YZi Labs has announced the second season of its EASY Residency program, a global initiative supporting founders in Web3, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology. The program will run in four cities—Dubai, San Francisco, New York, and Singapore—with Dubai hosting the final demo day during Binance Blockchain Week. This expansion addresses previous challenges like visa and travel delays experienced by participants in the first season.
Participants can receive up to $500,000 in funding through SAFE agreements, comprising $150,000 for 5% equity and an additional $350,000 via a SAFE with no valuation cap. The residency includes mentorship from industry luminaries such as CZ (Binance), Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), and Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon), alongside practical support like workspace, operational assistance, and access to blockchain networks.
A key feature is the integration with BNB Chain's MVB (Most Valuable Builder) accelerator, which has completed over 10 editions and offers technical mentorship and ecosystem visibility. Applications are open until December 5, with rolling cohorts running from October 6 to December 5. The program focuses on early-stage projects in areas like stablecoins, creator tools, AI agents, and biotech research, aiming to help startups achieve rapid growth and global scale.
Ella Zhang, founder of YZi Labs, highlighted that the residency is designed to empower founders to build without borders, drawing from her experiences at Tencent, Google, Kleiner Perkins, and Stanford GSB. The first season involved 50 founders and 20 international teams, setting the stage for this enhanced effort to drive innovation in high-impact sectors.
BTC
SOL
XRP
MIM