Grace Ashiru
EchoVC, a technology-focused early-stage VC firm with offices in Lagos that invests in underrepresented founders and underdeveloped markets, has launched EchoVC Chain, an $8 million “pilot” seed fund for blockchain startups.
Since a few years ago, blockchains have been very interesting to us at EchoVC. The company said that the more they looked into blockchain and learned about it, the more excited they got about how it could be used in Africa.
The company continued, “We think that blockchain functionality is more of a need than a want for African markets, and we want to exploit these capabilities to generate fresh leapfrogs or distinct market opportunities around the continent.”
EchoVC Chain is an $8 million pilot seed fund that will help entrepreneurs and businesses in EchoVC’s key areas.
Still, we have many different ideas about how blockchain can be used in Africa. Our first focus is on the most fundamental parts of the fintech infrastructure. EchoVC also looks into the unbundling and delivery of crypto/fintech building blocks, or “primitives,” that other businesses can use to grow faster.
This includes infrastructure that uses stablecoins to improve payments, liquidity, and treasury.
The organization is excited about how blockchain can abstract or tokenize information and grow on its own.
In 2021, EchoVC made its first investment in the blockchain sector. Since then, it has made close to 40 investments in companies in a wide range of global markets.
