Alliance Big Bet:- Web3 startup ecosystem is booming due to the surge in VC interests and commitments

This scenario, Alliance – often called as the “Y Combinator” for web3 – has made a mysterious yet exciting announcement.

The Web3 startup ecosystem is booming, with VCs pouring in record amounts of funding. In Q1 2025 alone, crypto startups raised an astonishing $4.8 billion. However, Q2 2025 saw a slight cooling in the investment activity.

Despite the funding slowdown, there's a buzz in the industry as startup accelerator Y Combinator is entering the crypto domain.

Its close parallel, Alliance, is making a bold move by seeking ‘co-founder duos’ to work on ‘stealth’ crypto projects.

Imran Khan, the founder of Alliance DAO, took to X to announce that they are looking for two co-founders who are ‘highly technical’ and ‘serious about making it in crypto.’

The co-founders will be working on a few stealth projects within Alliance and must be ready to go all in. Warm intros are preferred.

Looking for a few highly technical co founder duos who are serious about making it in crypto.

You’ll be working on a few stealth projects within Alliance and you’ll have to be ready to go all in.

Warms intros preferred

— Imran Khan (@lmrankhan) May 25, 2025

This comes as the accelerator is accepting applications for its 15th edition, ALL15 cohort, till May 28.

The accelerator, which has supported over 200 new crypto startups including the recently launched Microsoft-supported blockchain, Space and Time, is known for supporting serious contributors and not casual, contractors.

The founders must be ready to "hit the ground running" with deep technical and strategic involvement from day one, and an absolute commitment to making this a long-term mission, not a side hustle.

These founders will be working on a few stealth projects within Alliance.

This signals that these initiatives might not be some small proof-of-concept experiments but potentially transformative protocols or platforms.

“If we get this right, it will result in generational outcomes for the hired founders,” said Imran.

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Alliance DAO is best known for its cohort-based programs — from ALL1 through ALL14. It is currently accepting applications for its fifth program, ALL15.

Among the 200 startups that it has supported, many have went on to become household names in web3. This includes dYdX (decentralized derivatives exchange) and Synthetix (synthetic-assets protocol), both ranking among the top 10 DeFi platforms with billions in TVL.

Now this latest call signals an additional, more clandestine layer of R&D. Suggesting that Alliance is scaling up its pipeline of stealth initiatives. This can likely be in areas such as zk-powered identity, creator monetization, or RWA tokenization while maintaining tight NDAs until launch.

With this announcement, Imran Khan is positioning Alliance DAO as offering co-founders a stake in ventures with outsized return potential.

In a recent appearance, he said, “The best things in life don’t come from having a lot. They come from making the most from what you’ve got.”

This can be an attractive pitch in a funding environment that’s otherwise seems to be tightening since the second quarter of 2025.