POAP Inc. is the company behind the Proof of Attendance Protocol, a blockchain infrastructure layer that lets event organizers mint and distribute NFT badges to participants as verifiable records of attendance. Founded in 2019 as a hackathon project at ETHDenver, POAP grew into one of the most widely recognized non-financial NFT use cases in crypto. The company is incorporated in the United States, though its founding team is primarily Argentine. By 2022 POAP had issued millions of badges across in-person and virtual events worldwide, establishing itself as core social infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem.
POAP raised a seed round of approximately $10 million in 2022. Investors included Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto) among others. The company runs the POAP protocol on Gnosis Chain (formerly xDai) rather than Ethereum mainnet, keeping minting costs negligible for organizers and attendees. This technical choice allowed POAP to scale to mass adoption without friction from gas fees – a deliberate product decision that separates it from many NFT-adjacent projects.
Notable investments
POAP Inc. has made a small number of strategic investments, with a reported portfolio of five projects. Public information about the specific names and deal terms of these investments is limited. The investments appear focused on infrastructure and developer tooling adjacent to the POAP ecosystem rather than speculative positions across the broader crypto market. No specific portfolio companies have been publicly confirmed through official announcements available in open sources.
Team
- Patricio Ward – Co-founder and CEO. Previously an engineer and entrepreneur based in Buenos Aires. Ward originated the POAP concept at ETHDenver 2019 and has led the company since its formation.
- Tomas Wolski – Co-founder and CTO. Leads technical architecture of the POAP protocol and smart contract infrastructure.
- Isabel Gonzalez – Co-founder. Contributed to early product and operations, with a background in community building within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Public information about additional managing partners or investment committee members beyond the founding team is limited.
Recent activity
In 2023 and 2024 POAP expanded its product surface beyond simple badge minting. The team introduced POAP Studio, a no-code tool for event organizers, and deepened integrations with calendar and ticketing platforms. POAP also partnered with major protocol ecosystems including Ethereum Foundation events and large Web3 conferences to issue official attendance records. The protocol saw use by brands outside crypto, including media companies and sports organizations experimenting with fan engagement.
POAP's strategic position has always been its neutrality – the protocol does not attach financial value to badges by default, which has kept it out of speculative bubbles that burned competitors in the 2021–2022 NFT cycle. As of 2025, the company continues to operate the protocol as a public good while monetizing through enterprise tools and white-label deployments. Its investment activity remains a secondary function of the business. With only five known portfolio positions, POAP behaves more like a strategic ecosystem participant than a dedicated venture fund – backing projects that extend or complement attendance verification and on-chain identity rather than seeking broad financial returns.