Meet the Genesis Pre-Accelerator Cohort: 13 Teams Building the Future of Cardano
The first cohort of founders joining us in Silicon Valley this August.
We received hundreds of applications for Genesis Pre-Accelerator. After reviewing pitches, interviewing teams, and looking for the builders who had both the technical depth and the drive to move fast, we selected 14 teams.
Here’s who’s coming to Silicon Valley.
About the Program
Genesis Pre-Accelerator is a 4-week immersive Silicon Valley residency for early-stage technical teams building on Cardano, in partnership with the Cardano Foundation and Orion Fund. Selected teams receive up to $20,000 in investment, full residency at Draper University headquarters, and direct access to founders, operators, and investors. The program concludes with a dedicated Pitch Day with angel investors and early-stage VCs.
The Cohort
Harmonic Laboratories LTD
The first (real) Cardano DEX.
Founders: Michele Nuzzi
From: Canillo, Andorra
Focus: Institutional DeFi
Harmonic Labs is the kind of team that makes ecosystems stronger from the inside out: protocol tooling, developer infrastructure, and now GravityDEX as a user-facing DeFi product. Their application highlights work across Cardano tooling and infrastructure, plus a goal of making GravityDEX a stronger on-ramp for DeFi users. This is a technical founder bringing infrastructure depth to a product category where Cardano has room to grow.
Ospree
Ospree is the compliance infrastructure for companies moving value across fiat, stablecoin, and digital-asset rails.
Founders: Javier Tamashiro
From: Barcelona, Spain
Focus: Enterprise
Ospree is tackling one of the biggest blockers to institutional blockchain adoption: compliance. As Travel Rule, AML, and licensing requirements become more important across markets, banks and VASPs need infrastructure that protects privacy while helping them meet regulatory requirements. Ospree’s application cites revenue, regulated financial customers, and work with compliance-heavy institutions, making the team a strong fit for Cardano’s enterprise and institutional adoption story.
RiverArk Systems, Inc
RiverArk enables non-custodial Lightning rails that empower any merchant or POS system to accept crypto and settle in USD instantly while slashing net processing costs, with zero volatility risk and zero regulatory overhead.
Founders: Kyle Solomon
From: Rio Grande, United States
Focus: Enterprise
RiverArk is building around a painfully practical problem: merchants lose margin every time they accept a payment. Kyle’s application highlights deep Cardano ecosystem experience, including work around Cardano-native products, stablecoin infrastructure, and governance. Their wedge is clear: start with real merchants and vending operators, then explore how Cardano payments can become something businesses use in everyday transactions.
Hito Inc
Building trust infrastructure for the digital world
Founders: Mikhail Kirillov
From: Berlin, Germany
Focus: Enterprise
Hito is building at the trust layer: the wallets, hardware, and user experience that make digital assets feel secure enough for mainstream adoption. Their application points to a possible Cardano ecosystem opportunity through co-branded or white-label wallet infrastructure. Hito brings a concrete, hardware-first product angle into a space that often needs more tangible user trust.
Lava
L-ADA keeps your ADA staked and earning rewards while it’s deployed as collateral, liquidity, or a yield strategy across Cardano DeFi.
Founders: Brett “Nick” Milne
From: Ashburn, United States
Focus: Institutional DeFi
Lava is going after one of Cardano DeFi’s clearest unlocks: turning staked ADA into productive liquidity. Their thesis is simple and powerful: ADA holders should not have to choose between staking rewards and DeFi participation. Lava’s application says L-ADA is mainnet-ready, audited, and has launch partners in place, positioning the team around a primitive that could help deepen liquidity across the ecosystem.
BETTER web3
BETTER is a customer acquisition platform for all blockchain companies.
Founders: Joseph Escobar
From: Bend, United States
Focus: Enterprise
BETTER web3 is focused on a problem every ecosystem knows well: good products do not grow just because they exist. Joseph’s application points to years inside the Cardano community, including hosting conversations with projects, companies, and community members. The project is early, but the insight is sharp: stronger distribution can help Cardano builders reach the people their products were built for.
ChatterPay
Stablecoin payments inside WhatsApp.
