Global payments infrastructure, Celo kicked off its inaugural Africa Web3 Fund event last week in Nairobi. The initiative was an informative workshop for venture capitalists (VC) and Kenyan startups seeking to raise funding for their Web3 projects and businesses looking to transition from Web2 to Web3.
This is the first of a series of 4 events set to take place over the next 4 months of 2022 as Celo seeks to help Web3 projects access the needed funds to either launch or build their solutions on the Celo blockchain ecosystem.
Over 40 businesses and startups attended the program held in Nairobi, including the executives of Unicorn Growth Capital, Flourish Ventures, and Echo VC.
Shortlisted candidates were promised support and assistance in transferring to the Celo ecosystem by Celo and its partners.
M-Changa, a Web2 crowdfunding platform with over 1.5 million users in Kenya, WufWuf, a P2P betting Web3 betting platform, and TMX Global, a cargo logistics company that integrates shipping information about shippers, carriers, and freight forwarders, were among the projects that were showcased at the event.
Furthermore, the Venture Capitalists held a remarkable informative and enlightening conversation about Web3 investments.
Speaking on the opportunities in Kenya, Echo VC principal, Tsendai Chagwedera highlighted that there exists an opportunity to build a blockchain / Web3-focussed accelerator program to support the ecosystem in the country.
Additionally, Flourish Ventures principal, Carr Efoyomi, advised founders to consider raising small amounts that give them a 6-8-month runway over waiting for big cheques from established VCs.
Unicorn Growth Capital principal, Duncan Muchangi, added that founders should consider timing the launch of their tokens to ensure they get the maximum impact in terms of liquidity and time-to-market.
The event concluded with a 3-minute speed networking session where founders met one-on-one with VCs to further pitch their projects.
The next stop for the Web3 fund is later this month in Nigeria. Ghana, Uganda, and South Africa will follow in that order.