The post From Smart Money to Smart Support: Why Founders Prefer Strategic Incubation in Web3 appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

The concept of “smart money” has long dominated early-stage investing. But in today’s Web3 landscape, founders seek more evolved smart support beyond capital, offering tactical help, deep ecosystem knowledge, and hands-on collaboration. At ChainGPT Labs, we’ve seen this shift up close. Web3 builders today don’t just want exposure or funding they want partners who understand the stack, can challenge product decisions, and help them build through ambiguity. And now the numbers are starting to reflect what we’ve seen on the ground. In a 2023 survey of over 100 Web3 founders by Bloccelerate VC, 72% said they prioritized strategic incubation over traditional VC funding, even when offered larger checks. This isn’t surprising given the evolving market conditions funding has tightened, expectations have risen, and founders are being more deliberate about who they bring on board. Building in Web3 has unique challenges: rapidly shifting tech standards, unclear regulatory frameworks, the need for community alignment, and multi-chain infrastructure decisions. These aren’t problems most generalist investors are equipped to support. For early teams navigating these layers, funding alone is rarely enough. This has led to a growing preference for incubators that provide more hands-on involvement, whether helping shape a token model, refining a product strategy, reviewing architecture decisions, or connecting with potential collaborators and early users. Strategic Incubators Are Delivering Good incubation isn’t about micromanaging founders. It’s about creating the right conditions for focused building. This usually means working with teams on early experiments, serving as a sounding board during pivotal decisions, and offering flexible, context-aware guidance as the product evolves. Strategic incubators often plug into teams with capital, domain expertise, technical mentorship, and ecosystem access. This support is especially valuable in Web3, where moving fast can lead to decisions that don’t hold up over time. Having a partner who understands the tradeoffs and…

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Filed under: News - @ April 29, 2025 12:19 am