The community-led startup Afropolitan, also known as the company behind “The Year of Return” event in Ghana, has raised $2.1 million (£1.8 million) in pre-seed funding to bring its vision to life, with Srinivasan being one of its investors. The funding round, which saw African-based VC firms Atlantica Ventures and Microtraction participate, also included angel investors Balaji Srinivasan, Elizabeth Yin of Hustle Fund, and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji of Future Africa. Afropolitan, co-founded by Eche Emole and Chika Uwazie in 2016, works to create community-led events for Africans and those in the
Over in Los Angeles, Jonathan Moore, 25, left his Wall Street career to work as an analyst at TCG Capital Management. He pitched the idea for the firm to launch a crypto fund, believing the intersection of web3 and the creator economy could tap a generation of untapped talent. Since launching the fund in September 2021, he has closed over 20 deals and says the outlook for this year is equally promising. He’s not the only young person getting into the VC scene. Gen Zs are getting into the space
This month, the city will be opening the Atlanta Blockchain Center (ABC) – its first blockchain startup incubator. Opening in Buckhead, the headquarters — founded by serial tech entrepreneur Marlon Williams — will welcome anyone interested in learning more about blockchain technology. The center is looking to bring together the growing Blockchain-related community and put Atlanta on the map for the development of crypto, Blockchain, and Web3.0 technologies. Fully funded and operated by Starter Labs, ABC is set to feature a coworking space and training center, according to the press release.
Jack Dorsey, the former CEO and co-founder of Twitter Inc and the founder of Block Inc, has teamed up with rapper Jay-Z to launch and self-fund The Bitcoin Academy. The 12-week program will take place in Brooklyn for Marcy House residents with the aim to provide the community with all the necessary tools to gain financial independence, inclusion, and literacy in the childhood place of Jay-Z. It will consist of a series of online and in-person classes focusing on Bitcoin, and the classes will take place twice per week. Notably, the participants of The
Calaxy, a Black-owned web3 social marketplace, has raised $26 million in strategic funding co-led by Animoca Brands and HBAR Foundation with support from Polygon. This raise follows a $7.5 million seed round in 2021 with investors like Animoca Brands, Red Beard Ventures, ArkStream Capital, NGC Ventures, and Genesis Block Ventures. The seed round also had support from NFL player Ezekiel Elliott, “The Bachelor” Matt James, and former PayPal head of Blockchain Strategy Jonathan Padilla, among others. Calaxy aims to build a new infrastructure that allows content creators, ranging from small influencers to big-time celebrities, to
In April, startups across the African continent raised $413,143,000 across 38 fully-disclosed deals. That means – for this year – April was ranked the lowest in terms of funding announcements made, 41% ($296 million) less than what was announced in March, and 34% ($216 million) less than February’s announcement. Per sector, the top three sectors are energy-tech, fintech, and logistics. Energy leads with $289,800,000 (70.1%); fintech with $53,500,000 (12.9%); and logistics with $34,000,000 (8.2%). But so much more has been happening in the African tech space, and we’ve compiled it all here: Bitcoin
At VeeCon 2022 — the first-ever NFT-ticketed conference — music mogul Pharrell Williams shared with attendees his belief that Web3 could hold the power to create real global change. During an onstage interview with entrepreneur and event creator Gary Vaynerchuk, he said: “You come here talking to the people about the blockchain and Web3. What you should know is, this is a moment in time where everything is changing right now. “You all are looking at these old systems—you know that they’re antiquated, you know that they don’t work. And you
Grammy award-winning artist, Miguel, has just been announced as the newest Global Creative Director for T3MP0, a digital studio that creates web3 communities for A-List talent and brands. He is reportedly the first musical artist of “his stature” to be involved in creating a web3 studio from the ground up, according to the company’s press release. As T3MP0’s creative director, Miguel will extend his extensive collaboration history into partnering with the world’s biggest talent and brands in the web3 space. “We are very excited to support Miguel’s creative vision for the
In February, Prestige magazine published a list of the top-selling pieces of crypto-art to date, with all entries sharing some common traits – they were all men and all white. And when you look into the news reports of those who’re supposedly ‘killing it’ in the NFT or crypto space most of them look the same. But here at POCIT – we’re all about shining a light on the communities that are sometimes cast to the side and forgotten even when they’re making a considerable impact. Before we begin – for
Cryptocurrency has created wealth and opportunity – with a generous dash of controversy – for millions around the globe but for Himanshu Kumar, a college drop-out from the Indian city of Bengaluru, Crypto has been the thing that has made his dreams become a reality. Today he runs AMB Crypto, a global media company that serves digestible, unbiased cryptocurrency news to traders, enthusiasts, and entrepreneurs, with Jeevan Thomas. The duo now employs 15 graduate journalists, has a newsletter with thousands of subscribers, and over 3 million visitors to the website every month, according to
