Unicorn Growth Capital and EchoVC Join Celo Foundation’s Africa Efforts Unicorn Growth Capital, an Africa-focused venture fund, and EchoVC, a technology-focused, early-stage venture capital firm for underrepresented founders and underserved markets, join the Celo Foundation in supporting Web3 projects across Africa through dedicated Celo ecosystem investment funds.
The Celo Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit that supports the growth and development of the carbon-negative, mobile-first, layer-1 Celo platform, continues to strengthen its presence in Africa, nurturing a robust ecosystem of cutting-edge founders and builders, expanding Web3 adoption through real-world use cases in Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, and beyond.
Aliu Musa, the Celo Foundation’s Africa ecosystem head, claims 50 African firms raised venture rounds through the ecosystem last year. “Africa is one of the world’s fastest-growing crypto marketplaces, worth over $100 billion, and communities in Kenya, Nigeria, and elsewhere are using Web3 technologies. Our founders and builders are redefining people’s connection to financial goods to help them better their lives.
Read also AfDB to Establish African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation
Flori Ventures, a Web3 impact fund and Celo Foundation partner, has invested in Celo’s Africa ecosystem, including Nigerian blockchain payments firm Bitmama. Flori co-founder and general partner Ryan Nesbitt says, “We’ve invested in over a dozen African Celo firms.” We believe this breakthrough technology can provide actual people permanent prosperity.
Continent-wide engagement and recognition
The Celo Africa Web3 Fund, founded in August, intends to expand African startup initiatives built on Celo to boost blockchain technology and Web3 adoption. Shortlisted candidates get equity, coaching, tools, and marketing help through workshops. Accra (Sep. 26), Kampala (Oct. 25), and (Nov. 8) Johannesburg have upcoming workshops .
Alliance for Prosperity member Canza Finance, which aims to empower underprivileged Sub-Saharan African SMEs with access to financial services, won the Most Innovative Product award at the Celo x Huobi Hackathon. Canza’s founders Pascal Ntsama and Oyedeji Oluwole raised $3.27M in venture investment.
Read also Nigerian Fintech Startup Vella to Boost Borderless Money Transfers
Under-banked communities financial access
The Celo Foundation completed a three-month employer lending programme for rural farmers in Nanyuki, Kenya, with Kotani Pay, a Nairobi-based blockchain off-ramp service that connects protocols, dapps, and fintech services to local payment channels in Africa; Mercy Corps Ventures; and Cinch, an agriculture company that leases farmland from smallholder farmers and hires farmers.
Cinch farmers received loans via DeFi and SMS. This use case illustrates the embedded lending industry, which is expected to increase 49.5% year until 2029. Over 91% of loans were repaid, with landowners and full-time employees repaying the most; 100% of female borrowers repaid their debts despite being cautious throughout the loan withdrawal period.
Kotani Pay has also been recognised as a Digital Public Good by the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA), a global, multi-stakeholder initiative to accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals in low- and middle-income countries by facilitating the discovery, development, use, and investment in digital public goods to create a more equitable world.
Educational events & programming
Founders and crypto enthusiasts congregate monthly at the Kampala Blockchain Happy Hour, led by Umar Sebyala, the Celo Foundation’s Uganda ecosystem lead. The Foundation promotes university outreach in Uganda, Nigeria, and Kenya, where Daniel Kimotho leads code jams for impact.
Read also Africa-focused Blockchain Payments Startup Bitmama Raises $2M Pre-seed
The Celo Foundation works with Dacade, a peer-to-peer education platform, to produce blockchain programming courses. The Foundation partners with Dacade’s team to conduct online and in-person courses for Kenyan developers at EthSafari.
Ejara, a mobile investment and savings platform focused on Francophone Africa and founded by Cameroonian Nelly Chatue-Diop, launched Ejara School on YouTube to expand understanding of blockchain technology and introduced its Ejara Lionesses initiative, which provides ongoing financial training, mentorship, and skills to women entrepreneurs.
The Celo Foundation and Celo’s ecosystem of creators and builders in Africa will increase awareness of Web3’s revolutionary effect at upcoming events, including EthSafari (Sept. 18–24) and Africa Tech Summit (Sep. 27 & 28).
Read also Group Launches New ICT Skills Registry Launched in South Africa
The Celo Foundation was created in 2017 to support the decentralised, open source, mobile-first Celo platform to construct a carbon-negative financial system that provides wealth for everybody. The Foundation supports an equitable financial system via education, technological research, environmental health, community participation, and ecological outreach.
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://insightsbyexpert