Folius Ventures

Invest in, evangelize, and #buidl Web3 initiatives.
We love APAC founders | 我们致力于支持亚太及华人创业者。

[Folius Ventures @FoliusVentures]

基于语言隔阂，文化差异，及赛道萌芽等因素，西方用户及投资人对于亚太深耕Web3的初创消费公司所知甚少。我们为此特意整理了一份观察分享，以飨读者。特别感谢@Chrislulu816和@KD2Moon共同撰写此文。
Folius Web3中国开发报告 (消费者应用专题)：
中文：https://t.co/x8mzceFmOr
英文：https://t.co/UjIKPgWYaD

2023年是Folius 一级市场投资最繁忙的一年（特别是第二和第四季度），通过每周分析 25-50个项目（绝大多数由华人创始团队领衔）。我们发现了一些西方视角或许难以捕捉的规律和范式。 我们愈发坚信，普世应用即将伴随华人开发者红利、迎来其春暖花开时刻。具体而言：

1/ 1500-2000万的中国互联网精英群体正成为Web3领域华人创业者的强大后盾，有望在未来3年内以每周1-2个顶尖团队的速度，投身于Web3创业大潮。
2/ 与中国Web2的限制性环境形成鲜明对比，Web3的迅猛发展成为推动这批人才跨界探索的强大动力。现在的 Web3正如过去90年代的A股、00年代的H股，以及10年代的纳斯达克。
3/ 我们认为Web3基础设施已经足够成熟，交易成本、上手门槛、开发和模块化解决方案以及经济模型设计都有了显著改善，未来12至18个月内可能会出现一些影响深远的应用。
4/ 我们细数了华人创业者的特质和偏好，总结出7类优势和7类挑战。
5/ 我们还深入研究了最适合这群创新者的业务类型——即具有可观DAU潜力的2C产品（主要是内容、平台和创作者中心），我们的投资组合展示了创新者如何实现潜力@GasHeroOfficial、@Stepnofficial、@Matr1xOfficial、@MetaCeneGame、@SleeplessAI_Lab、@0xMJM、@myshell_ai、@Memeland、@Ryzz_tv、@sparklefun2023、@JamboTechnology、@0xSpotlight。
6/ 我们未能一一列举所有卓越的 infra 项目（如@Scroll_ZKP、@_kaitoai、@ChainbaseHQ、@DeBankDeFi、@megaeth等），他们的创新同样不应被忽视。鉴于我们的篇幅限制，我们目前只能涵盖2C领域。
7/ 对于亚太地区的潜在创业者和世界各地的早期投资者，我们希望本报告对于行业、同行、及自身的了解有所加深。值得一提的是，Folius致力于支持尤其是亚太地区的创始人——而如果你正在打造令人兴奋的产品，或者有着颠覆性的创意，别犹豫，请立刻联系我们！

[Jason Kam @MapleLeafCap]

https://t.co/wjjq1bTk4Z

[Primitive Ventures @primitivecrypto]

Primitive Ventures is co-hosting two events at Web3 Festival where you can meet @Yettasing

1️⃣Institutional Liquidity in Asia with @monad, @Figment_io, @Hex_Trust as we explore the institutional liquidity landscape in Asia.

2️⃣Spring Stroll with @FoliusVentures, meet sharp minds, soak in the views, and recharge in nature.

Links below! 👇

[Chrislulu @Chrislulu816]

Escape the meetings and hit the trail with @primitivecrypto & @FoliusVentures

一起来春游

Join us on April 10 at 10AM for a morning hike through the hidden reservoirs of South Hong Kong Island. Meet sharp minds, soak in the views, and recharge in nature.

[The Open Platform @topdotco]

Excited to announce the first cohort of the @telegram Growth Hub Accelerator! Backed by @topdotco, @OKX_Ventures, and @FoliusVentures, these projects are shaping the future of Web3 on TON.
Stay tuned as we spotlight each team in this thread! 👇

[oshi ✦ @oshikatsu_co]

1/ We’ve raised $12.5M to support anime creators, studios, and fans!

Backed by industry leaders who’ve shaped anime’s global legacy, Oshi is forging a new era where creators and fans unite like never before. 🧵👇

[OKX @okx]

This just in, BUILDers 🛠️

@OKX_Ventures, @Topdotco, and @FoliusVentures have unveiled a $10 million Telegram Growth Hub.

