Will Polygon be the face of India’s Web3 revolution?

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Hello reader,

I’ve always thought that the smartest tech businesses are the ones that play a foundational and enabling role in a sector. Be that platform which everything else has to be built on, and you become indispensable, right? Just think about platforms like Amazon Web Services or even Apple and all the apps and businesses that rely on them.

But of course, that’s easier said than done. In today’s premium article, we dive into the story of Polygon and see if it has what it takes to be at the center of the next wave of foundational tech: Web3.

Today we look at:

• How Polygon is leading the charge to put India on the global blockchain map
• The series B+ equity financing round of this startup churning out autonomous-driving trucks
• Other newsy highlights such as the fallout from Sea’s recent earnings report and Animoca suspending its services in Russia

Premium summary

Does the future of Web3 lie in India?

Image credit: Timmy Loen

You might have noticed by now that I occasionally semi-force a reference to basketball and the team I support – the Dallas Mavericks – into these newsletters.

Well, I don’t even really have to try this time: Polygon came into the spotlight last May when it received an investment from American billionaire Mark Cuban, who’s also the owner of the Mavericks.

I’ve actually been fairly critical of how Cuban’s been running the team these past few years, but I can’t argue much with his business acumen – Polygon may be onto something here.

• From the bottom: Polygon’s early days saw its founders struggle to raise funds. On many occasions, the company had only enough money to pay one or two months’ worth of salaries.

• A foundational enabler: The firm wants to be the Amazon Web Services for Web3. Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal believes that developers will pick Polygon over Ethereum for building decentralized apps, as the former is far more scalable.

• Home-ground advantage: India is ripe for investments and startups to flourish, and it also has the largest base of developers globally. The current explosion of Web3 projects is perfect for Polygon, which relies on the support of blockchain developers to succeed. In comparison with its rivals, the company is well-positioned to tap into what the country’s Web3 ecosystem has to offer.

Self-driving into US$188 million