Binance Is Expanding Its Crypto Incubator to 5 New Cities

The cryptocurrency exchange Binance is casting a wider net to find the next unicorn startup.

Revealed exclusively to CoinDesk, the venture wing of the namesake exchange, Binance Labs, will launch new incubator programs in Berlin, Buenos Aires, Lagos, Singapore and Hong Kong come March 2019.

Starting next year, all Binance Labs incubation programs will conclude together with a three-week trip to Singapore, where the parent company is based, and a collective demo day.

Ella Zhang, head of Binance Labs, told CoinDesk the company will also welcome two more batches of applicants to San Francisco in 2019.

Teams will be able to promote their products or services through Binance platforms after graduating from the program.

One such project from the inaugural San Francisco class, SafePal, is developing a hardware crypto wallet that would only cost $10. "Some of our enterprise solutions will have Binance adopt them as clients," Zhang said, adding projects that boost mainstream adoption could attract new users to Binance.

The incubation program gives Binance a first crack at emerging technologies in the space, while founders gain access to potential investors and social media promotions.

"We have the user base. Binance itself has over 10 million users."

Robert Yau, founder of Path, a software startup that recently graduated from the Binance Labs program, told CoinDesk the diversity of mentors helped his team create a blockchain-agnostic API solution.

Binance Labs incubator image from San Francisco via Binance.