting opportunity to share our insights and strategies for thriving in the unique design space created by TON and Telegram, empowering a new generation of innovators and builders.”

TON gasless fees

On July 25, the TON Core team launched the W5 smart wallet standard in partnership with Tonkeeper to provide gasless transactions on the TON blockchain.

The new W5 wallet standard enables users to cover gas fees with Tether (USDT) when transferring USDT and Notcoin (NOT) when transferring NOT.

Oleg Andreev, the CEO of Tonkeeper, told Cointelegraph that the development would help onboard new users by allowing them to “engage with TON’s ecosystem” without requiring Toncoin (TON).