Circle selects five African projects in latest USDC grants round
The cohort marks Africa’s strongest showing yet — and comes as ecosystem grants increasingly serve as early-stage capital for blockchain startups navigating a tougher post-FTX funding climate.
Circle has announced the fourth cohort of its USDC Developer Grant Program, awarding 26 early-stage teams building real-world blockchain applications. This round includes five African projects — the highest representation from the continent so far.
Fast facts
Grants range from $5,000 to $100,000 in USDC, with additional support including product guidance, compliance assistance, technical training, co-marketing and a potential referral to Circle Ventures.
- The grants support teams using USDC and Circle’s tools, including programmable wallets and smart contract APIs, to build real-world use cases.
- The African projects selected include Flipeet Raise, LINK, Scalex, SFx and Katika.
- Other selected teams came from the United States, Europe, Latin America (LATAM), Singapore, Japan and Canada.
- This brings the program’s total to over 60 funded teams since its launch in 2023.
Circle notes that this cohort has demonstrated the highest quality and ambition yet, with strong regional representation and creative problem-solving.
What they’re saying
“From Singapore to Africa, LATAM to Europe, the applicants’ creativity and ambition pushed us to dig deeper, debate harder, and ultimately select the projects we believe will help move the entire industry forward.”
— Circle team, announcement blog
Why it matters
Ecosystem grants, such as Circle’s, are rapidly becoming de facto pre-seed and seed funding sources for African blockchain startups. Traditional VC investment into African crypto dropped around 70% in H1 2024 — the lowest globally.
- Following the FTX collapse, capital has become even tougher to access. These grants now fill a critical funding gap, enabling the earliest-stage builders to survive and scale.
Zoom out
There’s a growing push for stablecoin dominance in Africa, where digital dollars are increasingly used for trade.
- Circle is expanding its footprint through developer support via the Circle Alliance Program and grant funding, while also moving deeper into traditional finance with the Circle Payments Network (CPN).
- Its African partners on CPN include Onafriq, Flutterwave, and Yellow Card, with Onafriq’s reach spanning over 1 billion mobile wallets and 500 million bank accounts.
Tether, by contrast, has leaned into grassroots engagement and equity investment.
- The company funds educational initiatives through local crypto partners and has invested in startups, including Sorted Wallet in 2024, Mansa in early 2025 and Shiga in June 2025.
