Waves has announced a budget of one million Waves tokens (approximately $9 million) for the first group of startups making use of its new incubator, Waves Lab, according to a Waves press release. The startups have now launched their applications.
Waves is a Blockchain platform which aims to "reinvent the DNA of entrepreneurship". It allows users to create their own cryptocurrencies, which are transacted for a fee paid in Waves tokens. There is a fixed supply of 100 million of these tokens.
Founded in 2016 by Russian physicist Alexander Ivanov, Waves raised 16 million USD through an initial coin offering in 2016 and is now worth 794,580,000 USD, according to coinmarketcap.com. It has opened offices in Berlin, Amsterdam and Moscow, with further sites in London, Singapore and New York planned for this year.
It launched Waves Lab, a startup support system, in December. Companies using this are to receive advice, PR, marketing support and technical assistance to the new businesses, as well as access to contacts in Wave's telephone book. The first pre-ICO has already collected $530,000.
The first set of participants in Waves Lab include Simdaq, a social trading platform, MyTrackNet, a blockchain-based geo-tracking application, Viso, a hybrid e-Payments /cryptocurrency payment platform.
We reported on Waves recently when it also launched the 'Basic Fund', which is a venture capital outfit based on blockchain technology. It will be investing in blockchain companies and products with real-world applications.
Earlier in December, it signed with IGF, Ethereum and Deloitte to try to set up some kind of standards system for ICOs. This is because the market has become riddled with scams - a report from Russian security firm Kapernsky said that the number of ICO robbery victims worldwide has reached more than 60,000, and $300 million has been stolen.
