AAA game studios have led the way in creating hyper immersive experiences that have captivated players’ hearts. Clocking in as some of the most expensive games to make, titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, and Grand Theft Auto V were able to fill its game with intricate details of dialogue, lore, in-game economies, and more.

But even with record spending on development, immersive experience gaps persist simply due to the impossible nature of anticipating individual players’ interests and interactions they’ll have with the game. As seen in user-generated content (UGC) and modifications expanding Skyrim and Garry’s Mod many years after their initial launch, players and creators consistently showcase their willingness to support and extend treasured immersive experiences. However, most games lack the tools that allow players to create content in a permissionless and composable nature sought by the community.

That’s why we’re excited to support Hypersonic Laboratories, founded by Jack “Maker” Kim. They’re building the Helix Metaverse, a hyper-realistic digital world that focuses on providing ultra-efficient tooling to enable players to play, co-create, and shape the immersive worlds that’d become the next frontier of entertainment.

From Robotics to the Metaverse: a Maker’s Journey

Jack’s entrepreneurial spirit and passion for creating began early, as he crafted and sold his own battle robotic parts. Seeking to expand his reach, he delved into web development, learning HTML and CSS to create his own distribution website. This experience revealed the scalability of software, fueling his curiosity to explore further. Soon, his mother noticed an influx of checks arriving at their house, as the Twilight and Marvel Heroes-themed Custom Search Engines he developed for friends began generating significant AdSense income for a teenager.

His drive led him to establish BeneLabs, a search engine donating AdSense income, before he enrolled at Stanford University to deepen his understanding of computer science. However, Jack soon dropped out to pursue an internship at Giphy, recognizing it as a valuable opportunity to learn directly from software builders.

Under the mentorship and encouragement of Alex Chung, Giphy’s co-founder and CEO, Jack embarked on a venture that birthed Rumblr—a viral parody of modern dating around the world. Jack later secured angel investment from Shana Fisher, founding partner of Third Kind Venture, as he redirected his focus to Hypersonic Laboratories, a move aimed to marry his passion in building digital product and the ethos of being a “Maker”, to develop the frontier digital playground for creators and modders harnessing the latest technologies.

The Helix Metaverse and the Future of Digital Creation

Jack saw the potential in Unreal Engine 5 and the possibility of building a hyper-realistic and immersive digital world. Even with hundreds of millions in development budgets, Grand Theft Auto V struggles to cater to the experience desired by those seeking a realistic digital world. A growing community of modded GTA V servers, such as FiveM and NoPixel, continues to jump through technological and legal hurdles to meet the increased demand, with more players now actively engaging in these modded servers than in GTA V Online.

Under Jack’s leadership, Hypersonic Laboratories aims to make Helix a modder’s paradise. They will focus on providing a platform of tools for digital creators who have traditionally been on the fringe of the gaming community. These tools will enable the creation of high-fidelity, interactive in-game content at scale, as well as 3D models and network solutions for multiplayer, real-time level, and map editing. The team will launch their first game based on a playable replica of New York City and give the reins to modders to fulfill their imagination and creativity set for later 2024.

See you in the Parallel Universe

Jack and his team are set on creating the most realistic digital clone of our world, building on top of the latest accessible technologies. We believe that with his focus on serving the new era of digital creators, they’ll be able to form a digital world where unlimited creativity and fun are unlocked for many.

We are thrilled to support Jack in this ambitious yet wonderful goal through participating in Helix’s Series A funding raising. We eagerly anticipate their journey ahead and can’t wait to see the creations made possible and dive into the parallel universe ourselves!If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with web3 and AI / IoT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the largest founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.

Ching is a Principal leading the Web3 Arm at AppWorks. Ching interned at AppWorks when she was in college and returned as an Analyst after earning her B.B.A from National Chengchi University in 2015. Her keystone achievement as an Analyst was helping CHOCO TV’s journey from Series A to an eventual acquisition by LINE. Ching became our Associate in 2019, spearheading our foray into the blockchain industry by recruiting founders active in the space and effectively jumpstarting our web3 ecosystem, which has since grown into a thriving community. She’s also helped AppWorks participate in several prominent investments, including Dapper Labs / Flow, and Animoca Brands. Ching was promoted to Principal in 2022. Off the clock, she likes to experience new things, travel, and play tennis.

