Boost plans to jumpstart 100 bitcoin companies in next three years

Startup accelerator Boost is aiming to make itself the Y Combinator of the bitcoin world. Last year, the venture capital company funded ten bitcoin-related startups in summer and winter classes. Over the next three years, Boost aims to grow that number tenfold.

Speaking with CoinDesk yesterday, Boost’s founder and CEO Adam Draper explained the program’s ambitious plans:

We are actually, over the next three years, going to be accelerating 200 companies. And 100 of those are going to be bitcoin companies. That’s our big stake in the ground.

Investment in bitcoin-related startups is a growing trend in Silicon Valley, thanks to both a seeming glut of hungry developers in the already oversaturated mobile, gaming and web-services markets. Bitcoin is a relatively unexplored space for startups, and there are few true market-cornering killer apps in the market. A small investment in the right company could lead to massive returns when bitcoin takes off. In other words, it’s a very, very good time to be a venture capitalist in bitcoin.

That said, Draper still sees some reluctance in the part of his fellow investors.

I feel that entrepreneurs are still starting to work on bitcoin projects. They aren’t necessarily taking a full leap. But with more money in the ecosystem, they are starting to take the leap.

Although it has a noteworthy list of mentors, few of Boost’s projects have seen true breakout success. Their most notable graduate is the controversial Bang With Friends app (now rebranded Down) from the 2012 class.