UNICEF Venture Fund Blockchain Cohort Update
Key insights from our first six months with the cohort of blockchain investments building solutions toward financial inclusion
Last year, the UNICEF Venture Fund onboarded 8 new startups developing open source, blockchain-based solutions toward greater financial inclusion. This was the first cohort to receive both USD and cryptocurrency in seed funding; the first cohort with over 50% of the companies being female-founded or –led; and expanded the Fund’s portfolio to Rwanda and Iran.
Throughout the investment period, UNICEF leverages its vast network to connect the companies to UNICEF’s work in their respective countries and provide technical and business development support. It has been six months since we began collaborating with this cohort, and we’ve helped identify strategic avenues to further support and scale their work, including through pathways for UNICEF itself to benefit from the technology infrastructure developed; we chose each company in this cohort not only because they are building pathways toward financial inclusion, but also because their solution can solve cross-cutting challenges that UNICEF’s programme divisions have identified, such as increasing access to resources, accountability, community engagement, and efficiency of funding flows.
In just over six months, we have seen staggering results.
To date, the cohort has:
- Raised $3.6M in follow-on funding
- Served 23k+ users
- Facilitated over 122k financial transactions
- Logged 200+ mentorship hours with UNICEF and subject matter experts
- Gathered over 1,500+ new open source code contributions
We also oversaw 2 collaborations between companies in the Cohort. For example, Treejer partnered with Kotani Pay to provide African planters with a tool to off-ramp their digital assets to fiat currency. The portfolio companies are also working with a diverse range of notable partners, ranging from Ethereum Foundation and the Celo Latam Team to mobile money providers in Africa, all supporting in magnifying the reach of the solutions.
These noteworthy achievements are further proof that investing in and supporting traditionally overlooked innovators can spur new, publicly available innovations that attract capital and generate a return surpassing the initial investment.
If you would like to join the companies in their journeys, we’ve helped each company identify strategic collaboration opportunities toward continued growth and scaling up impact.
Here are some key updates from each of the companies in the first six months of their investment period.
BX Smart Labs (Mexico)
- The team is developing a decentralized app for savings circles, leveraging smart contracts to automate user payments and withdrawals.
- Continued product development is ongoing, and the team has successfully conducted pilots with 73 users to gather feedback.
- Three explainer videos have been produced to introduce the solution to users.
- Won 1st place, LATAM Prize, in Celo’s Make Crypto Mobile Hackathon
Read more about BX Smart Labs here.
BX Smart Labs is looking to pilot their solution in collaboration with partners, such as NGOs and other aid organisations that offer long-term, recurring support to beneficiaries and could incorporate financial literacy and better saving practices.
KotaniPay (Kenya)
- KotaniPay is developing a platform for transfers, remittances, savings, withdrawals, loans, and payments, and integrating solutions for users to easily interact with crypto without the need for internet connectivity or a bank account.
- They have processed over 23,000 transactions (worth $527k) on their platform, serving 3,000 unique customers, while continuously running pilots and gathering user feedback.
- Their solution has been integrated with various partners, including mobile wallet providers and implementing partners; , gig work, and universal basic income and humanitarian organizations.
- They recently secured funding totaling $800k from a diverse group of investors.
KotaniPay is currently looking for collaborators, such as e-commerce platforms, crypto exchanges, non-custodial wallets, and others that seek to seamlessly reach a wider customer base in Africa, to integrate their direct cash in/cash out services.
Leaf Global Fintech (Rwanda)
- Leaf is developing a virtual bank for refugees and vulnerable populations, allowing for storage and transfer of assets across borders without the need for a smartphone.
- They have deployed an open source foreign exchange rate calculator into the Leaf Wallet, allowing customers to quickly check exchange rates in real time, and completed development of an open source lending application.
- They have reached 7,000 users to date and scaled their solution across 4countries in Africa.
- Leaf was awarded an $855k National Science Foundation Phase II SBIR award to further advance its mobile digital wallet in low-bandwidth environments globally.
- Launched an NFT collection of art generated by refugees.
Leaf is exploring wider expansion in Africa and in Latin America; they are currently looking to collaborate with licensed payment aggregators in the regions to reach more users and further their impact.
Rumsan (Nepal)
- Rumsan is developing a digital cash & voucher assistance management system, leveraging mobile-based blockchain tokens for emergency response and recovery programs.
- They have been developing features for their digital CVA management system, including an aid agency dashboard; a native Android app for vendors and aid agencies; a social mobilizer web app for field staff and social mobilizers; and an NFT token distribution module.
- A series of mini-pilots was conducted, reaching over 3,000 beneficiaries.
Read more about Rumsan here.
Rumsan is looking to connect with non-profits and humanitarian aid organisations who are interested in piloting their cash & voucher assistance management system across the Southeast Asia region.
Treejer (Iran)
- Treejer is an open protocol that connects tree funders to rural planters, using decentralized finance, NFTs, and smart contracts to unlock opportunities in climate finance and rural development.
- The team has launched a protocol with near -100% test coverage and completed the development of a dedicated mobile app for tree planters, smart contracts, and a web app.
- They have successfully launched the Genesis Collection of their first 10,000 trees and have also raised $38k in a quadratic funding round via Gitcoin.
- 10 countries are now active with a total of 100,000 trees being committed by planters (170 of which are from grassroots communities), and over 1000 contributors are supporting Treejer on Gitcoin.
Read more about Treejer here.
Treejer is currently engaging with those looking to support climate action in a new way; anyone can plant a tree via the Treejer protocol.
Xcapit (Argentina)
- Xcapit is building a platform that increases safe, easy access to financial services, including financial planning, gamified savings, and wealth management tools.
- The team has developed and launched their crypto wallet, which has been downloaded by almost 13,000 users across 50 countries.
- The team is currently developing a wealth management investment planner and investment product support.
- Xcapit has raised USD $1M from 3rd party investors.
Xcapit has launched a fundraising round and is looking to collaborate with investors to further scale their solution.
What’s Next?
Despite facing shifting lockdowns and other challenges brought about COVID-19, the companies have remained steadfast in their commitment to extend financial services and economic security to users and have found success in meeting product development milestones, interacting with each other and with internal and external mentors, and announcing strategic, buzzworthy achievements.
UNICEF is committed to further supporting this cohort, including with partners, with expertise around open source and technology-specific areas. We will also increase our networking support for the companies’ specific needs, with UNICEF Country and Regional Offices and other UN agencies, NGOs, the crypto space and larger tech industry, and investors, all toward further iterating and scaling their solutions as open source digital public goods.
