In brief
Decent DAO is an incubator, venture studio, and open-source collective that connects talent with investors.
It’s an extension of the work done by Decent Labs.
As more projects come online in Web3, many lack the funding and technical know-how to take them to the next level. To help take these projects from 0 to 60, Decent Labs announced today the launch of Decent DAO, a decentralized venture studio for development. It’s raised $10 million in funding from Decent Labs, BlockTower Capital, Cumberland DRW, Digital Currency Group, GSR, 1kx, and others.
Launched in 2017 by Parker McCurley, Decent Labs aims to help decentralized finance (DeFi) development on Ethereum by building publicly accessible, open-source financial tools that are sophisticated enough for institutions. Decent Labs has worked on products including Portis, Rawrshak, BRD, and Sarcophagus.
As McCurley explains, Decent Labs’ skillset offerings include brand design (conceptual, visual, and communicatory), product design (UI/UX and research), and software engineering using React web applications powered by Ethereum smart contracts—code that executes automatically when a set criteria is met.
McCurley told Decrypt Decent Labs first began fundraising last year with the intent to raise $7 million and scale-up. However, it initially saw little success and decided it would be more economical to bootstrap a few key projects in-house. “So three months in, we pivoted and went back to the most crypto-savvy funds, ones who have been in the space for years like BlockTower and 1kx who saw how fast we had evolved and were impressed enough to jump on board,” McCurley says.
That money won’t be going to Decent Labs but to the new Decent DAO, which McCurley envisions as an incubator, venture studio, and open-source collective to connect inspired talent to investors who understand those who are building Web3.
“We’re at the intersection of many radical changes in business as Web3 matures, and we need a DAO that brings together partners that are wholly invested in advancing autonomous and equitable access to opportunities in the world of crypto development,” McCurley says.
Every six months, Decent DAO will choose new projects to be developed and be funded by the DAO, supported by Decent DAO’s core contributors. Decent DAO says its core contributors are committed to redistributing the institutional knowledge gained from working with leaders in the cryptocurrency industry to support the future visionaries of Web3.
“Ultimately, the goal of our studio is to create on-chain technology robust enough for institutions and accessible to anyone with an internet connection that is 100% free, open, decentralized,” McCurley added.
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