Adaverse, an EMURGO-backed Cardano ecosystem accelerator supporting African Web3 development, recently announced its investment in the ‘Network State’ Afropolitan, a Web3-based community for African development. Adaverse joins Hashed, Cultur3, Microtraction, Future Africa, and several other high-profile backers in Afropolitan’s competitive seed round.
Adaverse is a joint venture established by EMURGO Africa and Everest Ventures. EMURGO Africa is the regional office of EMURGO Middle East & Africa (MEA), an entity of Cardano commercial arm EMURGO, and has invested in over 20 African startups this year. Through funding support, technical resources, and guided mentorship, Adaverse invests in African startups building Web3 solutions on Cardano’s environmentally friendly blockchain platform. These startups target a diverse range of Web3 solutions including decentralized finance (DeFi), NFTs, gaming, and others.
Afropolitan: Building a digital nation for Africans
Afropolitan is an ambitious endeavor to find a digital nation for Africans and the African diaspora. Inspired by the writings of tech entrepreneur & crypto philosopher Balaji Srinivasan, Afropolitan aspires to first build a global network of Africans online before forming connected communities in the real world.
At its core, Afropolitan curates Black and African talent, culture, capital, information, and experiences for a globally distributed membership. In its early stages, Afropoliton empowers its 220,000-strong network to connect, share and grow as a community. Spanning more than 33 countries across the globe, Afropolitans have access to podcasts, seminars, and other ways to network and connect.
As the network grows, so will Afropolitan’s ambitions. As more of the 140 million members of Africa’s diaspora join the Afropolitan network, the network state aims to transition to full decentralized autonomous governance (DAO) via a ‘super app’ that connects all utilities within the ecosystem. As the network grows further, efforts will turn to legitimize the Afropolitan nation through state-building activities funded by the internal token economy as well as external revenue sources.
Afropolitan will eventually move from an online network to physical spaces through land acquisition in important population centers. As Afropolitan acquires more land around the world, these holdings will connect as ‘Charter Cities’ serviced by a digital capital.
Afropolitan’s core team are experienced tech and Web3 founders Eche Emole and Chika Uwazie. Together, the core developed the manifesto that guides the growth and direction of the Afropolitan network state.
Huge potential for explosive blockchain user growth in Africa
With a population of 1.4 billion which is expected to nearly double by 2050, Africa is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world. This massive population supports a regional GDP of $2.98 billion—a figure estimated to grow by around 69% over the next five years.
But Africa’s wealth doesn’t entirely come from the African continent. A large diaspora of nearly 350 million people returns around $65 billion annually. If this diaspora were considered a country, it would be the third largest population in the world.
Afropolitan taps into this immense population and aims to grow alongside it. Through the Network State, Afropolitan members—both those in Africa and other countries worldwide—work together to make pan-African nationhood a reality.
Shogo Ishida, co-CEO for the Middle East & Africa at EMURGO Africa stated, “Afropolitan’s mission is both ambitious and inspiring. Connecting the massive African diaspora via a blockchain-supported digital network demonstrates incredible ingenuity and reveals that the technology can and should act as a force for uniting people across geographical borders.”
“Through its pan-African, value-driven platform, Afropolitan is helping millions of Africans to enhance their boundless potential across the globe. The transition to Web3 will expand economic opportunities for Africans and the African diaspora in the flourishing digital economy, and Adaverse is ready to help this scale with tools on Cardano’s environmentally-sustainable blockchain,” said Eche Emole, co-founder at Afropolitan.
As one of the fastest, and most efficient scalable blockchains, and with a significant presence in Africa already, Cardano is on the path to becoming Africa’s blockchain of choice. Afropolitan seeks to leverage Cardano as part of its network state, delivering digital services supported by the Cardano blockchain that can unlock self-sovereign capabilities for our digital nation. Eche Emole further stated that “At Afropolitan, we will rely on Cardano’s domain expertise to build out our technology stack. Adaverse will also provide advisory services as we build our tokenomics for our digital nation.”
Vincent Li, a founding partner at Adaverse added, “At Adaverse, we believe in the power that the Cardano blockchain has to unite Africa and improve conditions across the continent. Afropolitan embodies this goal by connecting Africans and the diaspora and further legitimizes the ambitions of blockchain through their state-building activities and we are excited to support this drive.”
About Adaverse
Adaverse is a Cardano ecosystem accelerator launched by EMURGO Africa and Everest Ventures Group to help the next generation of African Web3 startups excel globally. Established as an alchemist for organically grown solutions, we assist startups to grow sustainable businesses on the continent, through funding and a 1:1 mentorship program. Our accelerator program is open to applications all year round from African-based startups with a crypto-native edge and a proven concept.
To apply for the Adaverse accelerator program, click here.
To learn more about Afropolitan, visit their website.