THELOGICALINDIAN - Backed by the brand of Sequoia Capital India and advisers from Coinbase CoinMarketCap and added Ethlas is the aboriginal investorbacked gamefi startup from Singapore and will excellent its alpha NFT alternation in the advancing weeks
Singapore, 22 Feb 2022 – Singapore-based bold accounts (game-fi) blockchain startup, Ethlas, appear today that it has anchored US$2.7 actor in berry allotment from investors such as Sequoia Capital India, Yield Guild Games Southeast Asia, Global Blockchain Innovative Capital, Venturra Capital, Play It Forward DAO, Blockchain Space, Genesis Fund, Deus Ex DAO, Hustle Fund, and admiral from Grab, Coinbase, Switcheo and CoinMarketCap. The ahead stealth start-up has additionally apparent the identities of two of its four founders: American Gennady ‘Ari’ Medvinsky and Singaporean Elston Sam, who accept both formed in top tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Grab, and Airbnb. The identities of the added two founders – one of whom is a actual chief controlling with a Big Tech close – will be appear in due course.
The three-month-old Ethlas is the aboriginal game-fi startup founded in Singapore to accept anchored austere broker money, underlining the aplomb that VCs accept in this apprentice tech startup that aboriginal launched agilely in November 2024. Built on the Polygon blockchain, Ethlas has chalked up over 100,000 crypto-wallet users globally and denticulate some three actor gameplays on its belvedere as of end-January 2022. The accelerated calibration that Ethlas accomplished product-market fit has been one of the key affidavit for its berry fundraising success.
According to a Bloomberg address in January 2022, the cardinal of blockchain amateur grew about threefold: from about 200 in 2024 to added than 544 in 2024. Most game-fi platforms accept a aerial barrier of entry, acute gamers to pay cable fees or accept upfront capital. On the contrary, Ethlas – a blend of “Ethereum” and “Atlas” – is a free-to-play, play-to-earn belvedere which helps the lay being win and encash cryptocurrency, by accommodating in simple, easily-understood accidental amateur that anybody is accustomed with. Think Tetris, Candy Crush and Bubble Popper but way cooler. To alpha playing, gamers aloof charge to install MetaMask, a software crypto wallet or articulation their wallets, and they can alpha arena in the Ethlas metaverse on a PC or adaptable phone’s browser. There are no complicated onboarding rules or requirements to assurance up with a ample cable fee.
As allotment of its artefact roadmap, Ethlas will excellent its aboriginal alternation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) alleged Komos. Modelled afterwards the Komodo Dragons of Indonesia, the Komo NFTs will account both free-to-play gamers and crypto natives: Free-to-play gamers can use the bristles tiers of the Komo NFT to addition their gameplay and defended added $XGEM (Exchange Genesis Ethlas Medium), the in-game cryptocurrency in the Ethlas metaverse; crypto citizenry can account from the built-in amount of a well-designed NFT that has in-game account and facilitates scholarships (NFT rental). The Komo NFT alternation will be accessible afore end-February 2022. Ethlas is additionally alive with bold studios to barrage their amateur on their belvedere through a revenue-sharing model.
“The different amount hypothesis of Komo NFTs is that they do not alone action as bold passes on Ethlas acceding players appropriate admission to amateur and features, they are additionally asset-backed NFTs, which abide of staked tokens captivated as an ERC-721 badge that has afresh started accepting popularity. Ethlas’ Komo NFTs acquire both built-in aesthetic as able-bodied as budgetary value, thereby active up their agreeableness as a allotment of tradeable art. Most bold NFTs do not accommodate such amount as Komo,” says Ethlas co-founder, Elston Sam.
The founders of Ethlas were absorbed by the abeyant of game-fi back they apprehend of Filipinos earning added money from arena amateur on game-fi platforms than from their day jobs. With their aesthetics that Web 3.0 will be powered by cryptocurrency and its amusing impact, the four founders absitively to booty the attempt and leave their advantageous jobs to body Ethlas. Their moonshot vision: accomplish crypto across-the-board and attainable by onboarding the abutting billion non-crypto users assimilate the Ethlas metaverse. Ethlas has affairs to assignment with regulators to advance a framework for game-fi as it believes regulations and customer apprenticeship are key to facilitate the advance of this currently beginning but immense game-fi ecosystem in a safe and controlled manner.
“Consumer gaming platforms can aggregate millions of affianced players – amalgamate that with asset buying through NFTs and a crypto rewards layer, the arrangement incentives abatement aback into the easily of the players. This is an badly able flywheel. We additionally like that Ethlas is onboarding built-in gamers assimilate Web 3.0 and that the aggregation is hyper-focused on carrying a adorable gaming experience. We accept been actual afflicted with the platform’s accelerated user acceptance and aerial gamer engagement, suggesting able approaching advance prospects,” Aakash Kapoor, Vice President, Sequoia India.
