We announced the Nailwal Fellowship with the vision of fostering inclusivity for founders of all ages and geography. With the applications for the first cohort of Nailwal Fellows now closed, we have been thrilled to see the incredible diversity of candidates with respect to age, location, background, and their startup ideas. In this blog, we will delve into the details of our applicant pool and next steps for the Nailwal Fellowship Program.
Demographics
The age range of our applicants spanned from a 15-year-old student working on a novel play-to-earn platform to a 61-year-old retiree working on a new platform for individuals to preserve their memories for future generations.
Beyond age, the global reach of the Fellowship is remarkable. We received applications from 300+ unique cities and 100+ unique countries spanning all 6 inhabited continents!
Backgrounds
We are proud to see the varied spectrum of backgrounds within our applicant pool. This includes serial web3 founders, PhDs in physics and mathematics, multi-time hackathon winners, students who have achieved scores in the top 0.1% of all Indian students, and individuals working in FAANG and Fortune 100 companies who are now ready to make their impact building in web3.
Venture Ideas
In addition to the astounding diversity in age, geography, and backgrounds, we saw notable common domains of interest. Many applicants desired to focus on sustainability and climate change, such as leveraging blockchain technology for transparent recording of environmental data and revolutionizing the carbon credits market. Others wanted to build products harnessing the combined power of artificial intelligence/AR/VR and blockchain. Several venture ideas revolved around bridging the gap between web2 and web3 by making crypto payment systems more accessible for web2 users, creating communication hubs, or building systems that educate/raise awareness of the potential of emerging technologies.
A recurring theme that we observed within the applicants is their entrepreneurial mindset and intention to collaborate with various stakeholders - building partnerships with organizations, engaging with communities, and validating ideas along the way.
Looking Ahead
Over the next 2 weeks, our team at Symbolic Capital will be interviewing select candidates shortlisted for the Fellowship. We cannot wait to see the impact these Fellows will have on the web3 landscape and we hope you stay tuned for future updates on this journey!