Why you should keep an eye on Asian markets for web3 scaling & adoption w/Sora Ventures – SlateCast #36

In the latest episode of the CryptoSlate SlateCast, we caught up with Jason Fang from Sora Ventures to get insight into the Asian crypto market, learn why he decided to invest in CryptoSlate, and his overall view on the future of the blockchain industry.

Sora Ventures is an Asia-based venture capital fund founded in early 2018. Its portfolio includes Immutable, Forkast News, CasperLabs, Guild of Guardians, CitaDao, and many others. As of a deal signed earlier this year, CryptoSlate also now joins the Sora Ventures family.

This marks our 5th media investment in the space, after BTC Inc, The Block(Exited), Forkast News, and Sunrise Dragon(China). Excited to grow the business with the amazing team at @CryptoSlate https://t.co/unP9gTsISb

— Sora Ventures (@sora_ventures) August 22, 2022

The Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Sora Ventures, Jason Fang, spoke to CryptoSlate’s Akiba on the SlateCast to talk about the future of crypto, the differences between web2 and web3 investments, its recent investment into CryptoSlate, and how Sora Ventures looks to add value to each part of its portfolio.

Fang stated that web2 investments are equity-based and focus on where LPs can add value whereas in web 3 things are slightly different.

“The investment cycles are shorter… there are a lot fewer rounds when compared to the equity, … fewer rounds compared to the equity, and the lifespans in general terms of fundraising are also a lot shorter.”

Sora Venture’s approach is to focus on “community development and marketing” where “we’re adding immediate value that you can see within weeks, if not days.”

Continuing, Fang also spoke about his view on the Chinese crypto market which is currently closed. He believes that it will “eventually open up… when that happens we want to be prepared for that.” The growth of the crypto industry in China is something Fang believes has “opportunity in the future” despite the current ban on crypto in the country.

Talking on the difference between Western and Asian investments in web2 companies, Fang argued that “a lot of U.S. companies will focus on innovation… and things that are fairly new.” However, in Chinese markets, it is more “horizontal” where you see more scaling in terms of these products rather than brand-new technology.

Fang commented that there are equivalents to Amazon, Netflix, and other leading U.S. companies in China, and “for some reason, they tend to scale a lot faster than the U.S. companies.” Fang attributed the ability of Chinese companies to scale, in part, to the increased number of potential customers, lower labor costs, and lower turnover.

As a result, Sora Ventures looks to focus on crypto investments which can be used as “future playbooks” for investments in Asia.

To hear more about Jason’s view on the crypto markets, what he’s looking out for in the bear market, and his outlook on Ethereum post-merge watch the full podcast linked above.

Disclaimer: This interview was filmed prior to the collapse of FTX when Bitcoin was trading at around $20,000.