Polygon and AU21 Capital unveil $21M fund to support Polygon developers

The joint venture fund is intended to provide funding, developmental support and exchange listings to up-and-coming Polygon ecosystem projects.

Polygon ecosystem is getting a major funding boost thanks to a new joint venture fund with blockchain venture capitalist AU21 Capital, setting the stage for wider adoption of the Ethereum-compatible infrastructure platform. 

The $21 million Polygon Ecosystem Fund announced Wednesday is designed to provide direct funding support for promising projects building on top of Polygon. The fund will offer business development and marketing support, as well as human capital incentives.

Receiving support from AU21 is a source of strength from Polygon, given the venture capital firm’s track record in supporting highly successful projects, including The Graph, Casper Labs and Elrond, among others. AU21 was one of several companies to participate in the Cere token offering, which sold out in 1 hour.

Alexi Nedeltchev, manager of the AU21 Polygon Ecosystem Fund, said there were to main reasons why he decided to back Polygon-based projects:

“First, Polygon’s coordination with Ethereum allows us to capture an already-active ecosystem. Second, Polygon’s exceptional development potential has already been realized through a number of partnerships with top DeFi protocols, creating an important framework for future development on Polygon’s infrastructure.”

Polygon has received considerable media attention over the past few months amid signs of growing network adoption. As Cointelegraph previously reported, the platform managed to attract 75,000 new users over a seven-day period in May, highlighting growing demand for layer-2 decentralized applications.

Billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has also come out in support of Polygon. The blockchain project is now listed under the Market Cuban Companies, which signifies his financial backing. Cuban told Cointelegraph that he’s an “active user” of Polygon and that its “user base is growing exponentially.”