TON companies has raised $40 million for a for-profit venture capital group to support early-stage crypto projects.
TON Ventures is a spin-off from former senior team members of the TON Foundation, connecting investors and builders to the opportunities offered by the TON blockchain ecosystem, which powers blockchain apps on Telegram, the crypto-friendly messaging service with over 900 million users.
TON, or The Open Network, said it is crucial for gaming because it provides a highly scalable and efficient infrastructure that can handle millions of transactions per second, which is essential for real-time multiplayer experiences.
The integration with Telegram provides an easy entry point for millions of users, allowing for seamless in-game purchases and interactions. As seen with the success of Hamster Kombat, Catizen and Gatto, TON’s unique relationship with Telegram brings mobile gaming to the fingertips of Telegram’s near-users.
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TON Ventures will focus on consumer applications that leverage Telegram’s social graph, Telegram Mini Apps, and tools and infrastructure that support founders in building applications with broad audience appeal.
In addition to funding, selected projects will also benefit from the team’s global resources and extensive experience, as well as receive perks such as Telegram ads, media support, access to strategic partnerships, and exclusive access to growth and traffic experiments at TON.
TON Ventures was founded by early members of the TON Foundation and former TON builders. It will be led by Ian W, the former Director of TON Accelerator, and Inal K, former Gaming Lead at TON Foundation. The two have previously worked together to support successful TON web3 games Catizen and Gatto and perpetuals exchange Tradoor.
“TON and Telegram have created a paradigm shift for web3. With our deep experience in the ecosystem, we believe the highest leverage point lies in the capital allocation for TON. Now we have the exciting opportunity to share our insights and strategies to thrive in the unique design space created by TON and Telegram, and empower a new generation of innovators and builders. By connecting visionary investors with groundbreaking projects, we aim to accelerate the growth of the TON ecosystem and foster groundbreaking developments in decentralized technology,” said Ian W., Managing Director of TON Ventures.
This announcement follows the explosive growth of the TON ecosystem and community in recent months, with TON surpassing the number of daily active users on Ethereum and total assets in use on TON peaking at $1.14 billion in July, up from $71 million since January 1, 2024. The creation of TON Ventures also follows the incredible success that tap-to-earn gaming has seen in 2024, bringing hundreds of millions of new users to web3 gaming. As evidenced by the meteoric rise of Notcoin, a game that attracted 35 million players in 3 months and gave away over 90% of its token supply to its community.
TON Ventures connects TON builders with opportunities. Founded by two former TON Foundation members, Ian W. and Inal K., it is focused on the Telegram design space.
The Open Network (TON) is a global, decentralized blockchain community focused on putting crypto in every pocket. By building the Web3 ecosystem inside Telegram Messenger, TON’s vision is to empower 500 million users to own their digital identity, data, and assets by 2028.
The network’s unique architecture also enables decentralized gaming ecosystems, where players have true ownership of their assets, which can be transferred across games in the future. This improves player engagement and loyalty by providing real value and interoperability. TON’s focus on user-friendly services makes it a strong foundation for the future of decentralized gaming experiences.
The TON blockchain is the most successful of all connected wallets, but also has returning users for all types of Web3 gaming. This means that the blockchain far outnumbers current UAW users compared to Ethereum or other blockchains.
A TON spokesperson said: “We believe the first wave of TG/TON adoption will see billion-dollar businesses emerge across DeFi, gaming, ad/marketing, and regulated financial products that leverage the TON blockchain. We will be investing at the app level in those verticals and in tools that make the development and monetization process for TON eco apps smoother and of higher quality.”
In terms of gaming, Inal K, one of the co-founders of TON Ventures, was the contact person responsible for the collaboration with Catizen, Gatto and The Pixels. This helped TON to gain knowledge about success factors for gaming.
Currently, most of the new mini-apps that TON sees are related to gaming. This makes sense since Wechat mini-apps got their first traction with enterprise apps and gaming. And over time, the composition of mini-apps has become more focused on life apps, mobile shopping, practical tools and more.