Original Title: "A Comprehensive Review of Unlaunched Potential Projects by Binance Labs"

Original Source: Biteye

According to the overseas KOL Ardizor's compilation, among the active VCs in the industry, Binance Labs ranked first in the "Which VCs Prefer Airdrops in Their Investments" list with a 15.4% airdrop rate, far surpassing major VCs like a16z, Coinbase, Muticoin.

In the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, investment and incubation are key factors driving innovation and development, and Binance Labs can be said to be one of the key players in this field.

To find the Gem in Binance's investment portfolio, this article will delve into various aspects of Binance Labs, including its introduction, advantages, investment layout, and then focus on highlighting projects in Binance's investment portfolio that have not yet launched but have a certain airdrop expectation.

Overview of Binance Labs

Binance Labs was established in April 2018 and is the venture capital arm of Binance. Its main task is to identify, invest in, and empower promising blockchain entrepreneurs, startups, and communities. In addition to direct investments, Binance Labs also invests through an 8-10 week Incubation Program (MVB), providing advisory support, funding, and resources.

The Binance Incubation Program has held six seasons, with Binance investing in 4 of the top-performing projects in Season 6 MVB, namely AltLayer, KiloEx, Kinza, and Sleepless AI, covering DeFi, infrastructure, and Web3 gaming.

In April of this year, Binance Labs, in an interview with The Block, stated that their investment's theoretical return on investment has exceeded 10x, which is closely related to the strengths of Binance Labs and the theory of selecting projects.

Binance Labs Strengths:

- Global Influence: Binance Labs' investment portfolio has covered 25 countries and invested in over 200 projects.

- Funding Support: According to Binance's 2022 Year-End Report, Binance Labs will provide a minimum of $1-2 billion in funding to the crypto industry.

- Value-Added Services: In addition to funding support, value-added services such as general advisory, operational support, and technical/product co-development are provided.

- Resource-Rich: As part of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange platform, Binance Labs has abundant resources and a vast network, which are key factors enabling its successful project incubation and investment.

Binance Labs will consider the following five attributes when selecting projects:

- The first attribute is Product Innovation. Are you building something entirely new that users will benefit from?

- The second attribute is a Sustainable Business and Token Model. In the long term, is your business model profitable, and is your token incentive structure built correctly?

- The third attribute is Traction. What is the current user base and revenue generation of the project at this stage? If you are pre-launch, we would like to understand your expected metrics.

- The fourth attribute is Team Quality and Persistence. If needed, can you and your co-founders work full-time on this project?

- The last attribute is Technology. Is the technology you are building feasible and realistic? We will review what you have already built and what can be built based on your project roadmap.

From the above, Binance Labs' investment philosophy can be summarized by five attributes: Product Innovation, Sustainable Business and Token Model, Traction, Team Persistence, and Technology Feasibility.

Binance Labs Investment Focus Track Layout

Binance Labs' investment layout is very broad, covering most Web3-related tracks, including public chains, protocols, infrastructure, NFTs, blockchain games, metaverse, DeFi, and CeFi, among others. According to the 2022 Year-End Report, Binance Labs will provide a minimum of $1-2 billion for the crypto industry's recovery plan.

Binance Labs particularly values areas such as infrastructure, on-chain applications, data analytics, and security. These areas are not only core to the cryptocurrency industry's development but also the investment focus that Binance Labs prioritizes. The following diagram illustrates Binance's investment focus track layout:

- Infrastructure: Accounting for the largest proportion of Binance Labs' investment portfolio at 39.4%, serving as the cornerstone of the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.

- DeFi and Gaming: Holding investment proportions of 19.4% and 18.2% respectively, these two areas not only have significant market potential but also lead the industry's innovation frontier.

- Web3-related Tracks: Including social entertainment, tools, NFTs, the metaverse, etc., these areas are considered the next growth points of the cryptocurrency industry.

