Mr. William Phelps is an investor at Adaverse based in Lagos and travelling extensively on the continent.
As a reminder, Adaverse is an investment and venture capital fund specializing in web3, blockchain,… Adaverse is a subsidiary of Cardano Group and its web3 financing program called Emurgo.
Please also note that DRC Impact Angels is an investment club specialized in financing and supporting technology start-ups and innovative SMEs in the Democratic Republic of Congo. DRC Impact Angels is an affiliate member of the African Business Angels Network (« ABAN ») and has already invested in the agri-food, financial services and industrial production sectors in the DRC.
Summary of the event
The participants discussed the DRC tech ecosystem, the challenges but also the opportunities in the DRC and how web3 opportunities could be unlocked in the country.
The discussions focused on the specificities but also the similarities between the DRC ecosystem and other frontier ecosystems in Africa such as Sudan, Nigeria and to some extent Kenya,
William also highlighted that Adaverse has the ability in few cases to assist web2 ventures to transition into web3 structures in various sectors,
While Adaverse has a generalist approach, the fund is mainly exposed to the fintech sector, with some opportunities in the e-commerce / logistics space. Adaverse has invested in 9 countries to date and still has capital to deploy:
Among the participants were :
– Mannick Syllas – Co-founder of Shule Systems, a technology start-up offering a school management platform including fees payment, student attendance and grades, and communication with the parents. This solution is offered with a tailored package including 1. a connection to a stable power grid or solar solution, 2. an internet connection, and 3. a computer to facilitate the use and management of the platform. These features were included thanks to the successful B2B partnerships that Shule has signed with major international companies such as Orange.
« It was a real pleasure to meet William Phelps with fellow entrepreneurs and to learn more about web3 financing. It was a real pleasure to meet William Phelps with fellow entrepreneurs and to learn more about web3 funding, another meeting that DRC Impact Angels organizes and that brings a plus to our ecosystem and allows us to better understand the issues around start-up funding.
– Rudd Dodd – Investment Director at La Différence Scoops, a Congolese business gas pedal and market development advisor with offices in Bukavu and Goma and drawing on a network of experts in Europe.
« I really enjoyed a new sector like Web3 and being able to exchange with an international player of this caliber ».
– Serge Kishiko – Co-founder and Head of Communications of Itot Africa – a Lubumbashi-based pan-African edtech specializing in digital training to businesses, SMEs, NGOs and individual entrepreneurs, with operations in Lubumbashi, Goma, Kinshasa. ITOT Africa is currently expanding to Kolwezi and the US.
« Exchanging with William allowed me to imagine additional training possibilities, especially on the subjects of crypto-assets and blockchain for our DRC audience, which is also fond of these types of subjects but does not always manage to find the relevant source of information”
– Krystel Kalanga – Co-founder of Effektive. Effektive is a creative studio and a marketing agency for corporates and SMEs.
« It was a pleasure to the existing opportunities in the gaming and e-sport industries in Democratic Republic of Congo. We have also explained how we are developing partnerships with other African ecosystems. This meet-up with Adaverse was also a great opportunity to learn about potential additional use cases of these sectors in the country. Special message to the Congonumerique readers: We also want to confirm that the next Gaming competitions are expected to resume in the first quarter of 2024 in Kinshasa – please feel free to apply! »
Bakara Rubemba – founder of Yetupic (a proptech e.g. real estate tech company) and of Yetucar Finance (a mobility venture), also attended the session.
Hannah Subayi Kamuanga, investor and co-founder of DRC Impact Angels moderated the evening and highlighted the unique opportunity to discover cutting-edge technologies in Kinshasa,
“This type of exchange with players of the quality of Adaverse, a subsidiary of the Cardano Group, aims to better connect the DRC ecosystem to financing trends and funds active on the continent and the rest of the world,
Next steps? More meetings for Adaverse in Kinshasa and hopefully a first financing in DRC in 2023!”
