• Mithu

  Led · Seed · Aug 2024

  Mithu aggregates multiple loyalty programmes into one gamified app aimed at increasing customer engagement and retention for restaurants and cafes, with a focus on SMEs in the food and beverage sector. The company says it has signed agreements with approximately 200 restaurants in Riyadh. Mithu plans to develop a tokenised version of its app and is leveraging Web3 and gamification to do so. The founding team brings deep sector experience: CEO Mohsin Qureshi has over 15 years in foodtech and roles at Foodics, Cheetay, and Delivery Hero, while CTO Asif Ali has held leadership roles at Careem, Swvl, and foodpanda and is pursuing a Ph.D. in AI. The company highlights large market opportunity in Saudi Arabia—where only 2.5% of restaurants offer loyalty programmes—and broader industry pain points such as roughly $100 billion in expiring global loyalty points and high programme churn. The $500,000 pre-seed backing from a Web3 venture builder is intended to accelerate time to market and product development.

• Forge

  Participated · Seed · Oct 2023

  Forge is a platform that allows players to link disparate online gaming and social accounts to create a unified Forge profile representing their gaming history and achievements. At launch in beta, users can access a seasonal Season Pass with quests to earn XP, level up, and unlock in-game content and rewards such as cosmetics, item/character unlocks, virtual currency, and early beta access from partner games. The platform also offers weekly bonus rewards for participating beta users, including Amazon gift cards and hardware prizes. Forge originated as a project within GGWP (launched in 2020) and was spun off as a new company founded by Dennis “Thresh” Fong, Kun Gao, and George Ng. For launch week the company is partnering with titles including Genopets, Mojo Melee, Pixelmon, Portal Fantasy, Rushdown Revolt and The Sandbox, and it says new games will be added each week during the beta period. Strategic and financial backers named in the article include Makers Fund, BITKRAFT Ventures, Animoca Brands, Griffin Gaming Partners, Riot Games and Sony Innovation Fund.

• Momint

  Participated · Seed · Oct 2023

  Momint is a South African Web3 platform that educates users about Web3 technologies while providing a marketplace for owning and trading energy assets on-chain. The company plans to integrate the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) blockchain to enhance its business operations. Momint intends to use recent funding to support global expansion and to gain, retain, and expand market share. The platform targets both consumers and investors, positioning itself as a safe environment for energy-asset tokenization and trading. No revenue or user metrics are mentioned in the article. Momint provides a blockchain wallet integrated into its app that lets users spend cryptocurrencies at thousands of South African and overseas retailers and top up crypto via integrated exchanges. The company also operates a marketplace for investing in solar projects, including its SunCash initiative launched in January 2023. Momint reports a community of 55,000 users, over $1.4 million in sales, and partnerships with more than 10,000 retailers domestically and 5,000 overseas retailers. Its wallet supports purchases of USDC and Ethereum with real-time rates, peer-to-peer sending, and KYC/KYT/AML checks. Momint aims to expand utility for crypto payments, enable low-cost cross-border transactions, and increase financial inclusion for small businesses and the informal economy. Funds from the current raise are earmarked for marketing, growing assets under management, and driving toward profitability.

• Nestcoin

  Participated · Equity · Sep 2023

  Nestcoin has repositioned from a venture studio and investment holding company to focus on a single product, Onboard. Onboard, launched in April, is a noncustodial wallet that lets users access keys via email instead of seed phrases and offers instant stablecoin-to-local-currency conversion and a P2P marketplace. The company claims over 10,000 users and plans features including rewards, credit, fast payments, and a virtual card to spend stablecoins across 160+ countries. Nestcoin was materially affected by the FTX collapse, losing millions in assets and cutting headcount; it previously raised $6.45 million in early 2022. The firm says the new funds will shore up finances and help scale Onboard beyond the continent. Onboard is integrated into Coinbase’s Base ecosystem, and Nestcoin has previously raised capital from Binance and FTX and now receives support from Base/coinbase through the Base Ecosystem Fund. Nestcoin builds, operates and invests in consumer-focused, non-custodial web3 products across DeFi, media, digital art and gaming. Its product initiatives include a media arm (Breach) for bite-sized crypto education, a gaming guild (Metaverse Magna) that lends Axies to players under revenue-sharing, and planned DeFi product launches by Q2. The company has about 6,000 subscribers to its educational content; MVM received over 2,000 applications and currently has 400 live gamers with a near-term target of 1,000. Nestcoin also invests in other web3 projects (publicly disclosed: Lazerpay and backing AltSchool Africa) and has experimented with social tokens in partnerships. The team spans nine countries and the firm says it may eventually raise an independent fund to participate in deals and investments. Nestcoin has set audacious user targets including one million monthly transacting users, up to 50 million monthly active users, and one million users holding $10,000 in their wallets.

• Kotani Pay

  Participated · Seed · Sep 2023

  Kotani Pay provides B2B middleware that links crypto platforms' smart contracts and stablecoins to local mobile-money APIs and USSD channels so recipients can cash out and pay in local currency without internet access. The startup targets remittances for underbanked populations across Kenya, Ghana, Zambia and South Africa, with planned expansion to Rwanda, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Tanzania and Nigeria. Kotani’s platform on-ramps local currency into USD via a network of liquidity providers and currently serves primarily enterprise flows. To date the platform has facilitated about $23 million in transfers, with an average transaction size of $150,000; Kotani charges an interchange fee averaging roughly 1% of gross transaction volumes. The company lists partners and integrations including Yellowcard, DCG, Fonbank, Celo’s Valora, Mercy Corps, UNICEF Crypto Innovation Fund and Stellar. Following its acquisition of Nigerian startup Fuhlstack, Kotani plans to roll out Reconset (Reconciliation-as-a-Service) and Money Ledger (Ledger-as-a-Service); Fuhlstack founder Lemuel Okoli joined as a co-founder.

No current team members are available.