Social Media Giants Are Dreaming of Web3

Solana Labs Co-founder and COO Raj Gokal. Photo from Solana Labs. Art by Mike Sullivan.

The gold rush to build decentralized social media networks untethered from the Big Tech giants got a big boost in November when Seven Seven Six Ventures, the VC firm of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and Solana Ventures announced a $100 million investment fund to kickstart a wave of Web3 projects. According to an interview with one of the initiative’s leaders, the effort is now investing in decentralized social projects, and Solana is in discussions with the biggest social media companies. The startups launched now could be critical to reaching Web3’s vision of an internet without “walled-garden” gatekeepers that siphon off profits and data from users.

“The biggest social network protocols and applications in the next 10 years will be ones that are starting in the next 24 months,” said Raj Gokal, co-founder and COO of Solana Labs, which developed the Solana blockchain and created Solana Ventures’ investment arm.