Developers on the new blockchain will have a chance to receive investment and other forms of support from a wide range of Web3 firms.
Sony Block Solutions Labs (Sony BSL) launched the Soneium Minato public testnet and Soneium Spark incubator on Aug. 28. The layer-2 Soneium blockchain, developed by Singapore-based Startale Labs, a Sony subsidiary, debuted a week earlier as Sony’s boldest move into the Web3 space so far.
Soneium Spark will offer developers a package of benefits that include investment of up to $100,000 and other funding opportunities available through the program’s partners. Eligible developers will also receive “official support from Sony Group, Astar Network, and Startale,” Sony Block Solutions Labs director Sota Watanabe said in a statement.
The Astar Network is a “special partner” of the new blockchain and will provide support to Soneium Spark participants along with USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle, Ethereum layer-2 solution developer Optimism, development platform Alchemy, decentralized indexing system The Graph and oracle network Chainlink. Soneium uses Optimism’s OP Stack codebase.