Startup Lagos

25-Feb-2025

Startup Raises

Israeli Unicorn StarkWare Launches $4 Million Fund to Invest in African Blockchain Startups 2 months ago

StarkWare, an Israeli blockchain infrastructure company valued at $8 billion, has announced the launch of a $4 million fund dedicated to investing in pre-seed and seed-stage startups across Africa, capitalizing on the continent's increasing adoption of blockchain technology.

The Africa-focused fund aims to provide grants of up to $150,000 to early-stage startups, with the potential for larger investments available for projects that are built on StarkNet, StarkWare's proprietary decentralized application platform operating on the Ethereum blockchain. The fund will specifically target high-potential startups in West, South, and East Africa, emphasizing teams that possess strong technical expertise coupled with local business knowledge to develop scalable blockchain solutions.

Kheireddine Kamal, Head of Africa Ventures at StarkWare, highlighted the fund's focus on projects in African nations facing economic challenges, stating, "We are looking for projects in African countries that have economic conditions such as high inflation, unstable exchange rates, or low financial inclusion, with a local population interested in blockchain."

Startups selected for funding will also benefit from mentorship opportunities and may secure additional investments from StarkWare, potentially reaching up to $500,000, with larger amounts available for exceptional projects. By investing in decentralized applications (dApps) built on StarkNet, StarkWare seeks to empower African businesses to bypass traditional financial systems, leveraging the scalability and cost-efficiency offered by blockchain technology.

Africa's youthful population—projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050—coupled with rapidly increasing cryptocurrency adoption, positions the continent as a burgeoning global digital powerhouse. With consumer and business spending in Africa expected to reach $6.7 trillion by 2030, the pace of blockchain adoption is accelerating.

"Blockchain presents a unique opportunity for many parts of Africa to leapfrog outdated infrastructures and democratize access to financial tools with more decentralization and transparency," stated Eli Ben-Sasson, StarkWare CEO and co-founder.

Founded in 2018 by Eli Ben-Sasson, Uri Kolodny, Michael Riabzev, and Alessandro Chiesa, StarkWare specializes in developing zero-knowledge proof systems to tackle scalability challenges within blockchain networks like Ethereum. The company's primary products include StarkEx, a scaling engine launched in June 2020 that aggregates transactions into a single proof for enhanced cost and energy efficiency, and StarkNet, a decentralized Layer 2 network introduced in June 2021 that facilitates scalable decentralized applications (dApps) with lower transaction fees.

"StarkNet is a particularly interesting path to blockchain, as it is currently a Layer 2 over Ethereum and plans to also operate over Bitcoin," Kamal explained. "This can be great for Africa as it can mean that the 'scaling squared' approach also means a 'liquidity squared' approach."

With this new fund, StarkWare is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of blockchain innovation across Africa, fostering a new generation of startups that can leverage the power of decentralized technologies to drive economic growth and financial inclusion across the continent.

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