CVVC - Afrikan Heroes

Swiss Blockchain Investor CV VC Now Live In Cape Town, Its African Headquarters

July 17, 2022

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.

Ian Putter, head of Blockchain Centre of Excellence at Standard Bank Group

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.

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.

“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.

“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.”

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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

Swiss Venture Capital Firm, CV VC, Launches In South Africa, To Invest Up To $125k In African Blockchain Startups

July 15, 2021

This is not the first time Swiss venture capital firm, Crypto Valley Venture Capital (CV VC), would be investing in an African blockchain startup. In 2019, the VC invested $75,000 in South Africa’s PocketJam for a 10% stake. However, the VC’s investments have always been made after blockchain startups have passed through its Labs Incubation Programme located in Zug, Switzerland. But now, the venture capital firm wants to launch its African operations in Cape Town, South Africa to focus exclusively on African blockchain/crypto startups.

The CV VC office in South Africa would be established with the help of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). CV VC will use the office to search for and fund the top blockchain startups in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Congo, and other African countries. Each of the first five successful candidates will get $125,000 (CHF114,000) from the incubator, with Seco investing CHF250,000 in the first year of the project.

“This start-up funding is intended to show that investments in African start-ups that develop blockchain-based solutions for the challenges on the African continent are worthwhile,” says Seco. “This positive demonstration could mobilise further private capital and generate jobs.”

Previously, CV VC had opened an office in Dubai where and has recently attracted CHF13 million in extra investment capital.

CV VC Africa — *The team at CV VC. Image credits: CV VC*

CV VC’s Interest In Africa Is Partly Backed By The Swiss Government

Switzerland’s foreign policy prioritizes Sub-Saharan Africa. That strategy will heavily rely on external links and digitalization. To that end, Switzerland’s “Crypto Nation” is supporting a public-private cooperation aimed at developing blockchain solutions to some of the continent’s problems.

In addition to the incubation initiative, the Swiss embassy and the University of Zurich are partnering to establish a blockchain chair at the University of Johannesburg, which will be partially funded by both Switzerland and South Africa.

The collaboration exemplifies how Switzerland, the self-proclaimed “Crypto Nation,” can expand its impact around the globe. Approximately 5,000 jobs are supported by nearly 1,000 blockchain startups in Switzerland. The upgrade of company and financial laws to integrate DLT and digital assets into the economy has boosted it this year.

“There are a lot of immigrants in South Africa from neighbouring countries who send money home to support their families. A lack of financial infrastructure does not make it easy to send these remittances,” CV VC South Africa hub managing director Gideon Greaves said.

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer