Switzerland-based Crypto Valley Venture Capital has announced it is launching an Africa-focused fund to support blockchain startups on the continent. The announcement was made at the Blockchain Hub adjacent to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The company, also known as CV VC, is an early-stage venture capital investor with a focus on global startups that build solutions using blockchain technology with an objective to invest in 100 startups in Africa over the next four years.
In its press release, CV VC said it has in at least 12 startups so far where “blockchain use cases go far beyond cryptocurrencies to drive Africa’s future to date” and through the fund, it aims to raise between 10 to 50 million USD.
A startup from Nigeria known as Leading House Africa is among the 12 startups that CV VC has invested in. Leading House plugs an essential gap in Africa as it will allow smoother and faster registration of land on the blockchain.
Ghanaian mobile payments platform, Mazzuma is another beneficiary of the fund and according to CV VC co-founder, Olaf Hannemann, most fund recipients are expected to come from South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Egypt although the fund is open to projects from anywhere on the continent.
“We just want the best ideas from everywhere,” Hannemann said.
CV VC released the African Blockchain Report on Monday, highlighting the sector’s rapid expansion across Africa. According to the research, financing for African blockchain businesses has grown 11 times faster than overall African venture capital funding.
The report also highlighted how Africa is a fast-growing crypto market with an explosive potential to attract large investments from the crypto sector. This is seen through crucial partnerships in the industry.
The Swiss-based CV VC is in a public-private partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Switzerland’s labour market authority.
Partnerships have proven fruitful for Africa as seen just earlier this month when Pan-African centralized crypto exchange Mara raised $23 million through a funding partnership led by Coinbase Ventures and Alameda Research. This deal is detailed here.