The partnership with Lead Ventures will expand CasperLabs’ footprint in the UAE and help bolster adoption of the Casper Network.

Lead Ventures is part of The Office of Sheikh Sultan Bin Abdulla Al Qasimi with a mandate to lead and pioneer the local market through strategic partners that seek to innovate in the UAE and beyond. With help of Lead Ventures, CasperLabs will enable government agencies, corporations, and other organizations to unlock tremendous value by creating new markets, ensure greater security, decrease costs, and provide liquid trading by digitizing existing assets and eliminating exchange friction.

The Casper Network has attracted a growing ecosystem of innovative Web3 firms, publicly traded companies, and developer organizations. Thanks to the support of CasperLabs, this growing community is introducing a new standard for blockchain technology that can be quickly integrated, scaled, and deployed in any enterprise setting.

Out of over 500 applicants from the MENA region, 360VUZ was chosen along with 9 other startups to join the 3 months’ digital accelerator program which covers different sectors and areas, ranging from edtech and healthtech, to e-commerce.

During the program, 360VUZ will outline top challenges, and will then be paired with relevant experts from Google and the industry to solve them. The immersive video mobile app will also receive mentorship on both technical and business challenges as well as workshops covering machine learning technologies, product design/UX, customer acquisition, and leadership development for its founders.

“We are happy to be selected for the “Google for Startups Accelerator” that is held for the first time ever in the MENA region. With joining the program and support of its experts, we aim at taking our platform to new global heights and scale our business in order to maintain 360VUZ position as one of the leading immersive media and entertainment platforms globally.” said Khaled Zaatarah, founder and Chief Executive Officer, 360VUZ.

In addition to mentorship and technical project support, Google for Startups Accelerators also include deep dives and workshops focused on product design, customer acquisition, and leadership development for founders.

“Google for Startups Accelerator” targets tech startups, with the criteria based around several factors, including the problem they are trying to solve and how it creates value for users, their willingness to use Machine Learning technology to solve business challenges and viability of long-term scaling.

Founded in 2017, The 360VUZ Teleporter mobile app has established a strong global rollout, connecting users in more than 25 countries with a significant increase in user engagement and revenues month over month.

360VUZ has raised a total of $8.4 million investment up to date and is backed by investors from around the world, such as Knollwood, Impact46, and DAI, Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Media Visions, AlTouq Group, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin, DTEC Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Al Rashid family and other strategic angel investors.