Welcome to the first edition of BACKED | by Improbable.

This is where we share progress of the ventures we support, one at a time.

These are startups building the foundations of tomorrow’s internet, tackling hard problems across AI transformation, the metaverse and Web3. Whether it's rethinking global supply chains or reshaping identity in virtual worlds, Improbable ventures are solving diverse, high impact challenges, with outcomes that are already being felt in the real world.

This edition focuses on infrastructure, the foundational systems and technologies within the venture builder enabling new ways to simulate, transact and interact online. 

It features Kallikor, a startup using AI-native simulation to help businesses design and test supply chains for speed, resilience, and cost. We also spotlight major momentum across the ecosystem, from Somnia crossing one billion transactions on its high-performance blockchain, to Jitter, a venture making livestreams interactive, not just something to watch.

Infrastructure is not just a technical layer, it is a leverage point that determines how entire industries evolve. It sets the stage for new behaviours, new markets and new systems, and the ventures in this edition are beginning to show what the future of their industries might look like.

Thanks for reading. We’re glad to have you with us.

Venture Spotlight |

Kallikor wants to become the simulation standard for supply chains. CEO Jonathan Barrett discusses why now is the moment.

With decades of experience across AI, analytics, and SaaS, Jonathan first saw the need for change while working on high-stakes military supply chains.

“We saw mission-critical decisions still being made in spreadsheets,” he says. “That’s when we knew something better had to exist.”

He founded Kallikor in 2024 to build that better alternative: a simulation platform designed for operators, not just data scientists, to test and optimise supply chain strategies in minutes, not months.

Building something ambitious?

We work with founders solving complex problems in AI transformation, the metaverse, and Web3 – the kind that don’t get built alone.

This Month in the Venture Builder |

Somnia crosses one billion transactions as ecosystem momentum builds

Somnia has now processed over one billion transactions on its testnet, breaking records and showing the strength of its high performance infrastructure. This growth is driven by Somnia’s high speeds and low costs, which make it possible to build onchain applications for heavy-data use-cases like gaming, virtual worlds, and social networks. With more than 70 ecosystem projects already onboarded and far exceeding its original goal, Somnia is powering a new wave of gaming and metaverse innovation. Its ability to deliver low-latency execution at scale is attracting growing interest from builders as it moves toward mainnet launch.

Jitter and Somnia push the boundaries of real-time play

Jitter, who is turning livestreams into playable games, teamed up with top gaming streamers Mizkif and Ludwig, known for their massive online followings, to showcase real-time, onchain gameplay. Viewers didn’t just watch the action, they joined it live via Twitch Extensions, controlling the game alongside the streamers. Across both streams, over 6,000 unique players generated nearly 58,000 onchain transactions — from respawns to item buys — all logged on the Somnia blockchain. It’s a major step toward creator-led virtual worlds, where audience participation is persistent, verifiable, and scalable.

Kallikor brings in Ocado and IBM veterans to lead product and growth

Kallikor has named Chris Brett as Chief Technical and Product Officer and Will Lovatt as Chief Revenue Officer. Brett, formerly Head of Robotics at Ocado, brings deep expertise in simulation, AI, and complex systems. Lovatt, a veteran of IBM and Deposco, has a strong track record in scaling enterprise supply chain platforms.  He joins to accelerate Kallikor’s commercial rollout amid rising interest from global operators. The hires support Kallikor’s growth as demand rises for real-time simulation and scenario planning tools.

MSquared solving the identity gap in virtual worlds

MSquared is building the infrastructure for an open, interoperable virtual ecosystem. Its latest release, MSquared Avatars, addresses one of the core challenges in that space: identity. Most avatar systems today are closed, rigid and difficult to scale. They force brands and developers to choose between performance, control or interoperability. MSquared Avatars offers a high-fidelity identity system built for scale, platform freedom and real-world use.

Industry Pulse |

At SEG3 London on June 10, MSquared’s Rob Whitehead joined leading voices from across sports, entertainment, and Web3 to speak on “The Convergence: Sports, Entertainment & Gaming.” His session explored how major studios and sports IPs are treating gaming as a central pillar of fan engagement, marketing, and digital storytelling. Catch the key takeaways from his talk here.

At this month’s Gartner Supply Chain Symposium in Barcelona, the spotlight was on how leaders are rethinking supply chain design to stay ahead of continuous disruption. As the industry moves beyond traditional scenario planning, range-based design and advanced simulation are emerging as critical tools for building flexible, future-ready operations. A key theme was ‘Divergence’: significant deviations from the norm that disrupt supply chains and demand testing of multiple future scenarios. This is exactly what Kallikor’s Adoption platform enables, helping teams adapt and thrive amid uncertainty. You can find more thoughts from the Kallikor team here.

At Entrepreneur Magazine, Improbable CEO Herman Narula reflects on how building large-scale gaming technology led to a breakthrough business shift. By adapting multiplayer infrastructure to launch new ventures at the intersection of AI, gaming, and virtual worlds, Improbable is turning technical expertise into a platform for innovation and growth. Read Herman’s full post here.

That’s it for this month.

As this edition shows, our ecosystem is starting to deliver results. Not just prototypes, but products with impact. We will be back next month with another spotlight and more progress to share.

P.S.

Have feedback, suggestions or topics you'd like us to dive into? Contact us.