Cointime

Download App
iOS & Android

Africa-Focused Venture Capital Firm Echovc Launches Blockchain Fund

The pan-African venture capital firm, Echovc, recently said it had launched an $8 million fund which is dedicated to Africa’s blockchain startups. According to the company’s blog post, the fund known as the Echovc Chain will be accessible to startups that are attempting to solve the continent’s challenges using the blockchain.

The Techcabal report revealed that Echovc has deployed over $41 million across 36 startups globally. In Africa, the VC firm has mainly targeted startups in the so-called underserved markets such as Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda. Startups that leverage blockchain to power foundational fintech infrastructure are among the firms being targeted. Firms focused on blockchain functionality and decentralized autonomous organizations also qualify for funding.

According to Echovc, once the funds are fully deployed, its portfolio of companies will have increased to between 12 and 20 companies.

(By Terence Zimwara)

Comments

All Comments

Recommended for you

  • Crypto startup Lagrange Labs raises $13.2 million

    Peter Thiel's Founders Fund led a seed funding round of $13.2 million for the cryptocurrency startup Lagrange Labs. In addition to Founders Fund, the seed funding for Lagrange also included participation from Archetype Ventures, 1kx, Maven11, Fenbushi Capital, Volt Capital, CMT Digital, Mantle, and Ecosystem.
  • Arbelos, a primary market trader in cryptocurrencies, has raised $28 million in funding, led by Dragonfly

    Arbelos completed a funding round of $28 million, led by Dragonfly with participation from FalcolnX, Circle, Paxos, Polygon, and Deribit. Arbelos Markets will primarily focus on derivatives and over-the-counter trading for institutional participants, providing trading liquidity for companies such as hedge funds and venture capital firms as counterparties for popular products such as options and futures.
  • British neobank Monzo raises $190 million, led by Hedosophia and CapitalG

    Monzo, a new bank in the UK, has raised $190 million in funding with Hedosophia and CapitalG (Alphabet's independent growth fund) leading the way. This latest funding round brings Monzo's total funding for the year to $610 million, with a post-funding valuation of $5.2 billion. Monzo CEO and co-founder TS Anil stated that the plan is to use this cash to create new products and accelerate international expansion plans.
  • Lava Foundation Completes $11 Million Funding

    Lava Foundation, the developer of modular blockchain network Lava, announced the completion of a $11 million financing round. Participants included Animoca Brands, Gate.io Ventures, CoinGecko Ventures, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, Ash Crypto, CryptoLark, and media outlets Crypto Times Japan, Le Journal Du Coin and The Rollup. It is reported that the mainnet launch and airdrop are expected to take place in the coming months.
  • Bitcoin second-layer network ZKM completes $5 million Pre-A financing, led by OKX Ventures

    According to The Block, Bitcoin layer-two network ZKM announced the completion of a $5 million Pre-A financing, led by OKX Ventures, with participation from Amber, Metis Foundation, Crypto.com, and other companies. It is reported that ZKM is a zero-knowledge proof-based network aimed at unifying blockchains and creating a settlement layer on Ethereum.
  • Botanix Labs announces $11.5 million in funding, with participation from Polychain Capital and others

    Botanix Labs announced that it has raised $11.5 million in funding, with participation from Polychain Capital, Placeholder Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and ABCDE, among others. Other investors include Andrew Kang, Fiskantes, Dan Held, The Crypto Dog, Charlie Spears, Altcoin Sherpa, Dovey Wan, Jebus, Icebergy, Crypto ISO, Davis, Walt Smith, and Domo, the creator of the BRC-20 token standard.
  • Galaxis Completes $10 Million Financing, with Chainlink, Rarestone Capital and Others Participating

    Singaporean Web3 platform Galaxis announced that it had completed a $10 million financing round before the issuance of its tokens. Participants in this round of financing include Chainlink, ENS, Rarestone Capital, Taisu Ventures, and ENS co-founder Nick Johnson. Galaxis claims to be a "post-hype era NFT practical platform" and has previously launched NFT series for celebrities such as DJ SteveAoki and actor ValKilmer. The platform has sold more than 225,000 NFTs, generating sales of over 32,000 ETH (approximately $100 million) in the secondary market, and is currently preparing for large-scale distribution.
  • Blockchain Asset Management announces launch of a dedicated blockchain fund for accredited investors

    Blockchain Asset Management, a cryptocurrency fund with a scale of $100 million, announced the launch of an exclusive blockchain fund for qualified investors. The specific amount of funds raised by the fund has not been disclosed yet, but it is said to have reached "eight figures", which means it is in the tens of millions of dollars. In addition, the investment threshold for the new fund is $100,000, and all investors are required to meet the approved standards (annual income exceeding $200,000, net assets exceeding $1 million).
  • Shanghai Municipal Party Committee Secretary: Welcome Standard Chartered to establish more new institutions, new businesses and new platforms such as blockchain in Shanghai

    Chen Jinong, the Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, met with Weihao Si, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Standard Chartered Bank, and Mark William D'Arcy, the Executive Director, and some members of the Board of Directors yesterday morning. Chen Jinong stated that he welcomes Standard Chartered Bank to leverage its own advantages, strengthen strategic connections, place more new institutions, businesses, and platforms such as wealth management and blockchain in Shanghai, focus on deepening pragmatic cooperation in technology finance, green finance, digital finance, and create more application scenarios, and provide comprehensive and professional service support for enterprises to go abroad.
  • Vitalik: Humanity needs to create a world where blockchain and artificial intelligence work together

    Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, stated at BiddleAsia 2024 held at Signiel Seoul in the Songpa district on March 28 that artificial intelligence is a huge market and its importance is increasing day by day. We need to create a world where blockchain and artificial intelligence work together. Artificial intelligence can now create applications with 100 to 500 lines of code. Vitalik also stated that the ability to write 10,000 lines of code can eliminate most of the bugs in the Ethereum virtual machine.