The EMURGO and Adaverse executives recently hosted founders and members of blockchain communities and media at the Blockchain Founders Hangout 2.0.
The hangout provided a forum for networking and idea sharing and brought together investors from EMURGO and Adaverse, startup founders, and potential entrepreneurs. The EMURGO and Adaverse teams were given the chance to hear quick pitches from the startup founders about their enterprises.
In attendance were Shogo Ishida, Executive Director for Middle East and Africa, EMURGO Africa; Yosuke Yoshida, Co-CEO for Middle East and Africa, EMURGO Africa; William Phelps, Adaverse Investment Manager; Hiroshi Yokoyama, Growth Partner, Cardano Africa; Chimezie Chuta, Adaverse Partner, and other members of the EMURGO and Adaverse teams.
In her introductory remarks, Chimezie Chuta discussed how blockchain technology may change people’s lives and how this inspired the creation of Adaverse, a Cardano Ecosystem Accelerator aimed at sponsoring blockchain-related entrepreneurs in Africa.
Chuta also said that they had done their research and are looking at the areas where people can get funding. In addition, beyond funding, Adaverse also teaches people other things they need to grow their startup via an accelerator program.
A brief presentation on the Cardano Foundation and EMURGO was given by Yosuke Yoshida. In his opinion, Cardano is a third-generation blockchain. Ranked sixth in the crypto market cap, it is an open-source proof-of-stake blockchain project launched in 2015 to address existing challenges in cryptocurrency design and development.
According to Yoshida, the Cardano blockchain is solving the issues of scalability, interoperability, and sustainability better than other blockchains, adding that the goal of the Cardano Foundation is to be the leading project for the next decade.
He also discussed the development benefits and advantages of the Cardano blockchain over most blockchains and listed some of EMURGO’s products, including the Yoroi Wallet and Fibo, Cardano’s open-source NFT marketplace.
Shogo Ishida followed after Yoshida’s presentation and spoke on how founders can get funding from venture capital (VC) firms.
Using AfriBlocks’ success story as an example, Ishida said people seeking funding should have a clear and concise mission statement. Secondly, he said that the solutions to the problems businesses are trying to solve must align. Also, the projects should match their achievements with milestones shown as evidence. He concluded by advising founders to have a team with members whose careers are relevant to what they are building.
Additionally, he recommended that companies initially grow naturally rather than rushing to secure finance. He claims that enterprises that are bootstrapped are more promising to investors than ventures that are not.
He said founders should always ask themselves if it is the right time to give away equity.
He concluded the event by advising the founders present to know their projects, be clear about what they are looking for in terms of funding, and exercise patience.