Satoshi Studios, a new blockchain incubator based in New Delhi, India, has opened applications for its first batch of start-ups. The incubator has a 3-month residence program where the founders will spend time with the Advisors and other blockchain start-ups, each of which will receive 50K USD in funding for 8%-15% equity in the company.
Sahil Baghla, Co-Founder Satoshi Studios, remarked: “Our vision is to build New Delhi (India) as the Blockchain Knowledge Hub of Southeast Asia. South East Asia and bitcoin adoption will be a very symbiotic relationship. The region is the world’s largest inward remittance market and also has the world’s largest unbanked population. There is so much potential in bitcoin’s adoption in the region, and the times could not be better for bitcoin adoption especially with the region’s largest economy’s biggest currency notes being demonetized recently.”
The company is backed by Roger Ver, who funded the seed rounds for the first generation of bitcoin businesses; Amit Bhardwaj, a pioneer of bitcoin adoption in India; Michael Terpin, who co-founded BitAngels, the first angel network for investments in bitcoin/digital currency companies; and other bitcoin pioneers.
Baghla continued: “We had been receiving a lot of interest from fellow entrepreneurs seeking feedback on their ideas using the blockchain technology and some of the entrepreneurs we’ve met are building some really interesting applications, and we wanted to work with them and see if we could get an opportunity to know and work with more of these geniuses. Startups will get an awesome workspace and living space for 3 months in New Delhi. There will be intensive mentorship sessions by Blockchain veterans (including our backers) which will help startups to reach Product Market Fit quickly.”
Speaking to Chain-Finance, Satoshi Studio’s Sanjay Goswami explained that the company is looking for start-ups, even at the concept stage, who are looking to solve real world problems through blockchain in any industry. The first batch is planned to launch by 1st April but the company already has 37 Applications, mostly from India, Singapore and Indonesia.
Goswami explained the reason for the founding of the company and its base in South East Asia: “Satoshi, is a symbolic name for all of us in the blockchain industry and we want our entrepreneurs to stand up to the standards of innovation and free thinking set by this name-figure and further carry the lamp of innovation ahead. India and the rest of the South East Asian countries have very similar opportunities of being benefitted by blockchain technologies, all these countries will be missing a step in the technological evolution and digitisation process and directly adopting the next more efficient system, hence the commonality of problems and solutions lead us to target the entire region and not just 1 country.”