Unlaunched Project Inventory

We will separately inventory projects within the four major sectors of infrastructure, Web3, DeFi, and gaming in Binance's investment portfolio that are worth paying attention to but have not yet launched.

(Risk Warning: The following projects are only pre-launch and have received investment, and the specific project fundamentals cannot be guaranteed. Cryptocurrency projects are high risk. Users can use the following list as a reference for further due diligence.)

Infrastructure:

1. Polyhedra: $25M Funding

Polyhedra is an early-stage startup focusing on full-stack infrastructure based on ZKP technology, with a key focus on interoperability, scalability, and privacy. It aims to generate SNARK proofs more quickly in a distributed manner and then develop zk full-stack projects (zkBridge, zk-DID, zk-NFT) based on this. The zkBridge testnet is already live with an expected airdrop;

2. AltLayer

AltLayer is an open and decentralized protocol for developers to launch application-specific Rollups.

This protocol provides a no-code Rollups-as-a-Service dashboard built on its core network Beacon Layer, allowing for the rapid customization of Rollups with fraud/zk proofs, obtaining security from the underlying L1/L2. It has secured funding from Binance Season 6 MVB.

3. DappOS

DappOS is an intent-driven operating protocol designed to make dApps as user-friendly as mobile applications.

As a Web3 Unified Operations Protocol, it establishes a layer between users and crypto infrastructure such as public chains, cross-chain bridges, etc., enabling users to interact with DappOS alone to accomplish verification and execution in the decentralized world, allowing anyone to easily access decentralized applications without complex processes or in-depth crypto knowledge.

4. Mind Network: $2.5M Fundraising

Mind Network is a composable data protocol that allows developers to interoperate data across platforms. The vision of Mind Network is to become the first decentralized knowledge graph connecting everyone and everything on Web3 smartly. The roadmap for Mind Network indicates the token launch is planned for the third quarter of 2023.

5. LayerZero: $315M Fundraising

LayerZero is a full-chain interoperability protocol focused on data message transmission between chains. LayerZero's data transmission based on oracles and relayers makes the protocol lightweight and provides a certain level of security performance. The protocol's network adoption is good, with an expected airdrop.

6. Celestia: $56.5M Fundraising

Celestia is the first modular blockchain network that advocates for dividing the functions of a single public chain, such as consensus, settlement, execution, into different layer zones, and then enhances performance by optimizing function layer zones, allowing specialized blockchain hosting applications to be deployed on top of it, optimizing scalability, flexibility, and interoperability.

7. Web3Go: $4M Fundraising

Web3Go is a data intelligence network that offers a set of artificial intelligence native digital asset tools and real-time data infrastructure.

This network will enable users to produce various artificial intelligence native digital assets, including transaction information flows, trading strategies, trading bots, entertainment, education, and social intelligence assistants. Through blockchain-validated asset ownership, it provides creators with a fair, self-sovereign, trustless ecosystem.

Web3

1. Paragraph

Paragraph is an on-chain creator platform that helps creators publish, share, and build businesses around their content using a permissionless protocol to enhance growth and earning potential.

Paragraph is leveraging novel on-chain mechanisms such as enabling creators to mint posts as collectibles, send newsletters to wallet addresses, earn from subscription memberships, and utilize decentralized social protocols (e.g., Farcaster, Lens, XMTP) to establish and nurture their community.

Not only did they receive investment from Binance Labs in October 2022, but also from Base's inaugural ecosystem fund in September of this year.

2. Tabi: $10M Funding

Tabi is a cross-chain NFT platform that offers NFT issuance, trading, auctions, and personalized in-store services. It aims to connect creators and users in a decentralized manner. Tabi will airdrop and convert users' on-chain activities into "experience points" that can be redeemed for future airdrop rewards and earnings.

3. Lifeform

Lifeform is a decentralized visual Decentralized Identity (DID) solution provider. Its core technologies include: hyper-realistic 3D avatar creation tool; Visual DID Protocol; secure and innovative contract solutions; Web3-native decentralized identity system; Metaverse Engine Software Development Kit (SDK). It has completed three funding rounds, with the latest round reaching a valuation of 3 billion.