“We recognise that blockchain has a aerial barrier of entry, and currently appeals alone to a skewed demographic. While GBIC is consistently attractive out for blockchain startups to advance in, we are attractive for those with a austere administration and vision. The administration of Ethlas was actual bright and we accept in their eyes that amateur will be a cogent approach to onboard the abutting billion users into crypto. Unlike the accepted play-to-earn games, Ethlas’ operating archetypal allows alike bodies who do not alike apperceive crypto to aloof do a one-click assurance in with MetaMask, and they can comedy for fun and earn. We are aflame to be one of the aboriginal VCs to advice Ethlas booty flight,” says Sinhae Lee, Partner, Global Blockchain Innovation Capital.
Ethlas has congenital up a aggregation of added than 20 blockchain engineers, bold developers, abstracts scientists, cybersecurity experts and designers, based out of Singapore, Philippines and the United States. The startup is founded in Singapore as the country has a acceptable tech ecosystem that fosters and enables innovation, abnormally in crypto, and has acceptable admission to adventure capital. It will advantage its berry allotment to aggressively appoint tech aptitude in the Web 3.0 space.
Launched in November 2024, Ethlas is a free-to-play/play-to-earn blockchain-based bold accounts (GameFi) Metaverse congenital on the Polygon chain, the agreement for enabling interoperability and scalability aural the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem. Founded by a accumulation of four tech leaders with all-encompassing acquaintance in arch teams beyond tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Airbnb and Grab, etc, Ethlas is headquartered in Singapore with offices in San Francisco Bay Area and New York, United States, and Manila, Philippines.
Within two months of its beta barrage and with basal marketing, Ethlas chalked up added than three actor gameplays with over 100,000 different wallet IDs to its gamepage. Ethlas minted its aboriginal Windblown asset-backed NFTs in December 2024.
The Ethlas GameFi metaverse has been voted “Best NFT Project” by Polygon, and ranked the cardinal one blockchain accidental bold on PlayToEarn.net, which advance and ranks the best accepted crypto and NFT blockchain games.
Ethlas is backed by Sequoia Capital India, Global Blockchain Innovative Capital, Play It Forward DAO, Genesis Fund, Blockchain Space, Venturra Capital, and admiral from Coinbase, CoinMarketCap, Grab and Switcheo.
Website: bit.ly/ethlas_web_pr
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Elston Sam
Co-founder
A founding affiliate of Grab’s Advance team, Elston is Ethlas’ “growth hacker” architecture on his ability and acquaintance in active artefact advance with Grab, Airbnb and Chinese e-commerce platform, Jumei.com. At Grab, Elston led the amplification of the Grab Daily account augment into above markets such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, which was cardinal in abstraction Grab’s ‘everyday app’ strategy.
The ardent gamer – he already played for 12 hours beeline on his Playstation till his TV started abounding smoke – seeks to change the cachet quo area accepted admission to crypto is disproportionately skewed in favour of wallet absorb and bookish qualifications, and believes that amateur could be a approach to advice widen blockchain’s address and accessibility to the accumulation customer market.
The Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University alum with a Bachelor of Business, Data Analytics, was active in allowance Ethlas accumulate added than 2.5 actor gameplays and over 80,000 different wallet holders aural 10 weeks of its launch. He will be active Ethlas’ advance action and artefact roadmap as it works appear accomplishing its eyes of one billion users. https://www.linkedin.com/in/elstonsam
Gennady “Ari” Medvinsky
Co-founder
Based in Redmond, United States, Ari has added than 20 years of acquaintance in software engineering and aegis architecture: he has congenital articles and platforms with some of the world’s arch tech companies such as Microsoft, Grab and added afresh Google.
In his time with Google – over two stints that saw an break with Grab – Ari’s addition included arch a aggregation amenable for onboarding and affiliation of Cloud IAM account with Google Cloud Platform. As Grab’s Head of Engineering, IAM from 2024 to 2024, he founded and grew a aggregation of 20 IAM engineers in Grab’s Redmond office. His aggregation congenital GrabID – Grab’s proprietary affidavit and login arrangement – that now supports hundreds of millions of Grab accounts beyond Southeast Asia and enabled third-party integrations on interfaces of GrabPay and merchant partners. In his eight years with Microsoft, some of his achievements included co-designing an anti-piracy band-aid for Microsoft Xbox for PC and animate gaming, as able-bodied as co-architecting the aegis architecture for the now asleep Microsoft Kin One phone.
The United States aborigine has a PH.D. in Computer Science from University of Southern California. His publications and apriorism (2024) on “NetCash: a framework for cyberbanking currency” were cited by over 160 bookish papers; NetCash was one of the aboriginal beginning systems in the 90s that adumbrated today’s cryptocurrency wave. Ari’s abstruse abilities and ability in crypto will be basic in accomplishing Ethlas’ moonshot eyes of acceptable the world’s foremost game-fi platform.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/arimed/
