Sandeep Nailwal's 2024: Heading a USD 450 Million Funded Web3 Start-up, Co-founding an AI Start-up, and Investing in Early-stage Web3 Start-ups

Heading a USD 450 million funded Web3 start-up—one of the prominent projects worldwide in the space—Sandeep Nailwal has become more opinionated and

Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder and chief operating officer of Polygon, is heading a Web3 start-up that has received USD 450 million in funding, making it one of the most prominent projects in the world in this domain. Nailwal has become more opinionated and is taking concentrated bets. His latest wager is on Aggregation Layer, also known as AggLayer.

In January 2024, the start-up described AggLayer as a 'novel solution to unify the whole of Web3.' It further stated that 'like the invention of TCP/IP, which created a seamlessly unified Internet, the aggregation layer, or AggLayer, unites a divided blockchain landscape into a web of ZK-secured L1 and L2 chains that feels like a single chain.'

As per Nailwal, Polygon, being the first aggregated blockchain network, aims to be a significant part of the new internet that will arrive in the next 10-15 years.

"The latter half of the 21st century Internet is being created. It is more transparent, trustless and a place where people have more freedom and property rights. I want Polygon to be a part of that larger internet," Nailwal shared with Entrepreneur India at the sidelines of India Blockchain Week 2024.

Nailwal wants Polygon to go beyond cryptocurrency, and "Not something that stays for four or five years and then dies out." This bet by the Polygon team on the next evolutionary step of blockchain design comes amid a two-year transitional arc - both technology and business-wise. This includes migrating its native token from MATIC to Pol, a change in leadership and critical layoffs.

"Our velocity went down a lot as we took bets which didn't play out as expected," he shared candidly. "It's slightly picking up towards the year-end but it's far from the optimal velocity."

In early 2024, with the first essential components of the AggLayer being live, the only protocol connected to the network was the Polygon zkEVM with other chains set to 'plug into the AggLayer soon.' Nailwal's progress metrics include having 200 chains launch on AggLayer by the end of 2025. "That will be a good sign," he said. When asked about the timeline for the new network to become mainstream, he expects early signs to be visible in the next 12 to 18 months.

"I want Polygon to stand the test of time. That's what I'm optimising for. Previously, Polygon POS and zkEVM chains were not that. AggLayer is something which can stand the test of time," he added.

Beyond Polygon

"Help me become the most hardworking person there is," Nailwal recalled making the wish at Peer Baba Mazar near his birthplace in Ramnagar. In 2024, he has his hands full with Polygon, along with coming on board as a co-founder at the artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Sentient, backing scientific research with Blockchain for Impact (BFI) initiative, and investing in early-stage start-ups in Web3 with P2 Ventures.

Built on Polygon infrastructure, Sentient, an open-source AI development platform, raised USD 85 million from Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Pantera Capital and Framework Ventures in July 2024. Along with generative AI, 2023 also explored the mass hysteria around AI taking over the world. "On the higher level, the thesis is very clear, how can you get AI decentralized? That was the main goal behind it," he shared.

For BFI, 2024 was a year of fruitful collaborations. Founded in 2021 amid the pandemic, BFI partnered with DBT-BIRAC, UNICEF, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, and IISc in the year. Under its Biome Virtual Network Program initiative, BFI unites incubators and research institutes under a single umbrella. At present, its statistical impact includes disbursing USD 1,950,000 from its USD 15,000,000 Biome fund to back 18 projects and 10 fellowships. It was reported that through the BFI project, Nailwal has committed USD 200 million towards building India's biomedical capabilities. "I want to incubate the culture of scientific research in India. Want Indian research and scientists to go mainstream," he said. He also hints at collaboration with global scientific organizations.

Polygon has invested in over 12 start-ups through the venture arm, P2 Ventures (formerly Polygon Ventures). In April 2024, P2 Ventures launched a USD 50 million investment fund to support start-ups building innovative applications on the Polygon chain. Committed to the spirit of entrepreneurship, the Polygon co-founder backs projects, founders, and start-ups