A fund for independent builders making platforms for the independent web.
There's a lot of talk these days about "web3" and the "metaverse." Despite having very limited uses, this tech is being peddled as a revolution for the Web. It co-opts terms like "decentralization" and "community" while being built by a small group of people that see the Web as nothing but another resource from which to extract profit.
We think there's another way.
We believe in the original dream of the Web: to connect humanity and share knowledge and wisdom. We don't believe in the internet as a panacea for all of society's ills, but are interested in its use as a powerful tool to augment our humanity.
We're interested in solving the real problems of our time: the erosion of human rights (especially by businesses built on surveillance), the rise of authoritarianism around the world, and the growing gaps in our common understanding of each other despite hyper-connectivity.
Technology alone will not solve these social problems, but it can be used to help. We can design and build platforms that protect privacy and reject the targeted advertising industry. We can build environments that enhance our human intuition for bullshit misinformation, instead of undermining and profiting from it. We can help people find and build healthy, pluralistic communities online and off.
We are funding the builders of the independent web.
This fund is backed primarily by Musing Studio, an independent company established in 2015 that builds platforms according to these principles. Musing Studio's goal is to cultivate an ecosystem of platforms, protocols, open source software, and sustainable small businesses that cooperate for the common good of the Web.