Most Funded Cryptocurrency Startups in Africa in 2021

What are the most funded cryptocurrency startups in Africa of last year? As cryptocurrency gains more traction and adoption across the world, Africa’s cryptocurrency market is growing steadily too. A number of African countries have made innovations in this space which opened up opportunities for traders and startups to operate in this region.

Africa is still booming and promising in the cryptocurrency market. More and more African startups are launching technologies, products, and services in the cryptocurrency industry. These startups have raised plenty of capital from local investors and foresaw a promising future.

Luno

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain markets have been slowly growing since the early days of bitcoin. In the last couple of years, most African countries have adopted cryptocurrency and helped to drive adoption in this young industry. South Africa is one of the countries in Africa making great strides. In South Africa, the best-known cryptocurrency exchang is Luno.

The trading platform has raised more than $7 million from investors like Naspers and other private investors. Other startups also continue to raise funds for creating innovative solutions for crypto enthusiasts across the continent.

Yellow Card

Yellow Card is one of Africa’s leading cryptocurrrency platforms that offers the most convenient way to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using local currencies via bank transfer, mobile money, and cash. Are you looking for an easy way to buy, sell, or exchange cryptocurrencies? Are you afraid of difficult and time-consuming verification processes they usually require?

The website offers a secure platform where Africans can safely buy, sell, and exchange Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies without any hassle. It has established a presence in 12 African countries including Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Nigeria, Botswana, etc. Yellow Card’s mobile app supports 14 languages which include 8 African languages, Arabic, Mandarin, and 3 European languages.

Being among the top African startups that have attracted the most investment, Yellow Card has so far raised a total funding of $16.5 million (according to Crunch base). Investors who have participated in its expansion include Valar Ventures, Blockchain.com Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Square, Coinbase, and Third Prime.

The Sun Exchange

The Sun Exchange is a crowd-based peer-to-peer leasing platform that specializes in renewable energy investments particularly, solar panel leasing and is operational in South Africa. The platform allows you to invest in solar projects in South Africa using Bitcoin as a means of investment.

The Sun Exchange aims to expand its operations in other African countries. In March last year, the Sun Exchange successfully completed a $1.4 million crowd sale for a landmark 500 Kw solar and 1MWh battery storage project. It also secured $2.5 million in the form of a convertible note from ARCH Emerging Markets Partners Limited’s, Africa Renewable Power Fund (ARPF). Before this, there was a $3 million investment in the Series A funding round.

Bitsika

Bitsika is also among the most funded cryptocurrency startups in Africa. It allows for ease in transactions between selected African countries in Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Mauritius, Ivory Coast, Mali, Cameroon, and Gabon at zero fees. Users sign up to the app through their Google account.

Bitsika is an app that allows users to trade in local currencies and cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Stablecoin) via mobile money, bank transfer, and cash. The company’s total seed raise is $1.06 million from Binance Labs and other investors. Using Bitsika, people can spend their cryptocurrency anywhere that accepts mobile money or cash. Users can also send cryptocurrency to any mobile money number in the world with a simple text message.

Rising demand for cryptocurrency in Africa has not been met by the infrastructure needed to support the purchase of cryptocurrency by its growing user base. Many Africans who want to gain exposure to cryptocurrency are unable to buy it because they do not have access to credit cards or international bank accounts that are required to trade on major exchanges. Even when they do have access, they often face high fees when buying cryptocurrency globally.

Bitsika solves this problem by letting people trade in cryptocurrency locally through their existing mobile money account or cash at a small markup of less than 1%. Rather than storing crypto on Bitsika’s platform, users keep their funds on their mobile money account or cash and Bitsika simply acts as an escrow service for trades that facilitate the purchase of cryptocurrencies on major exchanges.

Quidax

Quidax is a digital assets exchange platform that allows you to seamlessly buy and sell cryptocurrency with your local currency. You can trade with over 3000 pairs, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and more.

So far, Quidax has processed $3.2bn worth of transactions since its launch and it has also grown its customer base from 50 to around 4000 customers across 72 countries. Earlier last year, Quidax raised over $3 million from the sale of its QDX token.

You can buy Quidax tokens from the comfort of your home or at any of its physical points of presence in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the UAE and Nigeria. Customers can pay for transactions using bank transfers or cash payments at the point of sale.

Bundle Africa

The idea behind Bundle Africa was to create a socially attractive and friendly cryptocurrency and cash exchange platform. The Bundle Africa app allows crypto sending, requesting, and receiving cash and crypto in the form of social media. With the rising usage of social media in Africa, Bundle Africa is expected to serve a larger African population. Some of Bundle Africa’s investors are Binance Labs and Pave Investments. Bundle Africa’s recent funding round was on April, 2020 where it raised $450, 000/ Pre Seed from Binance.

BuyCoins

BuyCoins is a safe way for Africans to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies. It aims to facilitate the borderless transfer of value across Africa. BuyCoins has raised a total of $1.2 million in funding over 3 rounds.

Crypto Future of Africa

As consumer confidence in crypto offerings increases and the future of crypto-related financial services becomes clearer in Africa, many investment firms are lending financial help to crypto startups to aid in their growth.

Africa is a land of opportunities. According to Forbes, this beautiful continent is one of the fastest growing regions due to population growth, technological innovation, and increasing infrastructure. While mobile money and social media have been popular for years in Africa, cryptocurrency adoption has not been as widespread. However, with the introduction of blockchain technology coupled with a growing number of innovations in this space, there are many startups working towards mainstreaming cryptocurrency.