Talent Protocol Supports the Next Generation of Builders Through the Acquisition of Agora Labs

[PRESS RELEASE – Lisbon, Portugal, 5th October 2022]

Talent Protocol, the web3 professional community for high-potential builders, has acquired Agora Labs, a social token and NFT infrastructure platform for creators to build and scale their communities. The acquisition will not only integrate Agora’s tech stack and community into Talent Protocol, but also onboard its young talented founders, Matthew Espinoza (CEO) and Freeman (CTO) into the team.

Despite being only a year old, Talent Protocol saw this acquisition opportunity as another way of working towards its mission of supporting the builders of tomorrow. The startup – founded by Pedro Oliveira, Filipe Macedo and Andreas Vilela – has been actively enabling ways of empowering talented tech professionals who have an entrepreneurial mindset and are curious to explore web3.

“Agora Labs’ mission and team fits perfectly with what we are building in Talent Protocol. In a very short time, Agora’s talented team has created tools and infrastructure that serve several of the needs of tokenized creators and that is something we found truly remarkable and relevant for our own community”, Pedro Oliveira, co-founder and CEO of Talent Protocol, explains. “Talent Protocol and Agora Labs’ paths crossed earlier this year and when we saw the opportunity to join efforts, we took it,” he adds.

Agora Labs was founded in 2021 by Matthew Espinoza, Freeman Zhang, Jerry Di and Charles Nyabeze, all teenage builders who took the leap from their careers and founded their own Web3 company. The little over one-year journey led to this acquisition by Talent Protocol which will welcome 20-year-old Matthew (CEO) and 19-year-old Freeman (CTO) to its team and support their early but valuable careers.

“The Web3 space is all about community and collaboration. We see the integration of Agora’s assets and team members as a way of achieving collective success for all parties involved”, Filipe Macedo, co-founder and CMO of Talent Protocol, comments.

Over 150,000 users already joined Talent Protocol to create a professional profile, make meaningful connections and access exciting opportunities. Members are also able to launch a token for their careers, transforming loose connections into invested supporters. A Talent Protocol account gives priority access to scholarships, opportunities, mentors and a community that can help you succeed in web3.

“The world of work is changing but our professional networks are decades old. Most are cringe-worthy and out-of-touch places unable to represent the next generation of builders and support their career growth.”, Filipe Macedo explains, “Agora Labs was also unlocking web3 opportunities for builders and creators, that’s why it made total sense to join forces, while also supporting the professional journeys of its talented founders.”

“From day one it was clear that Talent Protocol was the ideal company to acquire us. From the beginning of our conversations to signing the deal, they always had our best interests at heart and I truly resonated with their mission and culture”, Matthew Espinoza from Agora Labs, adds.

About Talent Protocol

Talent Protocol is the web3 professional community where anyone can discover high-potential builders and invest in their careers. 💫

Since November 2021, more than 150,000 users have registered to create a web3 professional profile, launch a Talent Token and kick off their collective career journey.

About Agora Labs

Agora Labs is a creator-focused platform built on the DeSo blockchain, providing tokenized creators with the necessary infrastructures to build and scale their web3 communities.

The platform has been consistently one of the top-ranked dapps on the DeSo blockchain, reaching over $500k in market cap within 24 hours of launching, and has received backing from the DeSo foundation, and Harmony Protocol.