We are thrilled to announce our investment in Marcelo Ruiz de Olano, the visionary CEO of karpatkey, who is redefining treasury management in DeFi. By providing non-custodial treasury management solutions and infrastructure,  karpatkey has already garnered the trust of major DeFi protocols like AAVE, Uniswap, and Balancer. Here’s why we decided to back Marcelo and his exceptional team.

Marcelo Ruiz de Olano: A Visionary with a Story of Resilience and Innovation

At AppWorks, we seek founders with the vision, determination, and execution ability to address critical challenges in their fields. Marcelo Ruiz de Olano not only possesses these traits but his deep expertise in both finance and decentralized systems makes him uniquely qualified to revolutionize treasury management in decentralized finance (DeFi). His ability to navigate complex financial environments and his commitment to building transparent, secure solutions have positioned him as a transformative leader in this space.

Marcelo’s journey is a testament to resilience and adaptability. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he often felt like an outsider, fueling his desire to seek new opportunities and a sense of belonging beyond his home country. During college, Marcelo longed to participate in an exchange program to explore life outside Argentina, but his parents refused to support him, dismissing it as a desire to party abroad. Determined, he found a way to finance himself and moved to Spain to fulfill his ambition.

However, the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis made opportunities scarce. Without any financial backing from his family or the government, Marcelo faced tough challenges and was on the verge of proving his parents’ doubts right. Yet, he persevered, supporting himself through the economic downturn and overcoming the cultural differences between Argentina and Spain, despite the shared language 

Upon returning to Argentina, Marcelo joined Chevron, where he refined his decision-making skills and financial modeling on major capital projects exceeding $100 million. This role significantly deepened his understanding of global finance. By the age of 28, Marcelo had mastered the art of arbitraging stocks, bonds, and commodities, generating enough cash flow to achieve financial independence. He left the corporate world to travel and explore new opportunities. His journey eventually led him to cryptocurrency during the 2017 boom. The subsequent ICO bust became a pivotal moment, solidifying his belief in the transformative potential of decentralized finance.

Under Marcelo’s leadership, assets within karpatkey’s DeFi treasury network have skyrocketed from $300 million to over $1.8  billion in less than 3 years. His vision of creating a non-custodial, transparent treasury management system earned the trust of industry giants like Uniswap and AAVE. Marcelo’s personal and professional journey is a testament to his relentless drive to innovate and lead in the world of decentralized finance.

karpatkey: Empowering DeFi with Transparent, Non-Custodial Treasury Management and Advanced Automation Tools.

karpatkey has quickly established itself as a leader in DeFi treasury management, transforming how top organizations manage their financial assets. Originally formed in 2020 to manage the Gnosis treasury, karpatkey has since expanded its services to provide sophisticated financial solutions for renowned DeFi protocols such as AAVE, Balancer, and ENS.

karpatkey is trusted by the DeFi community due to its commitment to transparency and security. The company’s non-custodial approach allows DAOs to retain full control over their assets—a critical feature in today’s trust-driven ecosystem. karpatkey also offers advanced automation tools for risk management, ensuring that clients’ assets are managed with precision and care.

karpatkey: Redefining Finance with Innovative DeFi Solutions and Seamless Institutional Access.

karpatkey’s future vision includes expanding its product suite to serve both the DeFi and traditional finance sectors. One of the upcoming initiatives is the launch of actively managed open-ended funds, designed to give institutional investors access to blue-chip DeFi tokens and yield-generating opportunities.

karpatkey is also preparing to introduce a DeFi Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), providing institutional investors with a secure and regulated gateway to DeFi yields. This marks a significant step toward bridging traditional finance with DeFi, reinforcing karpatkey’s role as a pioneer in decentralized financial management.

