In 2022, Web3 became the buzzword of the year, but beyond the hype, I am convinced that it represents the future of our beloved World Wide Web (WWW). Web3, also known as Web 3.0, is the new iteration of the WWW whose main characteristics are decentralization (vs. the current centralized web), blockchains, and non–fungible tokens (NFTs).
Both NFTs and cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technologies. NFTs or cryptocurrencies can neither be replaced nor interchanged because they have unique properties, so they cannot be forged or manipulated. Beyond the new cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based unforgeable digital art (NFTs), Web3 technologies will unlock endless possibilities. If you need to understand better Web3 and its main components, Ethereum has good information on this page.
With the rise of Web3, mostly via the NFT-mania and the inception of zillions of new cryptocurrencies, besides their ancestors Bitcoin and Ethereum, a lot of investors and entrepreneurs want to jump on the bandwagon.
And here comes EdgeIn, a “no-cost, low-cost alternative to Crunchbase and Pitchbook” as the company puts it.
No-cost/low-cost Web3 data platform with a shared revenue model
EdgeIn.io company profile page example – top of the page
Currently, EdgeIn provides free access to its data including a growing list of 25,000 company profiles but, for $14.99/month, users can get real-time updates on the Web3 companies, people, investment deals, and events they are interested in. And the cherry on the cake: EdgeIn will share the revenue with its community, to fulfill its core mission to deliver “truly decentralized accessible data that drives innovation”. You will find more information on the paid version on the EdgeIn website.
According to the company, the Web3 investment research market is currently $610 million and is expected to reach $11 billion by 2030. During my conversation with Ashley Brown, Co-founder and COO of EdgeIn, she told me that the current competing Web3 ecosystem research tools used by investors are complex, based on legacy data, and often generate profits from analyzing and reselling users’ public information.
Aligned with Web3’s mission to provide a fair decentralized internet where users control their own data and identity, EdgeIn aims at helping users reclaim their data and make money from their contributions to the ecosystem.
“Our goal is to remove all manner of obfuscation in the Web3 industry and provide the data reliability this community deserves,” said Redg Snodgrass, founder and CEO of EdgeIn. “It’s time to demand greater transparency in Web3 and to replace the centralized incumbents responsible for stunting growth and business development by making it difficult to find valuable information. The existing data model is failing everyone, from builders to LPs to our own families.”
EdgeIn.io company profile page example – bottom of the page
Collaborative with uber-fast turnaround for adding new data
“The dual-sided architecture is collaborative and incentivized, enabling anyone in the community to provide data,” said Ashley Brown, co-founder and COO of EdgeIn.
According to the EdgeIn founders, since October when the platform opened, over 15,000 new companies and projects have been submitted by users, and new data requests are fulfilled in less than an hour by the company’s analysts. However, the EdgeIn community analyst team needs 24 hours to validate and publish larger datasets contributions. Such speed to add user-submitted data is amazing, and way faster than the turnaround time offered by Crunchbase.
EdgeIn.io Groups and Group page example – creating groups is part of the paid version
User-friendly, tens of thousands of data points (growing), and partnerships
Currently, the platform has 50,000 Web3 companies and projects indexed, 4,000 active investor profiles, and over 20,000 builders. I have briefly tried EdgeIn and I could find tons of info uber-quickly using tags, filters, and the search tool. The user interface (see screenshots) is easy to use and very responsive. The website allows one to track many aspects of the Web3 ecosystem besides companies and deals, such as companies’ employment and market changes (Velocity card) or the latest trends.
The company claims that its team “has built the largest verified on/off-chain dataset in Web3, indexing over 90% of the market in just 3 months”. Such a successful implementation could not be done without the help of multiple data and event partners such as AmberData, Harmonic.ai, DefyTrends, Coingecko, LunarCrush, DefiLlama, and DealRoom.
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