Nestcoin secures $6.5m pre-seed to reinforce crypto and Web3 adoption in Africa

Globally, cryptocurrency industry funding has been increasing rapidly in recent years. Crypto startups raised more than $27 billion in venture capital last year alone, which is slightly more than the previous ten years combined.

Moreover, despite a drop in the price of cryptocurrencies, American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm launched a $2.2 billion fund last month, one of its largest efforts to fund crypto startups.

After investing $850 million in two rounds of investments last year, the firm is reaffirming its commitment to crypto with its third and largest industry specific fund. This demonstrates that institutional investors are becoming more comfortable putting their money into cryptocurrency, which was not the case four or five years ago.

Web3—powered by crypto—is becoming a large industry in Africa, which is not surprising given that Africa is the world’s fastest adopter of cryptocurrency; as a result, investors are pouring money into the continent’s industry.

Nestcoin, a Nigerian crypto startup developing Web3 products, is on a mission to further deepen crypto adoption in Africa. Nestcoin announced today that it has raised a $6.5 million pre-seed round. Nestcoin has made tremendous progress since its launch last November, with the promise of “helping Nigerians first, then other Africans, exit the status quo by offering them access to wealth using crypto technology or elements of web 3.0 like NFT, DAOs, and DeFi.”

Nestcoin, founded by former Binance director Yele Bademosi and former Bundle Africa CTO Taiwo Orilogbon, has delivered on its promise to create crypto-native products other than trading and investments, with a focus on driving crypto adoption in Africa.

It launched Breach, a media arm, last year to simplify complex crypto topics for a global audience. It later launched Metaverse Magna (MVM), one of Africa’s first play-to-earn crypto games, which it claims will allow members of its gaming community to earn up to $1,000 per month. It has invested in Lazerpay, a cryptocurrency startup that allows businesses to accept cryptocurrency payments, and has collaborated with fintech Bitsika and its music superstar partner Davido to launch the Echoke social token.

Nescoin has hinted that it is working on a number of other products to “provide compelling use cases for cryptocurrency.”

“We are thrilled that our investors are supporting this audacious plan to create a future in which billions of people in frontier markets have access to the opportunities that crypto provides.” “With this funding, we will continue to grow our diverse team, which currently spans 9 countries, expand our product offerings, and invest in more ventures aligned with our vision,” Nestcoin CEO Yele Bademosi says in a statement.

Distributed Global, Alter Global, Serena Ventures, Alameda Research, and A&T Capital led the round, which was led by Distributed Global, Alter Global, Serena Ventures, Alameda Research, and A&T Capital. MSA Capital, 4DX Ventures, Raba Capital, Goat.vc, Old Fashion Research, CMT Digital, Electric Capital, Social Capital, CoinFund, gumi Cryptos Capital, and DeFi Alliance are among the other institutional investors.

Nestcoin says in a statement that the new funding will allow it to expand its global operations and invest in developing products that will aid in the acceleration of crypto adoption and financial freedom for people in frontier markets.