Kaleo Ventures backs Cr3dentials’ decentralized income tool
The capital injection is to help Cr3dentials raise revenue and solidify its upcoming pilot programs.

Decentralized income verification protocol Cr3dentials has announced that it has raised $25,000 from the early-stage African venture capital firm Kaleo Ventures.
According to co-founder Elo Mukoro, the new capital raise is primarily geared toward completing the firm’s proof of concept and revenue generation efforts through its upcoming pilot programs.
The details
- In a call with Mariblock, Mukoro stated that Kaleo Venture’s injection of funds is the third one Cr3dentials has secured, following receipt of $40,000 in two equal installments from the pre-seed capital firm, Microtraction.
- At the start, Microtraction invested $20,000 in the firm to support
- Mukoro attributed this to a distribution gap, and while the firm’s product was ready, there was no one to use it, and as a result, the firm could not secure new funding.
- Now, the company is focusing on solving this problem. According to Mukoro, Cr3dentials has pilot programs with five different companies — including cryptocurrency exchange, Onboard Global — lined up.
- Kaleo Venture’s cash injection aims to facilitate the process of solidifying the pilot programs and generating revenue for Cr3dentials.
Key quote
- On Cr3dentials’ struggle to raise funds, Mukoro told Mariblock:
“After we got [initial funding from Microtraction], we really struggled to get a second top one. We were really focused on the product, and we built this cool first version of Cr3dentials. But the problem was that there was really no one to use it, and it’s like, ‘If there’s no one to use it, then we can’t give you any more money.’”
- He added:
“We were able to go to Microtraction and show them the traction, and then they put in 20k more. And then, because of that, Kaleo also put 25. Once we actually get these pilots started —which is going to be happening very soon— and we now have income or actual real revenue, then it’ll be even easier, and we can start going for even bigger checks.”
How it works
- Essentially, Cr3dentials allows third-party employers and financial institutions to verify the income information of applicants without compromising the individual’s privacy.
- The protocol uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to verify that a person’s income information is authentic, without revealing the actual details.
- It then captures this information and shares it with the third party, ensuring that the user’s private data and login details are not compromised.
Be Smart💡: Zero-Knowledge Proofs
ZKP is a privacy-enhancement method on blockchains that allows one party to cryptographically prove to the other party that they possess knowledge about a piece of information without revealing the actual underlying information.
Cr3dentials product is built on zero-knowledge transport layer security (zkTLS), a variation of ZKP that enables the cryptographical verification of data exchanged between web browsers and website servers.
- Individuals who use Cr3dentials can share verified proof of their revenue on digital platforms with various sources without necessarily compromising their login data.
- Instead, the user grants access to Cr3dentials, which secures their login details with ZKP technology and, in turn, shares their income information with any third party the user grants access to.
- In addition, Mukoro said that companies and firms can integrate Cr3dentials’ application program interfaces (APIs) to streamline the collection and authentication of information from several users.