Startups

The New Land of Crypto Fundraising Is in Asia and Europe, Says PwC

Most of the fundraising in the cryptocurrency space shifted from the Americas to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and the Asia Pacific regions (APAC), according to a recent report by Big Four auditing firm PwC.According to PwC's 2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report, during 2019, fundraising efforts in the crypto space obtained 18% less funding, while funds in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the space decreased by 40%.As funding decreased overall, APAC and EMEA's share of the pie got larger. While APAC and EMEA saw 44% of

Africa Using Blockchain to Drive Change, Part Two: Southern Solutions

With pundits like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey predicting that Africa “will define” the future of Bitcoin (BTC), cryptocurrency and blockchain technology continue to attract interest from both public and private establishments across the continent. Many of these adoption cases have been moving beyond finance, developing solutions targeted at issues like unemployment, identity management, health care and supply chain, among others.Amid the growing enthusiasm for crypto and blockchain technology in Africa, industry stakeholders interviewed by Cointelegraph identify a lack of education as one of the major hurdles standing in the way of more

South African National Blockchain Alliance Holds Online Launch

The South African National Blockchain Alliance carried out an online livestream launch while the country is in the midst of a 21-day lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The organization was due to be launched at the beginning of April in Johannesburg but had to be taken online as South Africa and the world tackles a global health crisis.The launch happened during a livestream on YouTube on April 3, which included a panel of speakers elaborating on how SANBA will help nurture blockchain-focused startups and companies that

Huge Rise in Chinese ‘Blockchain’ Companies — But Are They Real?

More than 35,000 blockchain companies are operating in mainland China —  but it’s believed that many of them do not even use blockchain technology.In the first quarter of 2020, as COVID-19 shut down factories, offices and cities across the  world, 2,383 brand-new “blockchain” companies sprung up in China.This brings the total to 35,010 companies as of April 1 — over 20,000 in Guangdong province alone — according to Tianyancha, a business data company.But in mid-February data firm LongHash estimated that approximately 70% of the total number of blockchain firms registered

Ark’s 1 Million Token Grant Fund Drives Community Innovation

Interoperable blockchain project Ark (ARK) designated one million ARK valued at roughly $150,000 toward its new development grants program on March 24.While the grant program was launched one week ago, Ark’s Strategic Partnerships Manager, Ray Alvarez, told Cointelegraph that it has already received proofs-of-concept from developers.The program exclusively funds “proposals involving technical deployments and usage of [the] ARK technology stack.”The applications include standalone applications and plugins, including development contributing to Ark’s decentralized private messaging application, desktop wallet, and transaction plugins.In addition to sparking development for specific applications, Alvarez states that

Celo to Issue at Least $15.7 Mln in Community Grants During 2020

Open-source payments network, Celo (cGLD), announced on March 31 that it had awarded $700,000 in developer grant funding to 16 startups looking to build on the Celo network. Cointelegraph spoke to Xochitl Cazador, the head of ecosystem growth at cLabs — the company behind Celo — to discuss what they look for from grant applicants, and Celo’s plans for 2020.Celo provides grant funding to 16 startupsCazador states that the most important criteria applicants are assessed on is whether they “support Celo’s mission of building an open financial system that creates conditions

Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator Director on What DLT Startups Need to Succeed

The Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator — an incubator for early stage distributed ledger technology startups at the University of California, Berkeley — recently launched its spring cohort, which includes startups seeking to fight COVID-19, launch a cannabis-themed massively multiplayer online game and create a reverse auction platform for loans.Cointelegraph spoke to Jocelyn Weber, the director of the Xcelerator, to find out more about the resources the program offers to startups, success stories from previous cohorts and advice for startups looking to launch in the crypto space.Cointelegraph: Could you give an overview