Africa-Centered Enterprise Capital Agency Echovc Launches Blockchain Fund
March 17, 2023
The Africa-focused enterprise capital (VC) agency, Echovc, has launched a fund that seeks to assist blockchain startups on the continent. Whereas world blockchain funding has been on a decline over the previous yr, Echovc founder Eghosa Omoigui claimed that investing now allows the VC to get in “at decrease entry valuations on common than in prior years.”
Startups Providing Blockchain-Based mostly Options Qualify for Funding
The pan-African enterprise capital agency, Echovc, not too long ago mentioned it had launched an $8 million fund which is devoted to Africa’s blockchain startups. In accordance with the corporate’s blog post, the fund referred to as the Echovc Chain shall be accessible to startups which might be making an attempt to resolve the continent’s challenges utilizing the blockchain.
As famous in a report by Techcabal, Echovc’s new fund has been launched at a time when world funding for crypto and blockchain startups has been declining. The drop in funding has already forced some entrepreneurs to promote their startups.
Echovc Targets Underserved African Nations
But, regardless of this plunge in funding, Eghosa Omoigui, the founder and basic managing accomplice at Echovc, is quoted within the report suggesting that now’s the best time to fund startups as a result of doing so permits the VC “to take a position at decrease entry valuations on common than in prior years.” The founder added:
Whereas this has considerably decreased VC urge for food for crypto investing, we proceed to stay excited concerning the helpful functions of crypto and blockchain in Africa, and consider that crypto founders in Africa will proceed to construct for performance to resolve issues in Africa.
In the meantime, the Techcabal report additionally revealed that Echovc has deployed over $41 million throughout 36 startups globally. In Africa, the VC agency has primarily focused startups within the so-called underserved markets resembling Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. Startups that leverage blockchain to energy foundational fintech infrastructure are among the many corporations being focused. Companies centered on blockchain performance and decentralized autonomous organizations additionally qualify for funding.
In accordance with Echovc, as soon as the funds are absolutely deployed, its portfolio of corporations can have elevated to between 12 and 20 corporations.
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