How startup founders seeking funding should approach the metaverse

Check out all the Smart Security Summit on-demand sessions here.

While it is difficult to accurately gauge the size of an emerging market such as the Metaverse, Citigroup believes it could grow to between $8 trillion and $13 trillion by 2030.

>

And, if the investment banking and financial services giant is right, in less than a decade, nearly five billion people will be working, gaming, socializing, shopping (and more) in this frontier rapidly evolving.

With a potential population and economy greater than that of China, the metaverse presents a huge opportunity for smart and innovative entrepreneurs. However, despite its vastness, blazing trails in this new frontier will not be easy.

While Citigroup's outlook on the metaverse is extremely optimistic, the market faces significant challenges. Most important is the fact that the market is still in its infancy and has yet to be truly defined. As such, the market is currently extremely speculative from an investment perspective. For startup founders embarking on VC roadshows, this is the main objection that will need to be overcome.

Event

On-Demand Smart Security Summit

Learn about the essential role of AI and ML in cybersecurity and industry-specific case studies. Watch the on-demand sessions today.

look here

But, as Sir Winston Churchill so aptly put it: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

And that's precisely what successful entrepreneurs are good at: seizing opportunity through chaos. So when pitching your metaverse startup to a room full of pragmatic VCs, it's important to show them exactly what the business opportunity is. However, when it comes to emerging markets, this is often easier said than done.

To help startup founders seeking funding better understand how to approach this unique market, I recently sat down with Dmitry Volkov, Ph.D., founder and general partner of Social Discovery Group. The global tech company, investment fund, and venture capital studio are investing heavily in the Metaverse and constantly evaluating who might be the winners in the race to greatness of the Metaverse.

The company recently committed an initial $20 million to metaverse-related projects focused on social life 3.0 applications. However, as Volkov explained, the company is also evaluating broader opportunities in the market.

As startup founders prepare to approach VCs, Volkov offers these important tips and insights.

Tip #1: Follow industry standards as they develop

"One of the biggest challenges facing the metaverse is the lack of cohesion," Volkov said. “Even though the space is exploding, in terms of hype and number of new projects launched, the market remains extremely fragmented. Unlike Web 2.0, no gateway leads to a larger metaverse. There are big worlds like Decentraland, Sandbox, Roblox and others to explore and monetize, but none of them are interconnected in any practical way. »

But the good news, he says, is that progress is being made. Organizations such as Microsoft, Epic Games, Adobe, Nvidia, Khronos Group and others have joined the new Metaverse Standards Forum to address the lack of interoperability currently plaguing the space.

According to its website, the organization focuses on i...