Venture capital investing describes a purely financial process, and yet, over the years, the VC model has evolved into so much more than capital. Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz are often credited with ushering in an approach that involves managing a VC firm more like a talent agency than an investment fund – and their successes with a16z speak for themselves.
While a financial transaction remains at the core of the VC relationship, VC partners are also increasingly acting as mentors and trusted partners, offering guidance on areas as broad as strategy and product development, marketing, personnel management, and more. Even if they don’t have specific expertise in these areas, they bring a network of professional contacts they can call on when required.
When Web3 became popularized, it didn’t just embrace the concept of VC investing – it put it on steroids. The idea of crowdfunding using tokens took off among communities of everyday people who were interested in innovation but were locked out of the VC investing market, as well as startups eager to explore a new channel of fundraising.
However, the challenges of decentralized funding quickly became evident. Left unchecked, it’s too easy for scammers to set up token sales as a rug pull operation. On the other side, many Web3 projects have learned the hard way that large hoards of short-term buyers are no substitute for building a community of investors who care about the long-term future of the project.
Another key challenge with the token funding model is that a decentralized group of investors can’t offer the same targeted support and expertise as a VC. Therefore, without addressing this gap, there’s a risk that Web3 projects will always be at a disadvantage compared to their Web2 counterparts.
The Launch of Launchpads
Initially, launchpads such as the Binance Launchpad or THENA’s WARP Launchpad emerged to address these core challenges. The launchpad model provides a platform for new projects, offering a way for them to match with people who are interested in being involved at the early stage.
Launchpads can provide valuable intermediary services to facilitate the decentralized fundraising process. For example, they typically screen projects to ensure that they are legitimate and can support transparency by requiring that projects publish supporting documents such as white papers and tokenomic structure. They may also offer screening for token buyers, for example, to carry out KYC or check accreditation.
It’s also no coincidence that many of the most successful and sought-after launchpads are run by exchanges and platforms with experienced teams offering expertise and networking opportunities. Binance was one of the first to create a launchpad, and as a flagship exchange, it went on to become one of the industry’s leading platforms for up-and-coming projects.
Over time, faced with the unique challenges of the Web3 space, launchpads have also come to play a more critical role. Web3’s strength derives from networking and communities – the most important factor in maintaining liquidity and thus achieving success and further investment. The strongest platforms and apps in DeFi are the ones with the largest and most engaged communities and the greatest depth of liquidity. Think Uniswap, PancakeSwap, or Curve, which have become flagship projects within the DEX domain.
THENA, an all-in-one DeFi ecosystem on the BNB Chain, stands out as a project tackling the launchpad challenges holistically, fostering the growth and success of new projects. It offers the tools and infrastructure projects needed for a sustainable launch, including a business development hub and modular liquidity layer.
THENA’s WARP Launchpad Accelerator provides strategic support and resources to help projects scale effectively – which benefits the growth and diversity of the broader BNB Chain ecosystem, fertilizing the ground for future launches. Along with the launchpad, THENA’s modular liquidity layer enables seamless trading and efficient capital allocation, attracting more users and liquidity to the BNB ecosystem. This liquidity is essential for the success of both new and existing projects, providing a more stable financial basis for future growth.
The project makes use of Andre Cronje’s influential and widely adopted ve(3,3) tokenomics structure, which is designed to convey governance power in proportion to the tokens held by a user weighted towards those who offer long-term commitment. This structure is extremely flexible for managing on-chain liquidity.
THENA’s package combined aims to deliver similar results to the evolved VC model – sustainable financial support from an engaged community invested in the project’s future success.
Decentralized funding was established as an unrefined, radical Web3 alternative to the relatively closed shop of traditional VC investing. Several years later and with many lessons learned along the way, launchpads are now shaping themselves to deliver similar benefits while addressing the inherent challenges involved in token-based startup funding. For projects and users, the evolution represents a win on both sides.
