The NEAR ecosystem is getting a huge boost in the eastern hemisphere today. NEAR Foundation is appointing Arpit Sharma as managing director for India, South East Asia, and the Middle East to help expand NEAR’s presence in those specific regions and beyond. Sharma brings regional expertise as well as leadership experience from the Polygon ecosystem.
“Arpit brings a wealth of experience and passion about Web3 to the table,” said Marieke Flament, CEO of the NEAR Foundation. “With his impressive track record and deep understanding of this space, I am confident he will play a key role in shaping the future of NEAR.”
Sharma’s appointment marks a major milestone in expanding NEAR’s presence in some of the fastest-growing Web3 hotspots in the world. Having previously worked as the VP of Global Enterprises at Polygon, Sharma led enterprise adoption and business development in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions.
“I am thrilled to be in this new role as I see the immense opportunity in the region,” Sharma commented. “There is enormous potential to tap into strong grassroots communities as we continue to use the exciting opportunities presented by Web3 to connect, collaborate and change the world.”
Sharma and NEAR excited by regional opportunities
Favorable demographics and technical resources combined with a strong and diverse consumer base make India, South East Asia, and the Middle East primed for massive Web3 growth in the upcoming decades. As a VP at Polygon, Sharma was a key contributor to enterprise strategy and led the APAC business across enterprise, digital native businesses, and the public sector.
Sharma brings a wealth of regional and cross-industry experience along with extreme enthusiasm for the NEAR protocol, ecosystem, and technology. Sharma will champion Near’s developer-first focus and ease of use to drive onboarding in the APAC and Middle East regions.
“I’m incredibly impressed by the infinite scalability of NEAR’s platform,” Sharma said. “I believe it’s the best protocol in the ecosystem. It not only delivers on its technical promises but gains the support of the developer community. The potential presented in emerging markets is a win-win for everyone.”
As the new regional MD, Sharma will target business opportunities in five of the top ten countries on the 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index. This includes Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, and Thailand. The index has been dominated by emerging markets in recent years, and NEAR’s appointment of Sharma will help the ecosystem benefit from this trend.
India in particular boasts the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem and one of the top Web3 talent pools globally. This includes more than 450 active Web3 startups and four unicorns. Sharma will augment NEAR’s current and rapidly growing presence in APAC, with strong regional hubs in South Korea and Vietnam.
Sharma’s Web3 expertise extends to a wide array of industries, solutions, and use cases. This includes the metaverse, NFTs, supply chain tracking, and stablecoins. He’s led projects in these areas and his versatility will be well-positioned to create more opportunities and a richer ecosystem in the Middle East, South East Asia, and India.
As February draws to a close, NEAR Foundation wanted to share some of the best news headlines from the Near ecosystem and community.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from NEAR in February.
NEAR partners with NYU for Web3 learning workshop
NEAR attracted over 135 pieces of global coverage this month. One of the popular announcements was NEAR’s partnership with New York University’s School of Professional Studies, featuring a Web3 learning workshop.
Published by Cointelegraph and other top-tier press, this partnership will expose students, faculty, and commercial partners to the underlying technology powering the Web3 industry. The course will focus on blockchain’s intersection with the sporting industry, exposing those involved to hands-on experience taught by Michael Kelly, a co-founder of Open Forest Protocol, and an early builder in the NEAR Ecosystem.
Former NBA player Baron Davis builds platform for photographers on NEAR
Two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis announced his plan to transform the image and video rights market, utilizing NEAR’s extensive NFT infrastructure to create a purpose-built platform for photographers.
In an interview with Decrypt, Davis revealed that his startup SliC Images is teaming up with Mintbase with a $250k grant to build a platform where photographers will have ownership of their channels, replacing long-term predatory corporate deals with a fairer platform facilitating opportunities for all photographers.
Also featured in Tech Funding News and across the industry press, the announcement has excited the Web3 community around the world. Allowing users to take a photo, add a permanent license, auction it off, and stick it on a blog within five minutes, SliC images are aiming to have a prototype of the platform ready for ETH Denver.
NEAR Foundation and Supermoon announce NEAR House
As the NEAR community prepares for ETHDenver, and especially NEAR Day, Near Foundation announced Near House in collaboration with Supermoon.
