Ripple and the University of California, Berkeley have jointly unveiled a new accelerator program designed to assist developers in transforming early-stage blockchain concepts into deployable products on the XRP Ledger.
According to a press statement released by the stablecoin issuer on Friday, Ripple University's Blockchain Research Initiative is introducing the University Digital Asset Xcelerator (UDAX). This program aims to provide founders with comprehensive technical support, direct mentorship, and access to capital networks.
Ripple is expanding its academic engagement through UBRI, a multi-year initiative based at UC Berkeley that has been actively contributing to blockchain research and nurturing talent.
UDAX Debuts After a Six-Week Pilot Cohort at Berkeley
Ripple reported that the initial phase of UDAX launched in the fall of 2025 as a pilot cohort hosted at UC Berkeley. This program was the result of a collaborative effort between Ripple engineers and a diverse group of faculty and lecturers from Berkeley.
Over six intensive weeks, nine startups collaborated with mentors to refine their concepts into market-ready solutions. The program commenced with a launch summit held at Berkeley, where founders were introduced to the architecture of the XRP Ledger and the broader Ripple ecosystem.
The initiative culminated in a closing summit and demo day at Ripple's San Francisco headquarters. The event featured encouraging remarks from Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and CTO Emeritus David Schwartz, providing the startups with exposure to XRP Ledger developers, Ripple executives, and representatives from thirteen venture capital firms.
One of the participating startups, WaveTip, offers instant tipping for Twitch streamers. This platform successfully completed its transition to the XRP Ledger Mainnet during the accelerator program and is now accessible via the Chrome Web Store.
X-Card, another startup focused on converting physical collectibles into liquid digital assets, onboarded over $1.5 million in inventory during the six-week period. According to disclosures from the program, the team also secured partnerships with merchant communities and thousands of collectors.
UDAX assisted BlockBima, a company developing automated climate-risk microinsurance products for vulnerable communities, in tripling its active user base. The teams collaborated with mentors, including Andrea Barrica, to enhance their pitches to effectively appeal to investors.
Ripple indicated that participating teams achieved an average 67% increase in product maturity and a 92% average increase in fundraising confidence following their involvement in the program.
Furthermore, the accelerator supported projects focused on institutional finance and cross-border capital flows, such as CRX Digital Assets. This company utilized UDAX to facilitate the export of Brazilian credit products, increasing its tokenized asset volume from $39 million to $58 million.
Blockroll, a stablecoin-based financial services provider, launched stablecoin-backed virtual cards for African freelancers operating in global markets.
"Blockroll will leverage RLUSD as the institutionally accepted stablecoins to streamline remittance settlements from Sub-Saharan Africa’s leading sources, and enable financial access use cases such as stablecoin-backed debit cards that work globally. This also unlocks world-class wealth-building opportunities for African users, including stablecoin yields and tokenized US stocks."
Other teams addressed infrastructure and compliance challenges. WellArrive refined its platform into a dual-sided marketplace model after working with mentors from legal and corporate affairs departments. Spout finalized a complex equity tokenization model and secured meetings with venture capital firms, while Mintara Labs worked to validate its go-to-market strategy for crypto-bank insurance.
UC Berkeley and Ripple’s Partnership Grows
The University of California, Berkeley's College of Engineering announced the establishment of a new Center for Digital Assets in conjunction with Ripple Labs last October. UC Berkeley stated at the time that the research center would be dedicated to studying how blockchain and digital twin technologies can be used to capture, value, verify, and exchange physical assets in a digital format.
Ripple's University Blockchain Research Initiative contributed $1.3 million in Ripple USD, the company's US dollar-backed stablecoin. A 2025 report from the International Data Corporation estimates that global data volumes will reach 175 zettabytes, with some projections indicating 181 zettabytes.
"Digital content has been an integral part of our human experience and economic systems for decades. The overall mission of the center is to foster pioneering research, education, innovation, and entrepreneurship within the broader digital asset technology landscape."
UC Berkeley engineers are also investigating the "twinning" of physical assets, creating replicas that can be analyzed, tested, and assigned present and future value for on-chain trading.