New York-based Lightning Accelerator has announced its first company and project.
At Wolf’s Clothing, the first startup accelerator dedicated to the Lightning, announced the selection of eight teams for its inaugural cohort, Wolfpack 1.
According to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine, the program received more than 100 applications from teams representing 36 countries. Wolf’s accelerator program is designed to “help early-stage startups achieve product-market fit, develop brands, secure critical early-stage funding and grow businesses that drive global adoption of Bitcoin.”
The selected companies are working on topics such as decentralized trading through smart log contracts, WeChat-style “super apps” for Nostr and Lightning, automated Lightning node management, instant payments and remittances in the MENA market and more.
In addition to this announcement, when Wolf heads to the start of the first cohort in April, the company announced a list of committed investors and mentors. Industry heavyweights such as Allen Farrington, Ego Death Capital, Fulgur Ventures, Hivemind Ventures, Kingsway Capital, NYDIG, Stone Ridge Holdings Group, and Urim Capital participated.
Kelly Brewster, CEO of Wolf, said, “The volume and quality of applications for Wolf has been simply incredible. From true ‘decentralized finance,’ to infrastructure, social media, payments and more, the team joining Wolf is moving Bitcoin forward across a diverse frontier .”
Applications for Wolf’s second group, Wolfpack 2, are open and will be accepted until April 7, 2023. Wolf is a subsidiary of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, founded in 2012, which has five subsidiaries: Stone Ridge Asset Management, NYDIG, Longtail Re, Evidence , and Wolf.
The announcement coincides with the extraordinary growth of the Lightning Network, with the capacity of the Network at its highest, up 63% since the beginning of 2022. It also focuses, according to the announcement, “the explosive growth of Nostr continues over 2 million pubkeys writing events.” The Lightning Accelerator may play a key role in the global adoption of Bitcoin, providing innovative ideas and providing critical funding to early-stage startups.