- Coinbase, Animoca Brands, Fabric Ventures, and Founders Factory are launching a multi-million-pound Web3 accelerator in the U.K.
- The U.K.’s Labour government has allocated £11.4 billion ($13.9 billion) to R&D in 2025, targeting sectors including AI and Web3.
- Animoca Brands is the parent company of The Sandbox and a major investor in early Web3 hits like Axie Infinity.
The U.K.’s reputation as a global leader in financial services dates back to the 19th century, and London has long served as a magnet for international institutions, business, talent, and innovation. Today, that legacy is being retooled for the digital age.
Despite the nation’s rich history in finance and recent advances in fintech, it has often lagged behind global leaders in Web3 and AI adoption. But that could be changing.
With the launch of a new multi-million-pound Web3 accelerator led by heavyweights like Animoca Brands, Coinbase, Fabric Ventures, and Founders Factory, the U.K. is looking to reignite its leadership position in emerging tech.
To understand what’s driving this initiative and what’s at stake, we caught up with Robby Yung, CEO of Animoca Brands.
Web3 Brews in the U.K.
The U.K. is bidding to become one of Web3’s hubs, and it’s well-positioned to do so with its potent mix of world-class talent, technological prowess, and storied history as a global financial powerhouse.
According to Yung, the U.K. is Europe’s “natural” financial services and fintech hub. It’s not just the banking legacy, it’s the academic pipeline and talent pool that gives the country an edge.
“The U.K. is also home to some of the finest universities, whose graduates have pioneered technologies from the Web to AI, fintech, and biotech, as well as blockchain,” he explains.
While the region already boasts a vibrant ecosystem of Web3 startups, including standouts like Aave and Elliptic, Yung sees the potential for many more to emerge.
However, unlocking that next wave of growth will require more than talent.
Fixing the Funding Gap
A persistent challenge in the U.K. and broader Europe is access to venture capital, especially at the scale available in the U.S.
“The U.K., and more broadly Europe, have struggled to provide funding for startups on the scale that is available in other advanced markets like the U.S.,” says Yung. That’s where the new accelerator steps in.
Backed by both capital and the operational know-how of some of the biggest names in crypto and venture, the accelerator aims to fill that funding gap and give U.K.-based Web3 startups the support they need to scale globally.
“Funding innovation via startups can generate enormous benefit for an entire industry or even economy,” Yung says. “By combining new capital with the broad Web3 experience of the founding partners, we will help accelerate the development of companies and the broader Web3 ecosystem here.”
Why the U.K.?
With regions like the UAE, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the U.S. vying for dominance in the crypto space, why is the U.K. the right place to launch this kind of accelerator?
Yung says the country still offers a powerful mix of ingredients: fintech leadership, growing AI expertise, and a supportive academic backbone.
“The U.K. has an incredible mix of fintech, pharma, and AI, all driven by a world-class educational system,” he says. And with renewed interest from the Labor government—reflected in the country’s £11.4 billion R&D allocation for 2025—the climate for innovation is improving.
“While there have been notable U.K.-based standouts in Web3, we think there is strong potential for many more to emerge.”
Backing Real Use Cases
For some, Web3 and AI remain buzzwords. However, Animoca, Fabric Ventures, and Coinbase are looking to back ideas that go far beyond the hype.
“We’re interested in everything from financial services use cases like stablecoins and the tokenization of real-world financial assets, to the tokenization of intellectual property—from entertainment to education—and even to the provision of decentralized identifiers and the licensing of personal data,” Yung explains.
The vision is clear: a decentralized, open-source future built on digital ownership.
“Blockchain and AI are both critical to building a decentralized and open-source future where digital ownership forms the basis of new economic opportunities for everyone.”
On Web3 Gaming
While financial infrastructure and identity systems are foundational to Web3, gaming remains one of its most visible—and tested—consumer use cases. Few know this better than Animoca Brands.
As the parent company of The Sandbox and an early investor in Axie Infinity, Animoca has been at the forefront of Web3 gaming since the beginning.
However, in recent years, the once-explosive Play-to-Earn (P2E) model has slowed, facing scrutiny over unsustainable economies and lackluster gameplay.
Yung doesn’t shy away from that reality, but he doesn’t see it as failure, either.
“We don’t think that it’s so much a question of stagnation in P2E or play-and-earn,” he says. “Rather, it is the fact that building and publishing games is always challenging, particularly when all the traditional channels for distribution are not very welcoming to blockchain-enabled products.”
Beyond just play-and-earn, Web3 gaming could be in for a resurgence, fueled by AI tools that accelerate development and reduce costs. Yung believes the sector still holds massive promise for consumers and investors.
“Gaming is very much a major use case for Web3 and a major driver of consumer adoption,” he says. However, given how capital-intensive games are to develop, traditional gaming investors are cautious, especially after a broader slowdown in Web2 gaming.
That’s where Web3-native studios like Animoca come in. “It’s up to Web3-native firms to support players in this emerging sphere.”
When asked whether Web3 has already peaked, Yung was quick to dismiss the idea: “I think we’ve barely gotten started.”
