Binance Labs invests in seven startups, including Ethena and Derivio, from its incubation season 6

Binance Labs, the $10 billion venture capital and incubation arm of the crypto exchange Binance, has invested in seven startups from its incubation season 6 program.

The seven startups are Ethena Labs, a synthetic dollar protocol developer; Derivio, a zkSync-based decentralized derivatives exchange; Shogun, an intent-centric DeFi protocol aiming to maximize trader extractable value; UXUY, a decentralized exchange trading platform; Cellula, an on-chain autonomous life simulation strategy game developer; NFPrompt, an AI-powered web3 user-generated content platform; and QnA3, an AI-powered web3 knowledge sharing platform, Binance Labs said Friday. It did not disclose investment amounts in the seven startups.

This marks the conclusion of the season 6 program that began last December. The incubation program initially included 12 startups but ultimately invested in seven. A Binance Labs spokesperson told The Block that the firm doesn't invest in all startups it incubates, noting that the incubation is designed to support founders, with investments not guaranteed.

Binance Labs' incubation Season 5, for instance, invested in five startups last year, including zkPass, Mind Network and DappOS, from the total 12 it first selected.

Binance Labs incubation season 7

The season 7 program is set to launch soon. "We're currently looking for forward-thinking founders of early-stage projects to join the program," Binance Labs said, adding that the application process "will be open on a rolling basis."

A significant number of projects apply for Binance Labs' incubation programs. Binance Labs said the season 6 program received "hundreds" of applications and ultimately selected 12 startups, or around 3% of the applicants.

Binance Labs has recently increased its investment activity, backing Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon and Ethereum restaking protocols Renzo and Puffer Finance this year.

Last year, Binance Labs accepted its first external capital when it closed a $500 million fund. The firm, however, began returning undeployed capital to Limited partners. LPs had initially invested a total of $150 million in the fund, and Binance Labs repaid close to half of that amount, as The Block reported last November.