Stone Ridge Debuts “Wolf,” A Lightning Network Startup Accelerator
- Parent firm of NYDIG, Stone Ridge, has announced a new startup accelerator named In Wolf’s Clothing (“Wolf”) focused on the Bitcoin Lightning Network and Taro.
- The application for the non-remote startup accelerator are now open to the builders on Lightning Network and Taro and the founders selected will be called to New York for a period of eight weeks.
- The winning crypto startup will receive an investment of around $750,000, while every startup selected will receive close to $250,000.
Stone Ridge, a multi-billion venture capital firm and also the parent firm of New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), has launched a new startup accelerator named In Wolf’s Clothing (“Wolf”) which has been described as the “first-ever startup accelerator dedicated to Lightning, a “layer 2″ protocol built on top of Bitcoin.”
The new venture capital fund will be focused on supporting the crypto startups that are building on Bitcoin Lightning Network, a blockchain built on top of the world’s oldest blockchain to make it more scalable, and Taro (Taproot Asset Representation Overlay), a new protocol on Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain which will bring digital assets on the leading crypto network.
“Over the past year, the Lightning Network has hit critical mass, and we expect that its growth will only further accelerate from here,” said Kelly Brewster, CEO of Wolf. “That growth is ushering in a wave of innovation and development that will shape the future of decentralized finance. We are launching Wolf to empower the best founders and teams from around the world to build that future. If you have an idea, a proof-of-concept, or an early-stage business that touches Lightning, Wolf can help you build and scale.”
According to the announcement, the application for the Stone Ridge non-remote startup accelerator are now open to the builders on Lightning Network and Taro and the founders selected will be called to New York for a period of eight weeks to discuss development, growth, and funding of these firm that are building on the Network. Also, the costs of “transportation and accommodations for the duration of the program are included from anywhere in the world.”
The participants in the Stone Ridge acceleration will have the opportunity to work with Wolf’s full-time in-house advisors and also with the mentors from the venture capital’s subsidiary NYDIG. The winning crypto startup will receive an investment of around $750,000, while every startup selected will receive close to $250,000.
As per the statement, the program will also accept “founders and small startup teams from anywhere in the world, including pre-seed idea-stage individual founders up through early-stage companies ready for a Series A.”
It seems that Stone Ridge aims to capitalize on the increasing popularity of the Bitcoin Lightning Network. According to a statement from the Founder and CEO of Stone Ridge and Founder and Executive Chairman of Wolf, Ross Stevens, the layer 2 on Bitcoin has been progressing impressively and might becoming leading payment technology in the near future.
“Wolf shines the Bitcoin Bat Signal in the sky: if you are a founder or startup team anywhere in the world who is passionate about Lightning, we want you. If you are willing to work tirelessly to make the world more decentralized, power more diffuse, and central planning a distant memory, join us.”
Stevens said.
Stone Ridge is not the only firm to show support for the Lightning Network. MicroStrategy is working on developing solutions that would allow a large number of people onto the Lightning Network.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
