The Nigerian-based startup was only launched in November of last year but has had some massive successes, including getting some venture capital from renowned Tennis Player, Serena Williams, and a successful pre-seed round.
But still, very little is known of the project and its ambitious goals to steer crypto adoption on the continent.
So, what is Nestcoin, and who is behind it? We’ll get into all those details in a bit.
But first, let’s look at some numbers.
Africa’s crypto market growth was up 1200% in 2021
A July 2021 report on crypto markets by research firm Chainalysis, showed that Africa’s growth in the crypto markets was over 1200% in value over the last year. This incredible increase placed the continent third among the fastest growing crypto economies.
Further, a huge chunk of this adoption was driven by P2P exchanges. These marketplaces are quite popular in the region, with retail transactions accounting for 7% of the overall transaction volume, against the global average of 5.5%.
While all this might seem impressive, Nestcoin was borne of one man’s conviction that crypto adoption in Africa goes beyond crypto trading. There’s a need for more blockchain products and crypto-native applications for the region to fully embrace the cryptosphere.
Unlocking wealth-building crypto opportunities in Africa
Nestcoin aims to break down the complex world of cryptocurrencies, so that the average African can access the numerous economic op[portunities, and especially those in frontier markets. The innovative venture brings together an impressive lineup of products, all designed to demystify the cryptosphere.
Yele Bademosi, the CEO and brains behind Nestcoin, believes the way to people’s hearts is by creating products that they use and love everyday.
Nestcoin’s products cut across DeFi, media, digital art, and gaming, to create an immersive and personalized experience for its users. Therefore, Nestcoin is setting itself up as a parent company that will build and invest in innovative crypto products.
Here’s a look at the products already launched:
Breach
Breach is Nestcoin’s media hub, whose primary aim is to drive crypto adoption in Africa and other frontier markets. The platform provides crypto education in easy-to-understand language, creating a more receptive environment for crypto-focussed firms.
Although crypto usage is growing popular by the day, a majority of the population remains oblivious to the benefits of the technology. Quoting a Luno report, Yele mentioned that about 64% of Kenyans don’t venture into crypto because they don’t understand it. The figures stand at 56%, and 55%, in South Africa, and Nigeria, respectively.
True to its name, the platform is breaching the significant knowledge gap, despite there being numerous crypto platforms. Simply put, the platform is using education to spearhead crypto adoption on the continent.
Metaverse Magna
The crypto gaming scene has also been growing rapidly, thanks to the play-to-earn movement. Nestcoin has tapped into this market by introducing its gaming product, Metaverse Magna (MVM).
Metaverse Magna claims to be the largest gaming community in Africa. The platform provides its players (Meta Knights) with an easier way to access play-to-earn games which are a tad too expensive, including Axie Infinity.
MVM sets up a revenue sharing agreement with players and lends them Axies to play the game. In February this year, MVM had about 400 active players and is looking to increase the number by the year’s end.
Nestcoin ventures into the continent
As mentioned earlier, Nestcoin wants to invest and create products that bring crypto closer to the African people. It is also looking to invest in web 3 development in Africa, positioning the continent at the forefront, right in time for the fourth industrial revolution.
Earlier this year, Nestcoin backed AltSchool Africa, a new tech school in Africa offering courses on software engineering and other tech areas, including blockchain and Web 3.
The crypto venture also partnered with Bitstamp to create a social token, the Echoke token, for popular Nigerian artiste, Davido, about six months ago.
The successful pre-seed funding round
Nestcoin had quite the start to 2022. Besides the ventures mentioned, the startup held successful pre-seed funding round, which was heavily backed by international investors.
According to the press release, Nestcoin raised $6.45 million in pre-seed capital. The company would use the funding to speed up its efforts to expand globally and bring crypto to Africa and other frontier markets.
Investors who showed up for the funding round included Serena Ventures, Alameda Research, Old Fashion Research, MSA Capital, and 4DX Ventures, among others. In total, 20 international investors backed the pre-seed funding.
What next for Nestcoin?
Nestcoin has currently just hit the 6-month mark of its existence. Through its official Twitter account, the crypto venture announced that it had reached more than 60,000 members, through the three products it has already launched.
Nestcoin is looking to launch its DeFi products in the second quarter of this year, and it will be quite interesting to see what direction the innovative platform takes.
