# The value-add **Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) and Initial DEX Offerings (IDOs)** are a new concept, pioneered in late 2019, that has become a standard go-to-market practice for Web3 startups with the emergence of DeFi in 2020. \ They provide an invaluable way for projects to access liquidity and launch, avoiding the sometimes prohibitively expensive centralized initial exchange offering and listing model. **For Startups:** \ Newly launching projects can access the following through HeadStarter: * Visibility across the Hedera Ecosystem * Access to decentralized funding * An early committed user base * Liquidity provisions * Enhanced acceleration and support **For Users:** \ Through our hands-on approach to project launches, with a high focus on project vetting and user interests, we address shortcomings seen in alternative launchpad products. We cater to the advanced needs of IDO Launchpad users by facilitating: * Access to curated projects and protection from predatory practices * Being among the first to access the best upcoming projects * Acting as enabling liquidity, not exit liquidity * Cheaper transactions * Secure and ultra-fast swaps and mints * User-friendly onboarding and swapping experience * Access to important key information about any launching project * The ability to buy and move assets between blockchains Given our support for funding projects in the native cryptocurrency of the Hedera network, $HBAR, we constantly look for ways to extend support for raises in alternative assets such as stablecoins or $HST. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.headstarter.org/what-is-headstarter/mission/the-value-add.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.