theweb3jess

Ex-founder & former CEO · Blockus · New York

Jess Zhang

Ex-founder of Blockus, the Web3 gaming company that built on Sony’s Soneium.

Jess Zhang is the ex-founder and former CEO of Blockus, a Maple VC-backed Web3 gaming infrastructure company that experimented with building a gaming network on Soneium, the blockchain from Sony Block Solutions Labs. Before Blockus, she was a data scientist at Roblox, Airbnb and Kik.

@theweb3jess Instagram LinkedIn
Ex-founderBlockus (dissolved)
Raised$4M, led by Maple VC
Built onSony’s Soneium
PreviouslyRoblox · Airbnb · Kik
EducationUniversity of Waterloo

About

From Roblox’s data team to Sony’s blockchain

Jess Zhang is a technologist who grew up in Canada and the ex-founder of Blockus, a Web3 gaming infrastructure company. She studied mathematics at the University of Waterloo and spent her early career in data science at Kik, Airbnb and Roblox.

At Roblox she was the first senior data scientist on Roblox Developers, building its entire analytics stack and a team of 10, and at both Airbnb and Roblox she managed cross-border database clusters, seeing firsthand the challenges of data privacy in a globalized economy.

Seeing players build games and earn from their creations at Roblox, she also saw what was still missing. Her own first NFT purchase, which took 45 minutes, convinced her that Web3 had to become as easy as the apps people already use.

She started building Blockus in September 2022, turned down Y Combinator to join a16z crypto’s startup program, and in March 2024 closed an oversubscribed $4M pre-seed round led by Maple VC. Blockus gave studios wallets, marketplaces and payments in one stack, signed more than 30 partners, and went on to experiment with a gaming-focused network on Soneium, Sony’s blockchain.

Blockus has since been dissolved and shut down due to market timing, after taking Jess from a data scientist with an idea to a venture-backed founder building inside Sony’s blockchain ecosystem.

That’s when I realized we needed to bring web3 to web2.Jess Zhang to Refresh Miami, 2023

Sony & Soneium

With Sony from before day one

Jess has been part of the Soneium story from the beginning. She was working with the ecosystem before mainnet and was there when Soneium launched in January 2025. Over more than two years she has returned to Tokyo again and again, for office visits in Minato and for conferences across the city.

The builders behind Soneium, Sony Block Solutions Labs and Startale, have set a clear direction: protect creators’ rights, deepen engagement with fan communities, and return value to creators and fans. It’s a vision Jess shares, and the next chapter, a bold future for intellectual property, is one she means to build alongside them.

  • Before mainnetWorking with the Soneium ecosystem ahead of launch, and there for day one in January 2025.
  • Two-plus years in TokyoMultiple office visits in Minato and conference trips across Tokyo, even in the days before Christmas.
  • Past collaboration with StartaleWith Startale, a core contributor to Soneium, Jess unveiled Blockus’s Chelsea testnet in 2025.

Sources: Introducing Soneium (Sony Block Solutions Labs, 2024), Blockus podcast, “Talk with Blockus & Soneium”

What Blockus built

One stack for Web3 game studios

Blockus helped studios onboard players and add on-chain features without rebuilding their games, so teams could stay focused on gameplay.

Wallets & onboarding

Wallet-as-a-service, so players could own in-game items without wrestling with crypto first.

Marketplace

A white-label marketplace so studios could let players trade the assets they owned.

Payments

Fiat and crypto checkout for in-game purchases, including a Stripe crypto checkout integration.

More than 30 partners had signed on by the pre-seed announcement, including Ambrus Studio.

Milestones & funding

The Blockus voyage

  1. Starts building Blockus

    After years in gaming data science, Jess begins building a platform to manage in-game assets for studios.

    Refresh Miami
  2. Joins a16z’s Crypto Startup School

    Turns down Y Combinator to join a16z crypto’s startup program instead.

    Refresh Miami
  3. Raises a $4M pre-seed round

    Led by Maple VC with Altos Ventures, Eterna Capital and GFR Fund, plus angel investors. The round was oversubscribed.

    PR Newswire
  4. Integrates Stripe crypto checkout

    Brings Stripe fiat payment processing to Web3 games built on Blockus.

    Blockus blog
  5. Experiments with a Layer 3 on Sony’s Soneium

    Jess announces a gaming-focused Layer 3 on Soneium and its testnet, “Chelsea,” in a session with Startale.

    Blockus podcast
  6. Blockus is dissolved

    The company is dissolved and shut down due to market timing.

In the press

News, features & appearances

Beyond the bio

Things worth knowing about Jess

45 minutes

That’s how long her first NFT purchase took. The frustration became Blockus’s mission: make Web3 as easy as the apps people already use.

Refresh Miami, 2023

First

She was the first senior data scientist on Roblox’s developer side, and built its entire developer analytics stack.

Blockus

Read, Write, Own

She sees Web3 as the next version of the internet, not just crypto: “Shifting the framework from crypto to web3: the new internet.”

Refresh Miami, 2024

FAQ

Questions about Jess Zhang

Who is Jess Zhang?

Jess Zhang (@theweb3jess) is the ex-founder and former CEO of Blockus, a Web3 gaming infrastructure company that experimented with building a gaming-focused network on Sony’s Soneium blockchain before it was dissolved. She previously worked as a data scientist at Roblox, Airbnb and Kik, and studied mathematics at the University of Waterloo.

What is Jess Zhang’s connection to Sony?

Blockus, the company Jess Zhang founded and led as CEO, experimented with building a gaming-focused Layer 3 network on Soneium, the Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture of Sony Group and Startale. Jess announced the network’s testnet, Chelsea, in 2025 in a session with Startale, a core contributor to Soneium.

What was Blockus?

Blockus was a Web3 gaming infrastructure company founded by Jess Zhang in 2022. It gave game studios an all-in-one stack for player onboarding and wallets, marketplaces, and fiat and crypto payments, so players could truly own their in-game assets, and it experimented with building a gaming-focused Layer 3 network on Sony’s Soneium blockchain.

Is Blockus still operating?

No. Blockus has been dissolved and shut down due to market timing. Before closing, it raised a $4M pre-seed round led by Maple VC, signed more than 30 partners, and experimented with building a gaming-focused Layer 3 network on Soneium.

How much funding did Blockus raise?

Blockus announced a $4M pre-seed round on March 11, 2024, led by Maple VC with participation from Altos Ventures, Eterna Capital and GFR Fund, and angel investors Michael Ma (CreatorDAO), Bryan Pellegrino (LayerZero) and Daria Bondareva (Amazon). The round was oversubscribed and followed Blockus’s participation in a16z crypto’s startup accelerator.

What did Jess Zhang do before Blockus?

Jess Zhang held data scientist roles at Roblox, Airbnb and Kik. At Roblox she was the first senior data scientist on the developer side and built its entire developer analytics stack.

Where is Jess Zhang based?

Jess Zhang is based in New York. She grew up in Canada.

How can I follow Jess Zhang?

Jess Zhang is @theweb3jess on X (x.com/theweb3jess) and Instagram (instagram.com/theweb3jess), and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/theweb3jess.

Follow what’s next

Jess writes about consumer entertainment, ownership, founders and the next internet.

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