EchoVC, a technology-focused early-stage VC firm with offices in Lagos that invests in underrepresented founders and underdeveloped markets, has launched EchoVC Chain, a $8 million “pilot” seed fund for blockchain startups.
“At EchoVC, we’ve been captivated by blockchains for the previous few years. The more we explored and learned, the more enthusiastic we were about blockchain’s applications and functions in Africa, the company said.
The company continued, “We feel that blockchain functionality is more of a necessity than a desire for African markets, and our thesis is to use these functionalities to enable new leapfrogs or create unique market opportunities throughout the continent.
An $8 million pilot seed fund called EchoVC Chain is dedicated to funding entrepreneurs and firms across EchoVC’s key focus areas.
“Yet, our viewpoint on the uses of blockchain in Africa spans several levels. Our initial layer of attention is on the basic fintech infrastructure. In addition, it studies the unbundling and delivery of crypto/fintech building blocks, or “primitives,” which other businesses can use to scale more quickly, according to EchoVC.
This includes infrastructure that uses stablecoins to optimize payments, liquidity, and treasury.
The power of blockchain to abstract or tokenize information and to scale on its own have both thrilled the organization.
EchoVC launched its first investment in the blockchain industry in 2021 and has since made close to 40 investments in businesses operating in a variety of global marketplaces.
Read more on Tech Gist Africa:
Curacel, an insurtech startup in Nigeria, secures $3 million in seed funding
SunFi, a clean tech startup in Nigeria, receives $2.33 million in seed funding
Releaf, a Nigerian agri-tech startup, has raised $3.3m in a pre-Series A funding round
