Once upon a time, books and newspaper and magazine articles were the main drivers of intellectual property (IP) on which movies and television series were crafted. Along the way, brands like Disney were built. This of course was in addition to projects based on original ideas or one’s life rights. Regardless of the underlying source, most IP adoption followed a similar path: Stories became popular brands, which led to the monetization of those brands through various different tributaries—toys, amusement parks, clothing, restaurants and an assortment of other consumer goods and services that owed their existence to the underlying story.

In 2023, a popular new IP source is digital. Startups that are more comfortable in the metaverse with code as their bedrock are now creating storefronts and physical products, much akin to when physical stores and products first launched websites.

In the case of ApeCoin and its newly launched $APE Accelerator from Forj—a subsidiary of Yuga Labs investor Animoca Brands—the goal is to continue expanding its nonfungible token (NFT) brand into the mainstream, much like the traditional books, magazine and newspaper articles.

“We want to drive more APECoin adoption and IP adoption,” Harry Liu, chief executive officer of Forj, said to me in a recent conversation. Yuga Labs created Bored Ape Yacht Club, one of the most prominent and valuable NFT series. BAYC “is becoming more and more decentralized, where we have builders using the IP to create businesses,” Liu said. 

Those builders include folks like Snoop Dogg, who recently launched a line of ice cream around his Bored Ape NFT “Dr. Bombay,” and Kevin Seo and Andy Nyguen who used their Bored Ape NFT to launch Bored & Hungry burgers in Long Beach, California last year.

“From the USA to Hong Kong to Korea to Singapore, we are seeing more and more builders getting their hands dirty and using IP to create something extraordinary,” Liu said.

The $APE Accelerator was built by Forj following the successful approval of AIP-209, a proposal from ApeCoin DAO’s Idea Proposal (AIP) system. Much like the EIP system in Ethereum, AIP is designed to strengthen the ApeCoin ecosystem and power the utility for ApeCoin holders. 

“We chatted with different global and regional clubs like Elite Apes HK, French Ape Yacht Club, and Bored Club Canada to better understand projects made by Apes, the challenges they’re facing, and the solutions we can provide to help take their businesses to the next level” Liu said.

Successful applicants to the accelerator will be given the opportunity to launch their web3 concept to the ApeCoin community of approximately 200,000. Holders of the APE token will be given the opportunity to support approved ApeCoin projects through the $APE Launchpad by purchasing NFTs and other tokens, as well as voting on proposals for projects to be accepted. According to Liu, the initial focus for the accelerator’s first cohort is on game finance, or GameFi, projects.

“Many of the people who own ApeCoin want to participate in new projects, but if they participate in projects like Bored & Hungry, there’s not much they can do besides purchase burgers,” Liu said. “We want gaming projects that have a token or an NFT and already have traction, especially since GameFi projects appeal to a wider audience.”

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Liu said that the audience needs to have fun if a project is going to be successful. Liu cites the recent BMW / BAYC collaboration around the i5 at this year’s ApeFest in Hong Kong, where the car manufacturer created the “Ape Car,” which was essentially billed as a digital wrap.

The accelerator, as its name implies, is also aiming to reduce the time it takes projects to be ready for release. 

“In the past, it typically took eight months to get a project to market, and we anticipate that timeline to be shorter by three to five months,” Liu said.

But nothing will move forward unless approved by the ApeCoin holders. 

“Because the community is DAO-driven, it’s up to the ApeCoin holders which projects they want to support,” Liu said. “We’ll give you feedback regardless of the results. Rejection is not just an answer, but a journey for feedback and improvement.”