Founders: Tomas Di Mauro
From: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Focus: Enterprise
ChatterPay is making crypto payments feel as natural as sending a message. The team is building for WhatsApp, where people already coordinate payments, commerce, and daily life. Their application frames Cardano’s native assets, predictable fees, and eUTXO model as a promising fit for high-frequency stablecoin payments, with a goal of testing Cardano-based wallets and transfers with existing users.
Agent-to-Agent (working name)
Agentic payments on Cardano.
Founders: Morgan Schofield
From: Berlin, Germany
Focus: Enterprise
Agent-to-Agent is exploring a future where software agents do not just browse, recommend, or automate; they transact. The project points toward Cardano-native payment rails and pay-per-request infrastructure as AI agents become more economically active. We are keeping this one high-level while the team finalizes the public project name, handle, and description.
ADApose Labs
Cardano De-Fi automated.
Founders: Derrek Brack
From: Digital nomad, currently Pinedale, WY
Focus: Institutional DeFi
Pomona Finance is building a DeFi layer for Cardano: automated vaults that help LPs compound yield without giving up custody. The founder’s application frames Cardano as a promising home for DeFi infrastructure and broader financial access. It is early, but the product targets a clear gap in the ecosystem’s DeFi stack.
Web3 Bounties
On-chain escrow for Web3 bounties, contributors get paid and projects get work done.
Founders: Peter Bui
From: Gold Coast, Australia
Focus: Enterprise
Web3 Bounties is building coordination infrastructure for Cardano’s builder economy. Projects need contributors, contributors need paid opportunities, and ecosystems need a visible way to show who is delivering. Peter’s application cites a working MVP and distribution through Learn Cardano, turning years of ecosystem education and infrastructure work into a marketplace for Cardano contributors.
Rare Network / ENVNT / @RareNetworkWeb3
A Web3 events & technology company building Envnt, the operating system of events.
Founders: Wes Parkinson, Rand McHenry
From: Cincinnati, United States
Focus: Enterprise
Rare Network has spent years building real-world community infrastructure around Cardano through Rare Evo, governance events, ecosystem activations, and conference operations. ENVNT turns that operating experience into software: an event platform for organizers with optional Web3 and Cardano integrations built in. Their application cites significant event operations, Rare Evo experience, and existing usage of ENVNT, giving the team a practical path to bring Cardano into more live events and communities.
Volta Nexos Group Limited / @XRPayNet
NEXOS Workspace. The Operating System for Web3 Teams that brings together all the tools Web3 teams use in to one platform.
Founders: Kristian Poliszczuk
From: Coventry, United Kingdom
Focus: Enterprise
Volta Nexos is building the operating layer Web3 teams wish they already had: AI workflows, payments, collaboration, subscriptions, and service access in one stack. Their Cardano thesis is distribution: Nexos could bring builders, teams, and transaction volume into the ecosystem through practical tools rather than abstract promises. Volta Nexos’ application cites prior product distribution and ongoing business-development conversations as the team builds toward a broader productivity layer for Web3.
Tata iMali
Enterprise-grade loyalty software for small businesses, powered by blockchain technology.
Founders: Gregory Andrews
From: Cape Town, South Africa
Focus: Enterprise
Tata iMali is bringing blockchain into a use case small businesses already understand: loyalty, rewards, and repeat customers. Tata iMali’s application cites payment processing, merchant adoption, reward-wallet users, and on-chain reward activity. Their interest in Cardano is practical: lower-cost, scalable infrastructure for high-volume, low-value rewards in emerging markets.
What Comes Next
Over the next 4 weeks, these teams will be living and building at Draper University’s headquarters in San Mateo, California. They’ll be working through product validation, fundraising preparation, and investor introductions, and presenting at Pitch Day at the end of the program.
We’ll be sharing updates throughout the cohort. Follow along here and on Draper University’s official X account.
If you missed Genesis but you’re further along and ready to raise — Apex Growth Accelerator applications are open until September 1st.
About Draper University
Draper University is a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneurship school and accelerator founded by venture capitalist Tim Draper. In partnership with the Cardano Foundation, Draper University is running two accelerator programs — Genesis Pre-Accelerator and Apex Growth Accelerator — to support the next generation of Web3 founders building on Cardano.
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