As covered in the Bitcoin Insider, the unforgettable 8-day experience will see 20 builders and founders from the NEAR ecosystem set up camp in downtown Denver and engage in team-building activities and enthusiastic discussions about NEAR Protocol. NEAR House will also include a curated ETH Denver agenda, enabling the innovators to maximize their experience at the event.
Marieke Flament on more women in Web3
Fast Company spoke with Marieke Flament about the importance of greater participation from women in MENA. The crucial nature of diversity of thought in the boardroom cannot be understated, particularly in high-growth industries like Web3.
In the interview, Marieke outlines that human biases are unavoidable components of all our decision-making. So, ensuring that the group making the decisions is as diverse as possible is a key mission when creating the future on the blockchain.
Calimero amongst 10 Web3 startups to watch in 2023
Following their recent funding announcement, Calimero Network was featured in Tech Funding News’ 10 Web3 startups to watch out for in 2023. The piece covered the exciting startup’s ambition to assist Web2 companies in scaling up their offerings by utilizing the NEAR blockchain.
Calimero’s founders Sandi and Mario are building the first private sharding infrastructure on the NEAR Protocol, enabling more privacy for companies storing data on blockchains.
NEAR partners with Recur
Towards the end of February, Business Insider covered NEAR’s latest step in enhancing interoperability and accessibility in Web3. Partnering with Recur, a project focused on improving the blockchain-building experience, the NEAR ecosystem will have access to an enterprise-grade Web3 software suite.
The exciting partnership will make Web3 more accessible for everyone, empowering brands and fans to innovate and explore new digital experiences.
NEAR joins Figment-powered Ledger Live
Wrapping up a busy month of activity, NEAR Foundation announced that NEAR has joined Figment-powered Ledger Live, an all-in-one digital asset management app secured by Ledger’s industry-leading hardware wallets. As covered by the Crypto Reporter, more of the Web3 community will now be able to enjoy the benefits of self-custody whilst helping to secure the NEAR Protocol by staking their tokens.
That’s all for February. If NEAR Foundation missed anything or you would like to share anything for next month’s roundup, please get in touch!
Near Foundation is excited to announce a new integration with RECUR, a Web3 platform helping major enterprises launch innovative, digital collectible experiences. With RECUR Builder, an enterprise-grade SaaS, the company is making it easier than ever for projects of all sizes to seamlessly build, scale, and integrate Web3 experiences into their existing products, marketing stack, video games, and more.
By using RECUR Builder, Web2 brands and other projects can develop on-chain branded experiences that enable the purchase, collection, and resale of digital projects and collectibles, like NFTs and beyond. Beloved brands like Paramount, Hello Kitty, and Nickelodeon currently work with RECUR to create chain-agnostic, bespoke experiences that make NFTs accessible through user-friendly experiences.
Near’s partnership with RECUR is part of its Web2.5 strategy, functioning as a bridge between the Web2 and Web3 worlds. This new integration will enable Near users to purchase, trade, and engage with RECUR’s extensive roster of licensed intellectual property, along with participation in upcoming mints and the option of ecosystem partnerships and NEAR-native mints.
Building and scaling Web3 experiences
RECUR prides itself on helping businesses and creators to build, distribute, and manage Web3 experiences at scale with enterprise-level tools. With a polished and super user-friendly interface, first-time buyers can purchase NFTs from major global and upcoming brands alike. With a Near Wallet, users can buy NFTs using credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and crypto (BTC, ETH, USDC).
“We are delighted to partner with Near to bring more Web2 companies into the world of Web3, supporting enterprises and fans with future-proof solutions via the RECUR platform,” says Zach Bruch, CEO of Recur. “We have always been passionate about building the future of web3 for everyone, and building alongside partners like Near is a crucial part of that journey.”
Marieke Flament, CEO of Near Foundation, noted that this partnership with RECUR is part of a larger commitment to making Web3 more accessible for everyone.
“[We] are excited about partnering with RECUR to empower brands and fans as they invent and explore new digital experiences,” says Flament. “Finding ways to make Web3 more user-friendly is a key part of unlocking the magic of this new chapter, and we believe this partnership with RECUR helps us to do that for many around the globe.”