Wicrypt Network, Africa’s first blockchain-based WiFi sharing network, announced today that it has raised $1.5 million in funding. Polygon creator Sandeep Nailwal, Cardano’s Occam, Inclusion Capital, Outlier Ventures, Chain Capital, Pluto Digital Assets, Onega Ventures, N7 Labs, and PolkaFoundary are among the investors in the round. 

“While we have formed substantial business partnerships in Africa, this funding allows us to grow into new countries by increasing our marketing efforts,” said Ugochukwu Aronu, CEO of Wicrypt. “Wicrypt is providing last-mile internet to people of the world who need it, while leveraging the blockchain by having hosts stake $WNT to become a part of the Wicrypt Network. This ensures overall security of the network and that hosts do not perform malicious actions while providing internet connections to clients.”

Why The Investors Invested

“Investing in an already-profitable company is rare in the blockchain space, but on top of that, Wicrypt is giving people the ability to access the internet in regions where WiFi can be very expensive and unattainable for many people,” said Sandeep Nailwal, Co-founder and COO of Polygon. “By empowering people to share their WiFi and make money, they are making this a win-win situation for all involved, particularly in remote regions where large internet companies are not incentivized to provide coverage.”

The investors are a few of the most well-known crypto/blockchain funds, having investments in some of the most ground-breaking blockchain initiatives.

A Look At What WiCrypt Does

Wicrypt made its debut in Africa in 2018 as the continent’s first peer-to-peer mobile internet sharing network. Before becoming profitable in 2020, the company was bootstrapped by its founder, Ugochukwu Aronu.

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The startup makes it possible to share an Internet connection via a smartphone or a WiCrypto hotspot maker, a personalized gadget that allows for data collection on clients, thanks to its mobile application. The owners of connected devices must pay to receive access to the internet, which is represented by unique non-fungible tokens (NFTs) associated to the blockchain.

“Wicrypt provides the Internet to the people of the world who need it, while taking advantage of the blockchain by asking hosts to bet on WNT [the startup’s cryptocurrency, Editor’s note] to be part of the Wicrypt network,” said Aronu Ugochukwu , CEO of WiCrypt.

The startup, which claims the status of the leading peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile internet sharing network on the continent, has signed an exclusive partnership with the Nigerian city of Enugu, to give internet access to its residents.

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As a reminder, internet connection is not available in many parts of the continent. According to the World Association of Telephone Operators (GSMA), the mobile internet penetration rate was 28% in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020.

Wicrypt Wifi Enugu blockchain Wicrypt Wifi Enugu blockchain

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 write