Join Us in Shaping the Future of DeFi

If you are a DeFi founder or project looking to collaborate, we invite you to explore potential synergies with karpatkey and the AppWorks community. Together, we can build a stronger, more resilient DeFi ecosystem that is ready to redefine the future of finance.

By Sophie Chiu, AppWorks Principal

In 2021 there was Axie Infinity built on blockchain from Vietnam, in 2024 we are excited to see Clout Kitchen powered with AI from the Philippines. Gaming often stands at the forefront of new technologies, offering a strong opportunity for startups in Southeast Asia to leapfrog into a blue ocean. This is a piece we talk about why we invested in Clout Kitchen leading their Pre-Seed round back in December 2023 prior to their latest round with a16z SPEEDRUN and Peak XV Partners. In particular, why we decided to back the two co-founders: Justin Banusing, Marcel Feldkamp, and Gabriel Henry Lopez. 

Justin, the 24 year-old CEO with 9 years entrepreneurial experience

A closed door usually leads to an open window. In the summer of 2011, Justin failed in the first episode of MasterChef Junior in the Philippines. Suddenly, this 12-year-old had an empty summer that he had originally blocked for the show. Partially to regain confidence, Justin began cold calling to intern at various gaming startups and outlets over the next year and a half – most notably  Tier One Entertainment (then called PESO). This was the  beginning of a 12-year journey in the gaming industry. During this period, Justin travelled across the region to cover gaming events for outlets like ESPN and Red Bull and started his boutique agency in 2014. He became a well-known esports journalist. Just before enrolling at the University of Washington in 2018, Justin and two other co-founders started AcadArena, a campus gaming community, which peaked when it raised its Series A in 2022 and were mentored by veteran startup founders like Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin and Crunchyroll co-founder Kun Gao.

The challenges of running a startup soon became a reality check. In 2023, Justin once again found himself in a downward spiral as the company he started pivoted, reminiscent of the dark side he had experienced before: a geeky boy who loved gaming and comics but was never the most popular kid in school; a young entrepreneur who was sometimes a rising star but could easily be seen as immature, sitting in a bigger chair than he was ready for. After splitting with his co-founders, he took a six-month break to figure out his next steps and even considered joining the VC side to help founders. While exploring this path with AppWorks, he noticed that VC investors often outnumbered founders at many startup events in Manila. Justin saw a bigger mission than simply proving his worth for his own sake. If everyone agrees that gaming is a huge market in this region, and if everyone sees the untapped potential here, then more founders are needed. With this realisation, Justin decided to resume his role and, in late 2023, started Clout Kitchen with his co-founders, Marcel.

Marcel, the former top eSport athlete that is actually a founder at heart  

Marcel’s stage name is “Dexter,” and one of his legendary teams is “Dexter is Actually Evil.” He grew up in Germany and is among the very first  esports athletes to immigrate to the US due to his exceptional gaming performance. He started his pro-gaming career early, at age 15. Approaching retirement, Marcel also explored gaming journalism and commentating until he started his own gaming talent agency, Press X, at age 24. After the Hollywood-based United Talent Agency acquired Press X in 2018, Marcel established another boutique agency, Proxy, in 2020, and began angel investing – where he wrote one of the first checks into Justin’s previous company

Marcel is always looking for new business models, products, and technologies to empower more creators including gamers. That’s why when Justin proposed the idea of building an AI gaming coach, Marcel undoubtedly joined the team. A pro gamer is never satisfied with the status quo and always seeks new innovations to win bigger games. Catching the right opportunity at the right time is another of their strong suits. These qualities are shared by many successful founders worldwide and they keep Marcel ahead.

Gabriel, the youngest founder funded by VC in Philippines   

Since childhood, Gabriel has been deeply inspired by Mark Zuckerberg, aspiring to become the Philippines’ equivalent of the tech mogul. Rather than entering the highly competitive social media sector, he founded his first startup, MedHyve, at the age of 17 in 2017, focusing on digitalizing the procurement process for hospitals. This entrepreneurial journey led him to drop out of the University of the Philippines, as he found the school curriculum too slow compared to the learning opportunities from real-world startup experience. Gabriel is a passionate and dedicated learner who has self-taught himself to become a full-stack engineer, mastering AI engineering, app development, and other related fields.

MedHyve joined AppWorks Accelerator #22 in 2021 when they grew to half million of annual sales, a good timing to think about scaling. Eventually MedHyve chose to merge with Pulse63, a healthcare venture studio in Southeast Asia. Seeking broader horizons, Gabriel decided to move to the US to gain exposure to a larger and more competitive tech environment. Recognizing the need to learn from top talents, he joined G2, a software review unicorn, as a senior software engineer at the young age of 23, where he led AI software initiatives. 

Later, his long-time friend Justin, another rising young founder from the Philippines, proposed the idea of Clout Kitchen. They saw the advantage of leveraging a Filipino tech team to agilely launch a strong MVP at a fraction of the cost compared to US startups, especially in the rapidly evolving AI sector. This new competitive team, a solid trio of gamer, engineer, and founder, was thus formed to take on the gaming industry.

The next evolution of gaming after Twitch

“Usually there’s something that pushes you into games. There’s some escapism in it,” Marcel commented on why he became a gamer. Gamers often play alone or in small groups. In the early 2000s, my high school friends from the top escalating program in Taiwan would gather every Wednesday in an internet café to play Lineage II and StarCraft, just like many teenagers worldwide at that time. Twitch brought the first wave of disruption to this behaviour. People, including myself, no longer needed to stand and watch friends play games in a café physically. Twitch created a real digital-native community of gamers and their fans. You can watch your favourite gamer play any game at almost any time. In a way, Twitch was born from the community’s calling.

The wave of innovation from live streaming is a decade old now. It has allowed many top gamers and streamers to create multi million dollar net worths, such as the notable PewDiePie and Tyler “Ninja.” We believe the AI evolution now presents another disruptive opportunity. While Scarlett Johansson was not happy with “Her” voice being resembled by OpenAI’s new product during its launch, AI companionship has huge potential for the coaching purpose. People used to rely on watching the best players on Twitch to learn and sharpen their skills. Now the best players can impart their time-honoured knowledge and expertise to an AI model. That’s why Clout Kitchen’s recent beta launch, Backseat AI, received great attention, earning 300,000 views across multiple platforms within a few hours. Backseat AI is a personal AI gaming coach companion. The first persona they onboarded is the notable Tyler1, a top League of Legends gamer with over 10 million followers. 

AI companionship for everything 

We believe there’s a huge opportunity for personalised AI in every vertical. Among the latest AppWorks Accelerator #28, Olli is integrating personalised AI into toys, powered by chips designed by MediaTek, a US$70B market cap IC design house from Taiwan. Olli was founded by Hai Ta, a serial entrepreneur from Vietnam. Meanwhile, our latest investment in Bythen, founded by Kevin Mintaraga, another serial entrepreneur from Indonesia, is building AI personas with NFTs.

Technological advancements allow builders from around the world to create the next great products. This is particularly meaningful for Asia, as it presents a global opportunity that surpasses domestic market limitations. Additionally, the region’s long-established hardware and semiconductor advantages provide founders with a slightly better chance of accessing the latest technology in computation and chip design.

At AppWorks, we have an extensive startup ecosystem of 1,700+ founders in this part of the world. Our corporate network in Taiwan, including top electronic manufacturers, can provide an experimental environment and direct resource support. Our goal is always to help founders stay ahead of their game. We’re very excited to be part of the journey with Justin, Marcel, and Gabriel.

We are proud to announce our investment in Daniel Hannum and Daniel Pfeffer, the CEO and CTO of GasHawk. They are tackling one of the fundamental elements of blockchain—transaction efficiencies—including gas fee optimization, fraud detection, and MEV protection. Here’s why we decided to back these two outstanding founders.

Daniel Hannum, A Story of Determination and Execution

We have always placed our faith in founders who exhibit exceptional determination and execution. Daniel Hannum embodies these qualities, making him the ideal leader to position GasHawk for scalable success. 

Dan’s journey is a testament to his resilience and determination. Raised by a single mother in Washington, D.C., Dan’s early life instilled in him a powerful drive for greater attainment. His business acumen became evident at Hawke Media, where he played a crucial role in boosting the company’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) from US$10K to US$25M. This success continued at ZenLedger, where, as COO, he dedicated himself to the company’s growth, helping it achieve several millions in ARR.

However, Dan consequently faced a major setback at ZenLedger with resume inconsistencies, which led to the loss of years of hard work overnight. Rather than sulking in defeat, Dan took full responsibility for his actions and used the experience as a motivator to restart, do the right thing and truly prove himself.

Dan’s life story includes overcoming significant challenges, including a legal setback as a teenager, and later, public scrutiny after his departure from ZenLedger. Despite these obstacles, Dan continued to demonstrate resilience. His ability to regroup, learn from his mistakes, and correct his mindset caught the attention of the founder of Corpus Ventures, the incubator behind GasHawk, who eventually offered Dan the position of CEO after countless hours of conversations.  

In 15 months, Dan has led GasHawk to onboard nearly 7,000 users, generate US$500K in revenue and grants, and demonstrated solid early traction. Dan’s journey reflects his ability to face challenges, even those of his own making, and turn them into opportunities for growth, success, and redemption.

Daniel Pfeffer, The Data Science PhD Revolutionizing Blockchain Transactions

Daniel Pfeffer brings a diverse and technical background to his role as CTO of GasHawk. From a young age, Daniel was influenced by his father’s handyman skills, which sparked his interest in building and understanding how things work. This early passion led him to pursue a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. Throughout his career, Daniel has worked on data-related projects across various industries, including manufacturing, IoT, and construction. His experience spans embedded systems, data science, and web applications, giving him a well-rounded technical perspective. 

Daniel’s transition into blockchain technology was influenced by his brother, who was involved with Corpus Ventures. This connection led Daniel to apply his data science expertise to optimize blockchain transactions, ultimately resulting in the development of GasHawk’s core technology. Daniel’s combination of academic rigor, hands-on experience in multiple industries, and deep understanding of data science positions him well to drive GasHawk’s technical development and innovation in the blockchain space.

GasHawk’s Vision for a Comprehensive Transaction Layer 

GasHawk is addressing a significant challenge in the blockchain space: high and volatile transaction fees, particularly on turbulent networks like Ethereum. The company offers an innovative solution that can save users, including individuals and institutions, up to 95% on transaction fees by monitoring network activity and predicting optimal times to submit transactions. While recent improvements like EIP-4844 have reduced gas fees, as more Layer 2 networks, app-chains, and rollup-as-a-service platforms launch, there’s potential for significant congestion in Layer 2 transactions, which could lead to surges in blob fees. The team is already developing a blob-based service for enterprise clients, which is set to launch in the second half of 2024.

Looking ahead, GasHawk envisions itself as more than just a gas optimization tool. The company aims to position itself as a transaction layer between users’ wallets and blockchain networks, potentially offering additional services such as security protections, transaction previews, unified management, and even features like rebates or private order flow. By owning this critical transaction layer, GasHawk seeks to add value and leverage for its customers across multiple blockchain ecosystems. 

As investors in GasHawk, we’re excited about their potential to revolutionize blockchain transactions. If you’re a wallet provider, Layer 2 protocol, exchange, DeFi platform, NFT marketplace, DAO, or any blockchain-based enterprise looking to optimize transaction costs and enhance user experience, reach out to the GasHawk team and us!

While we all love to play games, over time, the same game playing style can become less entertaining. This has driven game developers to continuously seek new ways to provide players with whole new gaming experiences. Game designers have often been the first ones to embrace the latest technologies, from personal computers and home entertainment systems to 3D rendering, the internet, mobile platforms, and AR/VR.

While we got a glimpse of what blockchain can offer gamers—such as ownership of digital items and the ability to monetize them—the first iteration of blockchain games, infamous dubbed ‘play-to-earn,’ ultimately failed to find a sustainable model. However, other blockchain properties that could bring more interesting experiences, such as composability and provenance, have so far been largely ignored.

