Four African blockchain startups have been selected to participate in the CV Labs Global Incubation Programme, which will provide them with US$125,000 in funding and access to a three-month intensive incubation program that includes four blocks of learning.
Mazzuma, an international remittance and mobile money platform based in Ghana; HouseAfrica, a digital property validation system based in Nigeria; Pravica, a decentralized communication suite for enterprises based in Egypt; and CARMA, a P2P data marketplace for the unbanked based in Nigeria, are the four startups selected.
In partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), CV VC is now expanding into Africa, with plans to construct the continent’s first blockchain-focused accelerator and invest in 100 startups over the next four years.
CV VC, based in Switzerland, provides global tech teams with seed funding and an incubation program called CV Labs in exchange for equity.
The programme, which also includes BlockFrauds (UK) and CO2DAO (Switzerland), recently kicked off with “Africa Week,” in which CV VC partner Binance Smart Chain, the University of Johannesburg, and the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative collaborated with the startups for a week in both Cape Town and Johannesburg.
CV Labs has already incubated 22 startups globally, and Gideon Greaves, managing director of CV VC Africa, said he was delighted to see the evolving fruition of its project with SECO to support the development of an independent blockchain ecosystem in Africa.
“We have had tremendous success since our launch and Africa is excited! We have received more applications from African startups than from the rest of the world. I believe Africa is teaching us about the true use cases of blockchain and the opportunity it presents for greater inclusion,” he said.
Nnamdi Uba, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of HouseAfrica, said the startup chose to join the programme run by CV VC because of a “shared mutual belief that blockchain technology has the power to transform socioeconomics, solve everyday problems, and of course, change people’s lives”.
“At HouseAfrica, we are building a system whereby all property transactions will be recorded in a safe, secure, and transparent manner. Nigeria is a country where data is still largely documented on paper and blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionise this. We are excited to be a part of the CV Labs Incubation Programme which is the longest established incubator and the most experienced blockchain ecosystem in Europe,” he said.