The fund aims to drive user onboarding, boost innovation on $TON & expand the mini-app ecosystem on @Telegram.

[Binance @binance]

Introducing @CatizenAI $CATI on #Binance Launchpool.

Read more 👉 https://t.co/Ey2T5jGgSn

[Ben Jacobs @bennypjacobs]

🚨 Scenius Studio (Episode #48)

In this episode, I sit down with Jason Kam (@MapleLeafCap), Founder of @FoliusVentures.

Folius has become a preeminent blockchain venture firm focused on the application layer, with a strong focus on China-based founders and companies. While Folius is known as a high-signal venture firm, the firm’s liquid strategy constitutes a notably larger percentage of AUM. Jason’s experience as a PM at a traditional emerging markets focused hedge fund give him the skills to navigate the chaotic digital asset public markets.

In this episode we discussed:

➔ Jason starting off his crypto journey as an anon on Twitter
➔ Overview of Folius as a firm
➔ The shaky position of Ethereum
➔ What has to be true for Folius to underwrite an altcoin position for the fund
➔ The Web2 push and the Web3 pull in China
➔ Risks and realities of crypto in China and Hong Kong
➔ Asia-based centralized exchanges and their current dominance over the industry
➔ How Telegram tracks against WeChat
➔ Folius’ bet on @CatizenAI and the development of the Telegram app ecosystem
➔ Jason’s spiciest takes 🌶️

Projects Mentioned:

- @bidclubio
- @Backpack
- @WSPNpayment
- @megaeth

Hope you enjoy this episode of Scenius Studio. Link to listen on Spotify in comments👇

[Jason Kam @MapleLeafCap]

The flywheel on Catizen being the fastest horse on Telegram continues to spin faster: its 1st Play2Airdrop release in Game Center is out -- Bombie

Game Link: https://t.co/hHcqqkL5Ra

You may not be aware but a minigame named Xun Dao Da Qian (寻道大千, XDDQ here-on) had been topping the charts for >6 months now on WeChat as the top-grossing game. Its success wasn't by chance:

- Proven category: bypassing the combat phase and focusing on treasure-hunting and gacha openings. Players seem to like the dopamine hits & such category takes up 40% of hits on Wechat minigames.
- Global appeal: XDDQ's overseas version is called Xiao Yao Wen Dao (小妖問道) -- which you also may not be aware generated at its peak $10 mm USD of MRR. The category works globally.
- Proven monetization: XDDQ globally at its peak was run-rating $100 mm USD MRR (yeah u saw that right, for a minigame!). Gacha works.

Bombie is designed to replicate this winning formula on Telegram, with early metrics already showing strong potential:

- with 220k registered users currently:
- 42% day-2 retention
- 11% payment rate
- $3 USD ARPPU so-far
- the game already generated 70k+ USD of revenue.
- Token airdrop mechanism similar to Dogs, adding an extra layer of engagement for Web3 users eager to earn rewards while playing.

Catizen's target for bringing 100+ new games to its game center in 2024 is off to a good start (8 so far). Metrics continue to ramp and now sits at:
- 31 mm registered users,
- 2.2 mm DAU and 30k daily paying users,
- 20 mm USD revenue ytd.
We continue to expect it to be the most cash-flow generating, value-capturing, sustainable, and fastest growing project on Telegram with actual products.

[BNB Chain @BNBCHAIN]

We're excited to announce @BinanceLabs has invested in 4 top-performing projects from the recent season of our Most Valuable Builder program!

🔸 @Aggregata_xyz
🔸 @opinionlabsxyz
🔸 @Sidekick_Labs
🔸 @vooi_io

Find out more about the projects in the thread below 👇

This season received over 700 applications and the programs’ highly selective process admitted less than 2% of the total applicant pool to welcome the 13 MVB Season 7 Accelerator teams.

So here are the projects that were selected, listed alphabetically below 👇

@Aggregata_xyz unifies AI data, models, and computing into a seamless, one-stop platform.

@opinionlabsxyz is building dynamic opinion and continuous prediction markets.

@Sidekick_Labs is the Consolidation Hub For Social, games & beyond.

@vooi_io is a cross-chain perp DEX aggregator supporting EVM and non-EVM chains.

Stay tuned for more updates for the MVB program and to learn more, check out our blog below 👇
https://t.co/X9XR7Vspfo

[Chrislulu @Chrislulu816]

We're excited to announce our investment in WSPN. We believe that stablecoins represent the largest consumer DApp in the crypto space, bringing us back to the core value of crypto: payments and settlements.

Under the leadership of Raymond and Rich, the WSPN team not only has extensive resources in centralized exchanges and on-chain networks but also demonstrates strong expansion capabilities in cross-border payments and mining finance.

With stablecoin adoption increasingly dependent on distribution channels, we're confident that WUSD will perform exceptionally well in this evolving landscape.

We’re looking forward to WUSD’s impact on the market! Stay tuned for more updates on our journey with WSPN.

[Theta Blockchain Ventures @ThetaInvest]

Announcing Round 2 of our Legends4Legends 2024 speakers!

Institutional allocators are invited to apply for the remaining limited spaces at https://t.co/SvMCZ4nnvJ. Visit the website to view the full list of speakers and secure your spot.

@perkinscr97, @coinfund
@ashegan, @archetypevc
@MapleLeafCap, @FoliusVentures
@jon_charb, @dba_crypto
@evanbfish, @PortalVentures

[Vessel @VesselFinance]

⚓️We are excited to announce that Vessel has successfully secured $10M in seed round. These funds will be strategically utilized in:

- Integrating CEX efficiency with DEX transparency
- Enhancing liquidity efficiency
- Developing advanced ZKP solutions for DeFi

Our challenges and mission

The primary challenge in crypto trading is balancing transaction efficiency with on-chain transparency. Vessel addresses this through the development of Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) techniques, merging efficient off-chain transaction processing with on-chain verification to enhance security and scalability.

Our mission is to transform cryptocurrency trading into a secure and seamless journey, improving transparency, accessibility, and efficiency for all users. We are poised to revolutionize cryptocurrency trading with superior services in spot trading, perpetual trading, and other innovative derivatives.

Gratitude to investors and contributors

The success of our seed funding round is supported by an esteemed group of backers from the crypto space. Special thanks to Sequoia Capital, Scroll co-founders, Avalanche Foundation, Algorand Foundation, IMO Ventures, Folius Ventures, Incuba Alpha, and a remarkable roster of angel investors. We are particularly grateful to Sandy Peng and Ye Zhang from Scroll for their pivotal contributions.

⛵︎A heartfelt thank you to our community and investors! With your support, we will keep on building Vessel where you can safely trade your waves in this dynamic ocean of liquidity.

[We.Rich ($_$) @WeRich_]

🟣 We’re proud to announce that https://t.co/O00VHHBYJq has completed a $2M Seed Round led by @FoliusVentures & @animocabrands , followed by @LelandVentures & @RadianceVntr .

🟡 UGA (User Generated Asset) is ready to take off. https://t.co/O00VHHBYJq enables anyone to be a founder and makes anything tradable with a 0-cost, 0-iq asset creation experience and an AI-powered personalized asset recommendation engine on @base .

🧠 They’ve chosen rich ⬇️

[Folius Ventures @FoliusVentures]

We are thrilled to announce our investment in @PlutoVisionLabs behind @CatizenAI, along with Binance Labs, TOP, and HashKey.

Folius sees tremendous potential in the Telegram x $TON ecosystem, with a wave of H5 mini-app developers expected in the next 3-6 months. We believe @CatizenAI is uniquely positioned to lead this growth, leveraging their expertise to drive Web3-enabled app innovation on Telegram.

[Jason Kam @MapleLeafCap]

We are excited to lead the 10 mm A2 financing round for Matr1x, which in our opinion can be one of the fastest horses in reaching sizable DAU as a Web3-enabled game as early as 1H24. For those interested, here’s a full deck on our thesis:

Folius Matr1x Deck: https://t.co/4aHOWIbRFr

- Right team, right market: mobile FPS with sizable TAM (up to 500k – 5 mm DAU which could place Matr1x at top of the Web3 list) built by seasoned team who executed similar franchise before.
- Derisked product: Robust production value as shown in beta, along with strong player feedback. We felt that the game possesses strong enough production quality to be top-tier in Web3 today and can compete somewhat evenly in Web2.
- Unfair Web3 playbook achieving critical scale: a low cash-cost way to virally attract users in a highly popular category, leveraging recursive loops and wealth-effects shown by Axie and StepN.
- …made sustainable by a proven cosmetics model: separation of ROI / consumer asset, solid precedence set by CS:GO skin market, and strong cash-flow induced buyback collectively may solidify the “growth debt”.