4. Playbux: $2M Funding

Playbux is a blockchain-based e-commerce metaverse platform that was a finalist in Binance Labs' fourth-quarter Incubation Program. Its product aims to be an accessible Shop&Earn metaverse platform, allowing users to shop at over 20,000 global merchants and earn cashback.

Games

1. Xterio: $55M Funding

Xterio is a global cross-platform play-to-earn developer and publisher dedicated to enhancing deep engagement in the gaming world through digital ownership, connecting millions of people worldwide. Xterio's focus is on developing a Web3-native metaverse that can scale across all media and platforms.

2. Fusionist: Raised $6.6M

Fusionist is a gaming world with collectible NFTs, consisting of 3 types of gameplay: Colonize, Conquer, and Unite. Players will manage their own planets, collect rare resources, upgrade tech, scan blueprints to craft mechs, and establish production lines. Engage in PvP and PvE battles, build a starship fleet for interstellar warfare, and conquer the galaxy.

The founding team consists of veterans from Tencent Games, EA, and MZ. Players participating in the beta test will receive a token airdrop reward.

3. Ultiverse: Raised $4.5M

Ultiverse is a social metaverse game that connects Web3 to a AAA-quality immersive fully VR-compatible virtual world. By empowering players with varying economic capabilities to establish mutually beneficial relationships, Ultiverse aims to create MetaFi with a strong airdrop expectation.

4. Tatsumeeko: Raised $7.5M

Tatsumeeko is an MMORPG playable on Discord. It combines casual gaming, Japanese RPG, and creative building elements with social features and user-generated content, creating a platform-agnostic, community-driven modern fantasy MMORPG-lite.

5. Heroes of Mavia: Raised $5.5M

Heroes of Mavia is an MMO strategy game that draws fantasy elements from the popular mobile strategy base-building game Clash of Clans.

Players establish and grow their base on Mavia Island, train armies, and engage in battles with other players. As their base and armies grow stronger, they can attack more challenging opponents and receive tokens as rewards, which can be used to upgrade the base itself and create special super units called Heroes, with expected land NFT airdrops.

6. Sleepless AI: Raised

It is an AI blockchain-based virtual companion game that leverages AIGC and LLM to create rich story-based gameplay with organic character interaction. The project is currently developing three games, with the first game being "HIM".

DeFi

1. Helio: $10M Funding

Helio is an open-source liquidity protocol for borrowing and earning yield on HAY — a new BNB-backed, overcollateralized, and a new class of crypto assets called "destablecoins" (where "de" stands for decentralized). The Helio protocol is built on the BNB chain, consisting of a dual-token model and mechanisms that support instant swaps, asset collateralization, borrowing, yield farming, and staking.

2. Bracket Labs

Bracket Labs has launched the Bracket Protocol options market, aiming to simplify traditional options and structured products, allowing buyers to trade multi-asset contracts on the platform. The platform's innovation lies in: users can interact directly on a decentralized, permissionless, non-custodial platform without the need for a margin account; no forced liquidation, buyers always receive their full claim value, etc. Currently, BracketX has launched on the Arbitrum testnet.

Summary

In conclusion, Binance Labs, as the venture capital and incubation arm of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has become an indispensable player in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.

Its global influence, funding support, value creation services, and abundant resources have enabled it to successfully incubate and invest in projects.

For users, the bear market can be considered the best time to discover potential projects, without as much FOMO and false APY-induced TVL as in a bull market, making it easier to filter out serious project teams. Players can prepare for the bull market by tracking the data growth of promising projects.

The above project list can serve as a research and interaction reference, but it is essential to note that in the crypto market, projects that truly meet user needs and succeed are rare, with most projects having a higher risk-to-potential ratio. Therefore, when participating in projects, it is crucial to practice risk management and ensure the security of funds.

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