NEAR Foundation PR Roundup for April
NEAR FOUNDATION
May 2, 2023
As April draws to a close, we wanted to share the top global headlines from the NEAR Foundation and ecosystem this month.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from NEAR in February. 

NEAR Foundation launches NEAR Horizon
The NEAR Foundation attracted over 81 pieces of global coverage this month. One of April’s top stories was the NEAR Foundation’s launch of NEAR Horizon at Consensus 2023, a revolutionary accelerator supporting founders with open-access resources and incubator programmes from partners Dragonfly, Pantera and more.

As covered by Coindesk, Horizon will enable the NEAR ecosystem to continue to build projects through the crypto winter, utilizing the dedicated marketplace to access over 15 service providers, 40 mentors and 300 backers.

Illia Polosukhin talks building in a bear market
Illia Polosukhin took to the stage at Consensus 2023, contributing to a Coindesk panel focused on BUIDLing in a bear market, stressing the crucial role of collaboration as Web3 strives to onboard Web2 users. Developers have created advanced and exciting infrastructure solutions, but now need to add a focus on delivering projects to the market, realising the potential of blockchain technology.

Consensus 2023 also hosted the full launch of the BOS (Blockchain Operating System), providing users and developers with a one-stop-shop for interacting with any blockchain. As reported by Bloomberg, the open source platform enables builders to utilise thousands of community components to expedite the blockchain development process, at no cost to the developer or end user.

NEAR Foundation announces the return of Women in Web3 Changemakers
Following a successful launch last year, the NEAR Foundation announced the return of the Women in Web3 Changemakers list. The initiative, as covered by CryptoTVPlus, champions the achievements of female leaders from across the Web3 industry and aims to inspire higher rates of diversity in a field where women are severely underrepresented. Nominations are now open – submit your female colleagues here.

Marieke Flament talks Web3 talent and leadership with BTC Echo
Marieke Flament sat down for an exclusive interview with BTC Echo, Germany’s major crypto publication to talk about talent, leadership and more . In the profile piece, she explained how ​​the NEAR Foundation is moving away from supporting the blockchain rat race and helping NEAR protocol pivot to become a blockchain operation system.

“We are at a major turning point,” she told the editor, and explained why working for NEAR Foundation is so special. “The community is inclusive. People come from all over the world. You can ask them any question and they will explain it in simple terms. It’s a safe space.”

Cosmose AI’s switch to NEAR featured in TechCrunch
Cosmose AI joined the NEAR ecosystem this month, leveraging Web3 innovations to ensure that users maintain complete control over data and privacy. Featured in TechCrunch, Cosmose AI’s recent funding round led by the NEAR Foundation will also enable the continued development of KaiChing, an in-house cryptocurrency leveraging NEAR to reduce payment processing times and significantly lower fees.

NEAR Foundation at Women in Payments Symposium in London
The Women in Payments Symposium took place in London during April, where Marieke Flament presented the closing keynote discussing the opportunity presented to Web3 by the recent banking woes in the USA and Europe. As covered by CityAM and TechFundingNews, Marieke spoke to attendees about the potential of DeFi and the need for a clear regulatory landscape, whilst highlighting the potential for partnerships between traditional finance and decentralised finance.

Google Cloud and NEAR Foundation partnership featured in Cointelegraph
Google Cloud announced a special initiative for Web3 startups, bringing blockchain-based projects into the fold and providing relevant technical tools and cloud services to series A companies. Cointelegraph covered the increased support for founders building in Web3, as Google partnered with the NEAR Foundation and other blockchains to provide scalable infrastructure to founders across the globe.

Hackernoon calls BOS the “universal remote for crypto”
Bringing April to a close, Hackernoon took a shine to NEAR’s Blockchain Operating System, comparing the BOS to a universal remote for crypto, enabling users to use the same wallet over different blockchains and decentralised applications. The Web3-focused publication is excited by the BOS’s replacement of centralised infrastructure  and groundbreaking support for forkable developer components, likening the BOS to the early days of IOS and Android.

That’s all for this month. If we missed anything out or want to share anything for next month’s roundup, get in touch!