But not anymore! We are excited to support Tony and Wyeth, the co-founders of Random Games, as they focus on bringing the fun parts of blockchain into gaming to create new experiences. Their vision allows players to not only own their digital items and characters but also traverse with their items to different games and realms to forge their own eternal legacy.

Doing something new instead of the old

Tony’s career in the video game industry began in 1989 when he walked through the front doors of Nintendo of America and asked to sweep the floors in exchange for a job. After being tasked with localizing numerous games from Japan and seeing mediocre results, Tony was eager to try his hand at creating a game tailored for the US market as Nintendo competed head-to-head with SEGA for the leading position.

By writing his own manifesto on how to create a hit game to draw the attention of the legendary game creators at Nintendo, Tony persuaded the president of Nintendo Japan to grant him a US$3M budget and the IP for Donkey Kong. This pivotal moment laid the foundation for Nintendo’s success in the US market. Donkey Kong Country stole the show at its CES launch in 1994 and became the #3 highest-grossing SNES game of all time, generating US$400M in revenue and selling over 9 million copies in its first holiday season.

Tony later contributed to many other hit titles such as the original Star Fox, Grand Theft Auto, and Crackdown, and most recently sold nWay, a game company he co-founded, to Animoca Brands in 2019. He attributes his success to a motto he picked up while working alongside some of the best game developers in the world: “If you copy what’s working today, by the time you are done you are yesterday’s news.”

Wyeth, the co-founder and CTO, is also a force to be reckoned with. With an intense interest in technology and gaming, Wyeth co-founded Leviathan Games in 1998 shortly after graduation. He and his team have been the secret weapon in delivering games on the latest generation of gaming platforms for leading IPs, from the iPod to Wii, to the latest PlayStations. They have worked with household-named IPs such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Trek, and many more.

The duo are both based in Denver and would regularly catch up over beers to discuss the latest in gaming. After witnessing multiple web3 games fail spectacularly, Tony and Wyeth believe that most of these web3 games overlooked the fun aspects of blockchain that can elevate gaming. So, they decided to found Random Games Company to bring that vision to life.

Non Fungible Tokens as the base of expansive worlds

Up until the end of 2023, most web3 games have only introduced NFTs mainly as collectibles. Although these collectibles were playable in web-based games, the core experience was limited to individual games.

The Random Games team is leveling up the experience by bringing NFT playable items directly into 3D game environments. The infrastructure build for their “Unioverse” franchise allows users to create their own NFT items within the game and publish them directly on the blockchain, accessible instantly through leading NFT marketplaces such as Opensea.

Leveraging blockchain’s provenance, Unioverse NFTs will also have their own history and battle scars, making them more unique over time. Slaying legendary monsters or completing special quests will add to the item or hero’s rarity, which can be rewarded with in-game bonuses. This design transposes the play-to-earn experience into a play-to-rare experience, allowing for an even more diverse range of uniqueness to items within meaningful context. 

The revenue generated from trading and selling these NFTs will be used to fund additional games within the Unioverse. This will lead to more games implementing existing NFTs and their play-to-rare properties, expanding the storylines and experiences for all players.

“PUSH START” and let the fun begin! 

Tony and Wyeth have both been in the game industry for most of their lives and have dedicated their careers to pushing forward what is possible in the next phase of gaming, both ideologically and technologically. We believe that blockchain can elevate gaming as a whole by breaking down silos traditionally constructed by monetization tied to intellectual properties. By leveraging NFTs and blockchain ledger to streamline monetization, we see a future where a borderless gaming universe can exist with interoperability and composability witnessed in Decentralized Finance.

We are excited to be able to support founders who are forward-looking and dedicated to their mission to push industries forward. We can’t wait to get our hands on the latest games in the Unioverse. Under the leadership of Tony and Wyeth, Unioverse is writing the next chapter in gaming that we’ve all been waiting for.

If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with web3 and AI / IoT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the largest founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.