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Build your Web3 startup with Protofire's venture studio

You bring the vision. We bring the engineering team, the funding, the infrastructure, the go-to-market, and the backoffice, and we co-build it with you, from idea to an independent, revenue-generating venture.

250+
Projects delivered since 2016
$2B+
In assets secured across 120+ networks
1M+
Developers rely on our open-source dev tools
Trusted across 60+ networks and 95+ protocols

You build the product. We build everything else a startup needs.

The parts a founder normally has to assemble alone, engineering, capital, and operations, from a team that has shipped at scale since 2016.

We build in
RWA & tokenizationStablecoins & cross-border paymentsOn-chain credit & lendingStructured & yield productsDeFi & node infrastructureInstitutional & TradFi on-chain
Funding & Investment

Strategic capital from the studio to build and reach market, so early progress is not gated on an outside raise.

Mentorship & Guidance

The operating framework of a firm that has shipped 250+ projects across 60+ networks and 95+ protocols since 2016, applied to your build.

Go-To-Market Support

Support to sharpen your business model and reach your first users, from a team embedded across major Web3 ecosystems since 2016.

Spin-Off & Growth Trajectory

Transition from incubation to a fully independent entity.

Backoffice support

Focus on your product. Finance, legal, people operations, payroll, recruiting, and marketing functions are covered according to the highest industry standards.

Pre-validated Talent Pool

Grow fast by recruiting engineers with proven delivery experience.

From your idea to an independent company

Five phases. You keep ownership and control the whole way; we co-build alongside you, then hand you a company that stands on its own.

01

Application & Proposal Submission

Present your vision, the problem you want to solve, and the business case behind it.

02

Validation & Market Assessment

Pressure-test the concept and its market with our engineers and blockchain experts.

03

Prototype & MVP Development

Build and test a working product with a dedicated engineering team.

04

Go-To-Market Execution

Launch, reach your first users, and put a scalable growth model in place.

05

Scaling & Spin-Off

Scale the product and spin it out as an independent company you own and control.

The payoff
An independent company. Yours.

You keep ownership and control throughout; the studio hands over a venture that stands on its own, with the engineering and operations already in place.

Startups we have built

We put our own engineering behind these ventures and spun them out. It is the same playbook we run with founders in the studio.

Chain.love logo
Chain.love

A Web3 infrastructure toolbox: discover and compare RPCs, indexers, bridges, and oracles in one place, and build with the best tools for your project.

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Creators Capital logo
Creators Capital

Connecting online creators to global Web3 liquidity through structured revenue-purchase agreements, with upfront capital and predictable, short-duration exposure for lenders.

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Arenas.Fi logo
Arenas.Fi

White-label infrastructure to launch ERC-20 or RWA-backed lending markets: audited contracts, capital access, and modular credit formats on a plug-and-play Aave v3 base.

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Fuero logo
Fuero

Prime US credit lines drawn directly into crypto, no on-chain collateral required: underwrite once, access instant liquidity, and build a portable on-chain credit profile.

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StratEx logo
StratEx

A structured-finance protocol for capital-efficient on-chain strategies, enabling advanced yield, risk segmentation, and programmable financial products in Web3.

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Why build with Protofire

Most studios back founders with capital and advice. We back them with a senior engineering firm that has shipped 250+ projects across 60+ networks and 95+ protocols since 2016, for Aave, Balancer, MakerDAO, Optimism, and the Ethereum Foundation. When we co-build your venture, the hard engineering is not a risk you carry alone.

Ecosystems we have built in

Led by
Cristian Malfesi
Cristian Malfesi
Venture Studio Lead
Luis Medeiros
Luis Medeiros
Venture Studio Lead

FAQ

What is a Web3 venture studio?
A Web3 venture studio co-builds blockchain startups from the inside, contributing the engineering, capital, and operations a founder would otherwise have to assemble alone. Where an incubator or accelerator mainly offers mentorship, a small check, and a demo day, a venture studio (also called a venture builder) is hands-on and builds the product alongside you. Protofire's studio provides the engineering team, funding, infrastructure, go-to-market, and backoffice, then spins the venture out as an independent company.
What is Protofire Venture Studio?
Protofire Venture Studio is the arm of Protofire that incubates and co-builds Web3 startups. We provide the engineering team, strategic funding, infrastructure, go-to-market support, and full backoffice, then spin successful ventures out into independent companies. Products built and spun out through the studio include Arenas, Chain.love, Creators Capital, and Fuero.
Who can apply to the venture studio?
Founders building in Web3 or blockchain, especially in DeFi, real-world assets, credit, stablecoins, and infrastructure. There is no stage requirement: you bring the vision and the drive to lead, and we bring the engineering, the capital, and the operations to get it to market and scale it.
What does Protofire provide to a venture?
Strategic funding, an engineering team that has shipped 250+ projects across 60+ networks and 95+ protocols since 2016, production infrastructure, go-to-market support, and a full backoffice (finance, legal, people operations, payroll, recruiting, and marketing), plus a pre-validated pool of engineers with proven delivery experience. You focus on the product; the rest is covered.
How does the program work?
In five phases: application and proposal submission, validation and market assessment with our experts, prototype and MVP development, go-to-market execution, and scaling and spin-off into an independent venture. You keep ownership and control of your company; we co-build alongside you.
What are the terms, and how much equity does Protofire take?
Terms are set individually for each venture. The exact structure depends on the stage you come in at, the scope of what we build together, and what the studio contributes in engineering and capital, and it is agreed with you before we start building. There is no fixed formula. The goal is a structure that keeps you in control of the company you are building.
Is my idea kept confidential?
Yes. Anything you share when you apply is treated as confidential and stays with the small team that reviews it. If you want that in writing before going into detail, we are glad to sign an NDA first.
What happens if a venture does not reach spin-off?
Not every idea reaches spin-off. If a venture does not, what happens to the code, the intellectual property, and any equity is decided together with you, the same way the rest of the partnership is, rather than by a fixed default.
Who leads the venture studio?
The studio is led by Cristian Malfesi and Luis Medeiros, who work directly with founders through the program. They draw on Protofire's engineering organization, which has shipped 250+ projects across 60+ networks and 95+ protocols since 2016.
What has Protofire built through the studio?
Ventures spun out through the studio include Arenas (white-label lending infrastructure on Aave v3), Chain.love (a Web3 infrastructure toolbox), Creators Capital (revenue financing for online creators), and Fuero (US credit lines drawn into crypto). Protofire has also delivered 250+ client projects across 60+ networks and 95+ protocols since 2016.
How do I apply?
Submit your idea and business case through the contact form on this page. We review every proposal and, if there is a fit, set up a call to discuss how we can co-build it with you.

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