DTC Group has teamed up with
@ProtocolCamp
Here's what that means, and why builders across Asia and beyond should pay attention.
Protocol Camp is a fully sponsored 12-week blockchain and AI bootcamp, now in its 10th cohort. It takes early-stage teams from a rough idea to a shipped MVP, building alongside some of the region's strongest technical talent.
Launched in 2022 as South Korea's first-ever blockchain bootcamp by
@hashed_official and Hanwha Life, the life insurance affiliate of Hanwha Group, one of Korea's largest conglomerates, it expanded into Southeast Asia in 2024 through ShardLab. From 2026, it runs across Asia.
Not a lecture series. A build sprint.
What builders get
→ Fully sponsored, start to finish. Zero tuition, with flights and accommodation covered, for in-person sessions across Asia, starting with a Seoul kickoff during
@kbwofficial
→ A dedicated mentor, every week. Weekly 1:1s with a core mentor to turn a rough idea into a working MVP over 12 weeks.
→ Pitch to the fund, not a waiting list. At every Demo Day, teams present live to investors, accelerators, and industry experts who give real-time feedback and open real doors.
→ Two ways to build. An AI-augmented track for speed-to-market, or a systems-engineering track for protocol-native depth. You choose the path that fits what you're building.
→ Leave with a product, not a certificate. No theory dumps, no chain lock-in. You walk away with a real MVP and join a growing alumni network already shipping across the region.
The track record, per the program: 9 batches, 122 builders, 99+ alumni, drawn from 15+ nationalities, with roughly 1 in 4 applicants accepted. This is selective, and that's the point.
Who's behind it
Protocol Camp is co-hosted by
@0xShardLab and
@hashed_official. Hashed is one of Korea's most established crypto VCs. According to the program, its portfolio spans 200+ companies and 10+ unicorns, with early backing of projects like Aptos and The Sandbox.
ShardLab is Hashed's R&D and innovation arm, built with a strategic partnership with
@SCBXNextTech. A genuine cross-border foundation is built into the program from day one, which is exactly the kind of wiring we care about.
What
@DTCGroup_ brings to the cohort
Our role is to connect the ecosystem side of the bridge:
→ Community & KOL amplification across our network, so builders get seen by the right audiences.
→ University partnerships driving builder participation from the region's top campuses.
→ $20,000 in DTC GTM credits, awarded across the top 3 teams, to turn a demo-day win into a real go-to-market push.
And beyond the program itself, graduates have an optional path to keep working with DTC through a further growth accelerator, built to help teams scale across APAC and beyond after Protocol Camp ends. It's entirely separate from the prize credits, and entirely optional, for teams that want to go further.
Why we're in
Most builder programs stop at "we'll teach you to ship."
The harder question comes after. You've built the product. Now how do you actually enter APAC and beyond, where every market has its own trust currency, its own communities, and access doesn't equal traction?
That's the gap we exist to close. A program built across Asia, connecting builders to real capital and real ecosystems, is exactly the right place to prove it.
If you're an early-stage builder anywhere in the region, this is one of the strongest free programs running right now. Selection is competitive, and the deadline is close.
Applications close August 23, 2026 (23:59 GMT+7).
Apply here:
protocolcamp.com/apply.html
Follow DTC Group for cohort updates through the program.