Oct. 7, 2024

Building the 3D Internet

Before diving into what happened this week, this is just a quick ask: if you're enjoying this newsletter, please share it with friends!

Share The MoneyNeverSleeps Newsletter

Investing in Web3

As many of our listeners and readers know, I lead the Techstars Web3 accelerator, investing in entrepreneurs building in web3 and enabling the next wave of growth in the decentralized internet and in tokenized economies. Applications are now open for our Spring 2025 class, so check out our thesis update for 2025 and apply here if you’re an early-stage founder building in web3. For everyone else, please share with friends who might fit the bill!

👉Follow Techstars Web3 for updates: X (Twitter) | Farcaster | LinkedIn

I’ll be at ZebuLive in London this week, so let me know if you’ll be there too and we can meet up!

This Week’s Podcast

Listen to the podcast

Building the 3D Internet

This week, I had an intriguing conversation with Luis Ramirez, co-founder and CEO of Mawari. In this episode, we explored the innovative journey and vision behind Mawari, a pioneer in cloud rendering and streaming technology. For Luis and his team, the future of content lies beyond screens—it is frameless.

Founded in 2017 with nothing more than a radical idea and a belief that content should seamlessly integrate with reality, Mawari is meticulously sculpting a new era in spatial computing, effectively building the 3D internet.

Mawari enables real-time 3D content streaming to spatial computing devices like the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 through a global network of GPUs, leveraging web3 elements such as DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) to overcome the limitations of traditional centralized networks.

Uniquely positioned to address one of the core challenges in the spatial computing industry, formerly known as XR (eXtended Reality), Mawari focuses on delivering scalable infrastructure for real-time 3D applications. Mawari has since launched the Mawari Network — a DePIN and the only full-stack spatial computing platform offering decentralized compute and storage resources optimized for AR/VR experiences.

As a side note and in the spirit of transparency, Mawari recently announced the closing of their $10.8mn strategic funding round, and I’m thrilled to be part of the round as an angel investor.

In this episode, Luis and I riff on his journey from music to technology, the inception of the Mawari vision, building the team and overcoming challenges, the role of decentralization in the Mawari Network, Luis’ lessons learned from raising $17.3mn across two rounds in 3 years, and the essence of persistence, creativity, and the strategic foresight required to scale a tech startup in the evolving landscape of XR, AR, VR, and Web3.

Timestamps

00:39 Meet Luis Ramirez: From Music to Technology

06:18 The Birth of Mawari and The Mawari Vision

15:02 Challenges and Innovations in XR and Web3

21:40 Building and Scaling the Mawari Team

32:20 Fundraising Journey and Future Milestones

38:57 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Final Takeaways

It’s hard not to feel inspired by Luis Ramirez and the transformative work at Mawari. They are redefining the intersection of technology and reality, with a revolutionary approach to digital experiences. As Mawari continues to turn this vision into reality, it signifies the dawn of a new era where content is not confined by frames but liberated through immersive integration into our surroundings.

For listeners eager to delve deeper into the fascinating mind of Luis Ramirez and the groundbreaking initiatives at Mawari, check out the full episode. Don’t forget to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoy the show. Until next time, keep your mind open and your curiosity alive!

Listen to the podcast

Don’t forget to follow MoneyNeverSleeps on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to get each episode freshly delivered to your podcast queue!

Reference Links

👉Follow Luis Ramirez on LinkedIn

👉Learn more about Mawari

X-Post (Tweet!) of the Week

Sharing Dealflow

Many of the alumni from the Techstars Web3 Class of 2024 are currently fundraising, and you can check out the Airtable here for details on all of the companies/projects. If you’re investing in early-stage web3 companies/projects, let me know which of the Techstars Web3 grads look interesting to you!