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The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has launched an accelerator programme targeting startups in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), as institutional adoption of its blockchain network continues to grow.
The programme, developed in partnership with CV Labs, will support 10 early-stage companies building in payments infrastructure, tokenised real-world assets and decentralised finance.
Selected startups will be eligible for up to $150,000 in funding in XLM, alongside technical support, tokenomics guidance and go-to-market development. The 12-week accelerator is scheduled to begin in August and will run primarily remotely, with an in-person component in Cape Town, South Africa, and a demo day in Lisbon in October.
José Fernández da Ponte, President and Chief Growth Officer at the Stellar Development Foundation.
The launch comes amid rising activity on the Stellar network. SDF said real-world assets on Stellar grew 158% in 2025, while total value locked increased 127%. The network now has more than 10 million active accounts and has processed over 21.5 billion operations, with more than 800 projects building across financial use cases.
Institutional players have increasingly integrated Stellar into their operations. Franklin Templeton expanded its tokenised U.S. Treasury fund, now holding more than $625 million in assets, to European investors on the network. PayPal has launched its PYUSD stablecoin on Stellar, while MoneyGram has introduced a stablecoin-based financial application built on the platform.
Companies including Visa, Mastercard, Wirex and U.S. Bank are also testing or deploying Stellar-based systems for payments and settlement.
SDF said the programme reflects a broader shift among blockchain networks toward regions where demand for cross-border payments and digital financial services is growing rapidly.
The accelerator will be operated by CV Labs, part of blockchain venture capital firm CV VC, which runs innovation hubs across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.