Celo Foundation unveils a Web3 Fund

The Foundation engages in meet-ups with local developer communities in the African region through ambassadors and pioneers projects focusing on microwork and decentralized finance (DeFi) lending.

The fund is open to all Africa-based start up applicants; founders who are residents of the continent will be given preferential review.

The Celo Africa Web3 Fund introduces startups to equity investors from venture capital (VC) firms, including Unicorn Growth Capital, Echo VC, Uncovered Fund, and Flori Ventures, a seed-stage VC who invests in the Celo ecosystem. The Celo Developer Guild also provides technical assistance alongside partners, such as blockchain development platform Tatum, and Ape Unit, a network of creators, strategists, developers, and designers.

Further benefits provided by the fund include in-person workshops, mentorships with the Celo Foundation Research and Innovation team, and marketing support. Fund applicants can also apply for membership to the Alliance for Prosperity to collaborate directly with mission-aligned organizations fostering social impact and financial inclusion on Celo.

Some of the confirmed speakers for the Uganda workshop include members of Celo’s Alliance for Prosperity, such as Noah Baalesanvu (Cryptosavannah), Peter Kakoma (Kanzu Code), and Reginald Tumusiime (Capital Savvy).

Ugandan innovators are being urged to develop their ideas and make them more community-centred and impactful if they intend to benefit from outside funding.

This was the call made during the unveiling of a Web3 Fund by Celo Foundation, a non-profit organization, with the aim to develop Ugandan start-ups in support of block chain technology.

The Uganda Ecosystem Lead at the Celo Foundation, Umar Bukenya Ssebyala said that as part of the Celo Foundation’s global mission to create a more inclusive global financial system, the non-profit organisation will see the fund, help scale African start-up projects building on Celo in support of block chain technology and Web3 adoption.

He added that the new fund builds on Celo’s existing presence in Africa and targets various verticals in the financial innovation space, including payments, remittances, savings, and lending.

“There’s great potential for Web3 adoption by start-ups in Uganda and across the continent, which is undeterred by the bear market,” said Ssebyala, noting that “the Celo ecosystem is seeing continued momentum for building meaningful use cases in the East African region, from e-commerce marketplaces to projects for climate action”.