This document serves as a partial press release, covering the DOT Play seed announcement made at the “The Future of Funding on Polkadot” presentation during Polkadot Decoded Asia (17 Sep 2024).

At the 2024 Polkadot Decoded Asia conference, Seraya Takahashi (https://x.com/the_seraya?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor), (https://x.com/the_seraya?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) Grants Evaluator at the Web3 Foundation, announced a significant new initiative to advance the gaming and entertainment sectors within the Polkadot ecosystem. The Web3 Foundation will seed Signum Growth Capital's new Polkadot ecosystem venture capital (VC) fund, DOT Play (https://x.com/dotplayteam), (https://x.com/dotplayteam) designed to boost innovation in the gaming and entertainment sector through financial support and technological development.

DOT Play was previously introduced as a dedicated gaming and entertainment business development unit, supported by the Web3 Foundation’s Decentralized Futures (https://futures.web3.foundation/) program. Now with the seed funding of its VC arm, their dual mandate will accelerate the growth of decentralized technologies in these industries.

Earlier this year, the Web3 Foundation also supported the seed funding of another Polkadot ecosystem fund, the Scytale Polkadot (https://www.scytale.digital/) Ecosystem Fund, which will deploy capital in liquid and private investment strategies in support of the Polkadot Ecosystem. During the announcement, Seraya emphasized that the Web3 Foundation is open to collaboration with professional investors through various avenues, including seed investments, anchor investments, and co-investment opportunities with other funds.