Winklevoss Back Libra Accelerator

Winklevoss Capital, the family office of Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss, is backing a new accelerator called Libracamp, which says it is not affiliated with Libra or Facebook but is focused on supporting “the development, growth and opportunities of Libra.”

They describe themselves as “a community of experts” backed by Michael Arrington, the co-founder of TechCrunch and Jane Lippencott from Winklevoss Capital.

In addition they say Libracamp “has assembled a network of mentors from some of the world’s leading technology and investment companies, such as PayPal, Pantera Capital and FinTech4Good.”

The accelerator is based on competition starting on November 1st where five startups are to participate.

Each participant is to receive $25,000, with one of them to be selected the winner. Whoever wins gets a cool $1 million.

“New fintech businesses face a major challenge in accessing the large volumes of consumer data to build their products, and they’ve traditionally been forced to align themselves with traditional banks in order to get the information they need,” said Michael Arrington in a press release, adding:

“This threatens to stifle innovation, since banks have a major influence on these start-ups’ strategy. While the Libra ecosystem frees fintechs from the need to partner with banks, Libracamp will be crucial in supporting start-ups in turning their vision into reality and widespread adoption.”

They say 100 developers and entrepreneurs have applied to join this accelerator that focuses on Libra.

“By fostering the next generation of fintech applications, Libracamp will help bring banking, lending and a range of innovative, technology-first financial services to markets around the world – including in developing countries that have long been poorly served by the traditional banking industry,” says Yonatan Ben Shimon, one of Libracamp’s co-founders.

We tried to confirm their backing with Jane Lippencott of Winklevoss Capital, but there was no response in time for publishing.

However, according to CNN “the Winklevoss brothers say Libra is a good thing for the industry and a step toward a time when cryptocurrency is ubiquitous.”

The bitcoin rich twins are apparently looking to partner with Facebook following its planned launch of Libra, a permissioned blockchain run by major corporation.

That project has faced backlash from politicians, with it unclear whether it will actually go ahead, but apparently money is pouring into it as this Libracamp announcement might show.

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