Welcome to "Behind the Startup," a series where we dive deep into the innovations shaping the future. Today, we're thrilled to host Charlie Bussat, Head of Ecosystem and Marketing at Aurora Labs, a team that's consistently pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the blockchain space. Their latest offering, the Aurora Cloud Console (ACC) Marketplace, promises to revolutionize how chain founders deploy custom blockchains. Charlie, it's a pleasure to have you. Let's jump right in. Aurora Labs Aurora Cloud Console (ACC) Marketplace Ishan Pandey: Hi Charlie, it's a pleasure to welcome you to our "Behind the Startup" series. Could you please introduce yourselves and share what inspired Aurora Labs to help build and develop the ACC Marketplace? Ishan Pandey: ACC Marketplace Charlie: Hey Ishan, great to be here. I lead Ecosystem and Marketing at Aurora Labs. We’re the team behind Virtual Chains, which let anyone launch their own high-performance, EVM-compatible blockchain on NEAR. The ACC Marketplace emerged from a clear pain point: launching a chain is still too difficult. Founders were wasting time setting up infra, chasing integrations, and waiting on others to move. We built a one-click platform that gives teams everything they need to launch quickly and grow with confidence. Charlie: ACC Marketplace Ishan Pandey: The blockchain ecosystem is known for its complexity and the significant technical hurdles involved in launching a new chain. What were the key pain points you observed among chain founders that directly led to the conceptualization of the ACC Marketplace? Ishan Pandey: Charlie: We kept seeing the same three issues: Charlie: Integration fatigue. Founders had to do way too much manual work to plug in oracles, crosschain DEX, analytics, or fiat on-ramps.
Lack of pricing clarity. Many got hit with surprise infra bills.
No GTM support. Most chains launched empty, with no ecosystem around them. Integration fatigue. Founders had to do way too much manual work to plug in oracles, crosschain DEX, analytics, or fiat on-ramps. Lack of pricing clarity. Many got hit with surprise infra bills. No GTM support. Most chains launched empty, with no ecosystem around them. The ACC Marketplace fixes all of that. It's a plug-and-play stack of infra partners, ready before you go live, with transparent pricing and built-in support. Ishan Pandey: You've emphasized that the ACC Marketplace offers a "one-click stack for custom blockchain deployments." Can you elaborate on the technical architecture that enables such a streamlined process, and how does it ensure the robustness and security required for production-ready chains? Ishan Pandey: Charlie: At the core is what we call a Virtual Chain. It's an EVM-compatible blockchain deployed as a smart contract on NEAR. It runs on NEAR’s validator set, which handles consensus and sequencing. That gives founders scalability and security out of the box. Then, there’s the ACC Console. It's a dashboard where founders configure their chain and select the stack they want. When you click deploy, it launches the chain with all selected integrations pre-wired: oracles, indexers, crosschain dex, identity tools, and more. Every integration is reviewed and hardened for production use. No spaghetti code, no waiting on backchannel deals. Charlie: Ishan Pandey: A core idea behind the ACC Marketplace is enabling chain founders to launch not only with Aurora but also with all other partners simultaneously from day one. From a business perspective, what are the strategic advantages of this integrated approach for new chain founders, and how does it foster a more vibrant ecosystem? Ishan Pandey: Charlie: It’s a major unlock, especially because Virtual Chains are now free to launch. Most projects launch with just the chain and then scramble to add partners later. That kills momentum. With ACC, you launch with an explorer, a crosschain DEX, a fiat ramp, and more already in place. Your users can onboard, move funds, and explore your ecosystem right away. It makes your chain feel real from day one. It also benefits partners. Each new chain becomes a new source of users and transactions. More chains mean more usage and more value across the ecosystem. Everyone grows together. Charlie: Ishan Pandey: The "infra fatigue" you've mentioned is a very real problem in Web3 development. How does the ACC Marketplace specifically address this by providing a comprehensive, pre-integrated environment, and what kind of time and cost savings can founders realistically expect? Ishan Pandey: Charlie: We’ve seen teams waste months setting up infrastructure just to get their chain live. With the ACC, chains can go live in under a week. Virtual Chains are completely free to launch and operate. There are no infrastructure costs, no hosting fees, no sequencer charges, and no hidden expenses. This gives founders the freedom to focus on building their product and growing their ecosystem without being held back by technical overhead or surprise bills. Charlie: Ishan Pandey: Beyond the initial deployment, how does the ACC Marketplace support the ongoing operational needs and scalability of a newly launched chain? Are there specific tools or services within the marketplace that cater to long-term growth and maintenance? Ishan Pandey: Charlie: Yes, that’s baked in. Chains need more than uptime. They need liquidity, monitoring, token tools, and dev support. The ACC Marketplace includes options for analytics, relayers, alerts, cross-chain liquidity crosschain DEX, token vesting tools, and more. We also support chains with custom RPCs, marketing, and funding paths. Plus, every project gets an ecosystem lead from our team. We help with everything from BD intros to community building. It's a full growth program, not just a tech launch. Charlie: Ishan Pandey: Looking ahead, what's next for the ACC Marketplace? Are there any upcoming features, integrations, or strategic partnerships that will further enhance its value proposition for chain founders and the broader Web3 community? Ishan Pandey: Charlie: Two major things are coming. First, we’re adding support for AI-native chains. Founders building AI agents or reputation protocols will get dedicated tools for identity, indexing, and on-chain data access. Second, we’re launching a multichain deployer. I can’t talk about it yet, but it will change the way we launch tokens. We’re also bringing in new partners focused on BTCFi, AI, and RWA. Our goal is to keep making it easier to go from an idea to a working, scalable chain with users and liquidity already in motion. Charlie: Don’t forget to like and share the story!

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