SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following the successful launch of the $RLY network protocol and its first application, Rally.io, founders Kevin Chou and Mahesh Vellanki have unveiled SuperLayer (www.superlayer.io), a crypto venture studio building independent consumer web3 projects on the $RLY network. SuperLayer will found and launch projects in-house and then recruit founding product managers (PMs) to run point, leveraging the deep expertise and resources of the team to support in areas including blockchain development, token launches, economics, staffing, go-to-market, compliance and fundraising. The studio will be backed by investors including Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Paris Hilton and Carter Reum, Richard Ma, Packy McCormick, Joe Montana, Brit Morin, Nas, Michael Ovitz, and Lenny Ratchitsky. SuperLayer will begin by deploying $25 million to seed the development of Web3 startups and will continue to raise funds on a rolling basis.
“We are assembling a community of builders to create transformative Web3 experiences that bring greater balance to opportunity and ownership of the internet,” said SuperLayer founders Kevin Chou and Mahesh Vellanki. “We’ll partner with founding product managers to offer the right mix of technology and services that significantly simplify building and launching mass market Web3 consumer products.”
SuperLayer is leveraging the $RLY network protocol to create a set of solutions across token issuance, economy design, liquidity provisioning, custody, compliance and payments. In turn, this enables founders to create compelling, user friendly experiences for those new to crypto. This creates the unique opportunity for crypto-curious and entrepreneurial product managers, SuperLayer’s “Founding PMs”, who have varying degrees of crypto experience, to leverage the $RLY protocol to tap into some of the benefits that blockchain technology offers, such as digital ownership and community-driven economics. The studio will co-found projects with entrepreneurial product leaders and provide them with seed funding. By developing concepts internally, recruiting world-class product leaders, and streamlining funding from early development through public launch and beyond, SuperLayer aims to build category defining products in 4-6 months rather than a more standard product lifecycle of 2-3 years.
SuperLayer’s leadership team brings significant collective experience as founders, crypto startup operators, product managers, and venture studio builders:
- Kevin Chou (Managing Partner) - Kevin has successfully founded and launched four projects (Rally, Forte, Gen.G, and Kabam) with valuations for three of the four estimated at more than $1B. He's been honored by Fortune in 40 under 40, CNN in Smartest People in Tech, Business Insider's Silicon Valley Top 100, and CoinTelegraph’s Top 100.
- Mahesh Vellanki (Managing Partner) - Mahesh Vellanki served as Co-Founder and Head of Growth for Rally. Previously, he served as a venture capitalist at Redpoint Ventures where he led investments in the consumer internet space. He’s been honored by Forbes 30 Under 30 and LinkedIn Top Voices.
- Gary Coover (Chief Operating Officer) - Gary helped architect, launch and scale Samsung Next (software innovation arm of Samsung Electronics), specifically building venture and incubation entities across the globe, and most recently serving as the Operating MD for the Next Ventures team.
- Saad Rizvi (Chief Product Officer) - Saad helped design and lead product teams at Facebook’s New Product Experimentation Group. Previously he co-founded the govtech company Delivery Associates and several consumer product companies backed by YCombinator.
- Ira Lam (General Counsel) - Ira has served as General Counsel for Rally, Forte and Kabam, where she led global legal operations, strategic partnerships, product design and compliance, M&A, and regulatory strategy.
Chris Dixon, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said: "One of the strengths of Web3 is the enthusiasm of its rapidly-growing community to collaborate, whether it's sharing best practices or building new products that redefine what's possible. Under Kevin and Mahesh's leadership, SuperLayer will attract top talent and foster new connections to help accelerate the mainstream adoption of Web3 technologies."
For Founding PMs looking to build the future of consumer crypto or investors interested in funding SuperLayer projects, please visit superlayer.io.
About SuperLayer
SuperLayer is a venture studio that incubates and builds new tokenized consumer products and applications on the $RLY protocol. Founded by Kevin Chou and Mahesh Vellanki — the founders of Rally who have more than $1 billion+ in exits between their combined venture and founding experience — SuperLayer works with founders to facilitate the launch, staffing, go-to-market, compliance and fundraising for web3 projects. The studio’s mission is to attract and support the next 100 million consumers, creators, and communities using crypto.
For more information, please visit www.superlayer.io
