In a remarkable display of speed and enthusiasm, Peter Wang's call for ideas on a new incubator and fund to support experimental projects on the Bluesky/AT Protocol ecosystem has resulted in the emergence of Skyseed, a $1 million fund and incubator dedicated to fostering innovation in the decentralized web space.

Wang, co-founder and chief AI and innovation officer of Anaconda, posted his request for ideas on November 15, and just four weeks later, Skyseed was born. This rapid turnaround is a testament to the excitement surrounding Bluesky, which is gaining popularity as a potential alternative to traditional social media platforms. The AT Protocol, an open source, open standards-based framework, promises to enable users to retain ownership of their data and shift to other platforms on the protocol.

Wang, a long-time advocate for decentralization, has been supporting projects such as Blue Link Labs, which developed the peer-to-peer open source web browser Beaker. Although official support for Beaker ended in 2022, the lessons learned from the project have fed into the design of Bluesky and its protocol. Wang believes that the decentralized web has lacked a meaningful number of users, but with Bluesky, that is changing. "We've had lots of good ideas; we've just not had the users. Now we have the users," he said.

Skyseed consists of two core components: the fund and the incubator. The majority of the initial $1 million comes from Wang himself, with some angel investors contributing six-figure sums. The fund has already grown to $1.5 million, with potential for further growth as accredited investors express interest. Skyseed will issue developer grants of $5,000 to $25,000, as well as make formal equity investments in projects with "real business models, real teams, and real products."

The incubator side of Skyseed will operate as a mechanism for like-minded individuals to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other. Wang envisions an active mentorship network where founders can help each other, particularly in cases where complementary projects exist. This could lead to the emergence of niche and micro-networks built on the AT Protocol, allowing users to engage with people who share similar interests and values.

The AT Protocol's decentralized nature offers a unique opportunity to create a modular ecosystem of apps that can be built upon. Wang hopes to see alternatives to Bluesky itself emerge, such as child- and family-focused social networks or platforms for dissident journalism or whistleblowers. He also envisions socially infused alternatives to existing platforms like SoundCloud, Bandcamp, or Google Maps.

While Bluesky, as a privately held company, may raise concerns about the permanence of its open source protocol, Wang is confident that users will ultimately dictate the direction of the ecosystem. "If a big company decides to strip-mine an open source project, if none of the users use it, then it doesn't matter. And if users rebel against it, then they can make a fork and use that. You always have this right to exit and do alternative innovation," he said.

As Skyseed begins to take shape, Wang is working to establish a structure for the fund and incubator, which will likely involve recruiting managing partners and admins. Despite the challenges ahead, Wang remains optimistic about the potential for Skyseed to foster a new wave of innovation in the decentralized web space.