We are hopeful that the ultimate product can strike an elegant balance that may, in the best case, help it achieve critical scale, appeal to the mass market, become sustainably lucrative, while side-stepping the Web3 death spiral altogether. Expect the official beta / launch of the game by 1Q24.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Shuyao Kong @hotpot_dao]

Proud to announce MegaETH's $20M Seed Round

MegaETH is the first Real-Time Blockchain, streaming transactions at 100,000 TPS with millisecond latency

Our mission is to turn cutting-edge ideas into everyday reality with fully onchain, interactive & sophisticated apps

✨Story time✨

[Jason Kam @MapleLeafCap]

The race to become the de-facto Steam / Animoca on $TON starts now, and we like @CatizenAI as the current frontrunner.

Read Folius Report here (EN): https://t.co/6HNglUCBZg

----------

After spending time on Telegram x $TON, it’s becoming clear to us that in the next 3-6 months, a ton of (no pun intended) H5 mini-app devs are about to onboard & build out the ecosystem (already evident w/ clickers). We believe this app narrative is likely underappreciated by the broader $ETH / Base / $SOL CT cabal, and as a result we are very likely going to see (a) new token playbooks on $TON similar to that of DeFi / NFT / VC-infra, and (b) massive 20-100x type wins within this ecosystem.

In particular, Telegram’s nascent Infra & ecosystem lends itself very well to a social x gaming behemoth establishing dominance early & capturing significant value – and we believe the fastest horse currently to be the Catizen team @CatizenAI (amongst a sea of clickers).

----------

The report is split into 2 pieces, 1st part about Telegram x TON, and the 2nd part about Catizen. We believe that:
- Telegram x TON is on the cusp of massive Web3-enabled app growth, and
- That Catizen, amongst others, could be the fastest horse to become the “Mini-steam / Next Animoca” on Telegram to monetize the traffic.

As of June 2024, Telegram x TON has worked its way solidly into the tier-1 camp both as a messenger app with 900 mm MAU and as a blockchain platform w/ usage rivaling that of $BASE and $SOL.
- We believe that with the launch of its Mini Apps effort circa 2023, the 2024 Telegram ecosystem reminds us of Facebook in 2008 and WeChat in 2018 – just prior to explosive DAU and monetization ramp after the launch of Mini Apps respectively.
- In particular, if we benchmark Telegram to WeChat today, we believe that per MAU spend on Telegram still sees 10-30x upside easily, while the developer ecosystem remains 100x less competitive.
- With Web3 wallet, USDT, and IAP (In-app-purchase) all integrated within the past 12 months, the onboard, onramp, and onchain cost for Web3 is significantly reduced – the stage is now set for explosive Web3-enabled 2C product growth on Telegram in the foreseeable future.

While Telegram’s H5 infra, ad-targeting, and app-center-distribution stills leaves much to be desired (as well as difficulty in smart contract dev), we believe that a Steam-like platform to onboard, launch, and distribute thousands of apps on Telegram is a sizable opportunity -- and we believe that Catizen could be the fastest horse in this race.

Not only do we believe that the ecosystem will quickly move beyond clickers in 2-3 months, but also that Catizen so far inspired confidence via:
- A single-title hit demonstrates remarkable Web3-induced virality, production value, AND monetization at this stage of the Telegram ecosystem, as evident by its 20 mm in registered users and 12 mm USD in revenue 3 months into launch,
- The founders’ 5+ years tenure of success in both the WeChat + Facebook ecosystem, as well as building out the app infra along the TON team since mid-2023 ,
- Its execution on dev-onboarding and app-center-building,
- Its proximity to the WeChat mini-game ecosystem – with a strong pipeline of 150-200 games ready to launch in the next 3-6 months.

We look forward to seeing the $CATI flywheel in motion.
Disclosure: Folius Ventures is an investor in Catizen and its parent company Pluto Studio.

[Jason Kam @MapleLeafCap]

We are delighted to announce the promotion of @0xAikoDai to Venture Partner at Folius. Aiko has been a driving force behind our success, bringing passion, dedication, and unparalleled expertise to our team. Her innovative vision and steadfast commitment have made a significant impact, and we are excited to see her thrive in this new role. Congrats Aiko! And many thanks to your hard work and achievements so far.