Crypto Valley Venture Capital (CV VC) of Switzerland and its ecosystem company CV Labs have chosen Cape Town as the location for their African-based blockchain incubation hub.
CV VC, based in Switzerland, is a private venture capital firm that provides seed money and an incubation programme to worldwide innovation teams in exchange for equity.
According to the company, CV Labs Cape Town is the first dedicated space in Africa that will allow blockchain startups to thrive, with the goal of becoming the heartbeat of the African blockchain ecosystem.
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It goes on to say that the opening of CV Labs Cape Town represents the culmination of Switzerland and South Africa’s involvement with blockchain technology, which began with bilateral education, research, and innovation cooperation in 2019.
CV Labs already operates blockchain hubs in Switzerland (Zug) and Liechtenstein (Vaduz), with a Germany (Berlin) launch in the works, in addition to the Cape Town facility.
“Our objective to Africa is to empower blockchain start-ups to catalyse higher socio-economic wellbeing for its people and industries,” says Gideon Greaves, MD of CV VC Africa. CV VC has proved its profound commitment to the region by creating the CV Labs Cape Town hub, after its investment in 12 African start-ups and the publication of the inaugural African Blockchain Report in collaboration with Standard Bank.
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“We are equally excited about the forthcoming launch of our African Blockchain Early Stage Fund, which will allow global investors to invest alongside CV VC in African tech expertise.”
According to CV VC, the African continent is embracing the increased independence provided by blockchain technology, saying that Africans perceive new-age technology as a means of enhancing everyday life while tackling basic problems.
Ian Putter, head of Blockchain Centre of Excellence at Standard Bank Group, and regional director of the Blockchain Research Institute Africa, adds: “I believe the real potential for exponential leaps in financial inclusion lies in the blockchain infrastructure that underpins crypto assets rather than in the assets themselves.
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“We are very excited to see the opening of CV Labs Cape Town, as it will enable the further emergence of blockchain as a resource from which Africa can build great blockchain enterprises.”
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh