Web3 thought leader Radhika Iyengar’s entrepreneurial spirit is the very essence of her being. She’s defied the odds, taken leaps of faith into uncharted waters, and repeatedly persevered past adversity as a woman of color in technology. Iyengar, a TedX speaker, who co-authored Amazon’s #1 Best Seller Enterprise Blockchain Has Arrived, declares her own journey’s title is “Nevertheless she succeeded.”
This captivating changemaker is founding partner at Silicon Valley-based venture studio StarChain Ventures. Its focus is solving significant global challenges by converging web3, decentralized technologies and The Metaverse with other advanced deep tech such as AI and Internet of Things (IoT).
StarChain Ventures is forming “companies that generate lasting positive impact and create a better, more equitable future for all.” Radhika comments this is underscored in her book, which accurately predicted the rise of web3 in 2019, when web3 was not as common a term.
“StarChain Ventures also advises promising global web3 companies to help them accelerate their success and maximize their business opportunity in both the physical world and the Metaverse.”
Having been in the web3 space since 2017, Radhika is a strong advocate for creating value mission-driven web3-based systems and social structures rooted in her empathic values: She’s especially passionate about StarChain Ventures’ metaverse-driven initiative, the AstroSapiens NFT collection, DAO, and the NFT for Education and Community. AstroSapiens are Metaverse-ready NFTs (MRNFTs) combined with “award-winning photography.” Proceeds from the collection fund the AstroSapiens Foundation which is dedicated to the adoption of various critical diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and support of STEAM disciplines, including amplifying access to opportunities for women in web3 and in the space sector.
When she conceptualized the AstroSapiens idea, Radhika explains the “space metaphors for both StarChain Ventures and AstroSapiens is not just literal. It’s symbolic that the reach is outer space and is diverse and limitless, where StarChain ventures dares to reach for the stars and achieve their full potential.”
An award-winning Fortune veteran operator and entrepreneur, Radhika is co-host of the Future Forward Business videocast series and a prolific international speaker at investment and technology conferences on the transformative power of web3. Another role is advising California State legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom regarding the responsible use of web3 and blockchain in California, only the fourth largest economy. Serving on the California Government Blockchain Working Group, Radhika says a diverse, talented group “is technology stack and has capabilities to implement and influence policy frameworks.”
“We also educate and guide legislators on how to view this technology sector and identify opportunities to deploy it in key use-cases and sectors in California.”
Radhika is justifiably proud of her blockchain bestseller, which is regarded as one of the most comprehensive works written about web3. A special moment for her was in 2019, when she held the first opted reading of web3 at a real, authentic and diverse tech event.
She remarks the book underscores the underpinnings and applications of web3 in various key sectors. These include banking and financial services, healthcare and life sciences, supply chains and logistics, energy, as well as blockchain for government and for social good.
Radhika remarks, the world as we know it is being reimagined, restructured, and indeed re-created with web3: She explains that she wrote the book “to democratize access to information about this technology, demystify what it means, and accurately predict the arc of adoption.” Her vision is that everyone should have equal access to the trillions of dollars of opportunities in web3.
The Metaverse is ‘an immersive 3D online virtual world in which we can take our avatars to engage with others in numerous ways; including events, commerce, and other virtual experiences. She emphasizes developing open and decentralized Metaverses. She explains that this virtually upholds privacy, identity, and sovereign data ownership, which are the cornerstones to a web3-based Metaverse.’
Asserting that NFTs will provide utility and be the items worn, bought, and sold in Metaverses; Radhika is positive that ‘web3 can do so much more, extending beyond the surface entertainment value towards creating lasting global impact.’
“Web3 is not just a technology but an ethos – one that innately prioritizes extreme transparency, accountability, and a collective ‘We’ consciousness that rejects erstwhile web2 zero sum ethos.”
Radhika’s global background molded her view of the world. Born in India, raised in Morocco and immigrating to the US as a young, full scholarship college student, her intellectual curiosity and steadfast self-belief helped her learn her way into elite education. It’s hardly surprising then her Tamil Iyengar heritage cultivates and values education, intellect, and accomplishment.
Radhika says that her journey has often entailed carving out a new door for herself where none existed before. Her resolute belief, “If I don’t see it or I can’t get to it, I build it,” is boosted by her continual rejection of hero worship culture, reverse resilience and neuroplasticity. Her journey has progressed at an impressive pace, unhampered by institutional or external baggage.
Clear that the purpose and meaning in her life is “web3 for global impact,” the use of space metaphors by this space-high achiever is fitting for the legacy she’s building, because for her, the vision is limitless.
Be an active learner, not a passive follower.
Seek out and engage in NFT communities with shared passions and goals that resonate with you.
Select DEI Metaverses developed by women and/or diverse founders to avoid perpetuating inherent biases.
Recommended resources: Enterprise Blockchain Has Arrived, StarChain Ventures’ videocast series.
StarChain Ventures:
AstroSapiens NFT:
