Sony Network invests in Japanese Web3 startup to spur mass adoption

The deal includes an investment of $3.5 million, a Sony executive moving to Startale Labs and collaboration on new Web3 tools for mass adoption.

Sony continues to make its mark in the emerging technologies space with its recent announcement of a new investment in building a global infrastructure to support Web3. 

On June 28, Sony Network Communications — a subsidiary of Sony — and Japanese Web3 infrastructure tech company Startale Labs revealed a new business collaboration and a $3.5 million investment to build a foundation for the widespread adoption of Web3.

The partnership will push Startale’s development of Web3 services and products, including its mission to create all-in-one solutions for Web3 development and focus on bridging real-world assets with the Web3 ecosystem.

Sota Watanabe, the CEO of Startale Labs, told Cointelegraph that partnering with Sony allows a new Web3 startup like itself to “learn and leverage” many things. Commenting on its all-in-one solution, he said:

“Developers and users need to understand blockchain tech stacks when interacting with Web3. We want to provide smooth experiences for general users and this tool will allow them to interact with the space without knowing it.”

Along with the investment, the president and representative director for Sony Network Communications, Jun Watanabe, was appointed as director of Startale Labs. Previously the two companies successfully co-hosted a Web3 Incubation Program.

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Watanabe is also the co-founder of the Astar Network, a parachain operating on the Polkadot ecosystem, of which Startale Labs has been a part of the core team. Astar recently launched smart contracts supporting two virtual machines which allowed the creation of WASM or EVM projects within the network.

Sony Network Communications is known as a powerful provider of fiber optic internet services. However, other domains and branches of the Sony company have been involved in other Web3 initiatives including nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

In March of 2023, Sony Interactive Entertainment, the video game giant behind the PlayStation brand, filed a patent that will allow users to transfer and use NFTs across multiple gaming platforms.

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