Stellar Ecosystem
News

DFS Lab and the Stellar Development Foundation are launching their second Blockchain Bootcamp in April 2022, bringing together 10 African startups to build payment and financial inclusion solutions on Stellar over three days, with winners receiving prizes and demo day pitching opportunities.

The Stellar Development Foundation announced a Matching Fund specifically for female founders, addressing the stark gender gap in crypto entrepreneurship where women receive only 2.2% of venture funding.

The Stellar Development Foundation and Wirex released a 2022 cryptocurrency adoption report surveying 8,257 people across the UK, US, Singapore, and Mexico. Key findings show 81% of the general population has heard of crypto, 39% own or have owned it, and adoption is spreading beyond the stereotypical young male demographic to women and older adults.

The Stellar Development Foundation highlights three women leaders on its Ecosystem, Recruiting, and Business Development teams in celebration of Women's History Month, sharing their career journeys and insights on working in blockchain.

Three African fintech leaders building on Stellar discuss why they chose the network for payments infrastructure, the $95B+ remittance opportunity across Africa, and advice for entrepreneurs launching in the space ahead of the Stellar Blockchain Bootcamp.

A comprehensive overview of Africa's rapidly growing Web3 economy, highlighting major blockchain protocols (including Stellar), venture capital investments, NGO partnerships, and government initiatives shaping the continent's crypto and blockchain landscape.

The Stellar Development Foundation launched a $30 million matching fund for early-stage companies building on Stellar, with initial investments in cross-border payments and fintech platforms serving emerging markets.

SDF, MoneyGram, and Techstars launched a three-year startup accelerator program focused on blockchain-based cross-border payments solutions for Latin America. The program will select up to 12 FinTech startups for a 13-week mentorship initiative, with applications opening July 25.

Stellar Development Foundation announces Project Jump Cannon, a research initiative to bring native smart contracts to Stellar. SDF explains why the network initially avoided smart contracts and why ecosystem growth now demands this capability while maintaining Stellar's core values of safety, scalability, and equitable access.

The Stellar Development Foundation spotlights three women on its Developer Relations and Engineering teams, sharing their career paths, daily work, and advice for others entering blockchain and tech roles during Women's History Month.

DFS Lab and the Stellar Development Foundation launched a second Blockchain Bootcamp for African startups to build on Stellar, offering $5,000-$20,000 XLM prizes and follow-on funding opportunities. The virtual three-day sprint runs April 26-28, 2022, with applications due March 27.

The Stellar Development Foundation published its 2022 strategic roadmap with three core pillars: increasing scalability and network innovation, activating more network participation, and promoting financial inclusion. The roadmap outlines SDF's commitment to supporting ecosystem growth while maintaining transparency through quarterly reports and regular updates.

SDF published a guidebook for regulators on designing CBDCs, explaining how central bank digital currencies can improve financial inclusion through open blockchains like Stellar, with features like programmability, compliance controls, and privacy protections.

Tribal, a B2B fintech platform for emerging markets, raised $40 million in debt funding from the Stellar Development Foundation and Partners for Growth, including $20 million in Stellar USDC to provide cheaper capital access to SMBs across Latin America.

DFS Labs and SDF hosted a blockchain bootcamp in Africa with nine companies building on Stellar. Three companies earned $15,000 for ready-to-deploy solutions (HoneyCoin, Stax, Bonafide), while six earned $5,000 for demonstrating rapid technology adoption in their workflows.

Meridian 2021, Stellar's annual conference, concluded with keynotes on climate and economy, a MoneyGram partnership announcement enabling cash on/off ramps via 400k+ agent locations, ecosystem builder sessions, regulatory debates, and SDF's 2022 strategic priorities focused on utility, participation, ecosystem growth, inclusion, and policy impact.

Flutterwave launched two new remittance corridors between Europe and Africa on Stellar, partnering with TEMPO to offer cost-effective money transfers using Stellar USDC, expanding Pan-African digital payments infrastructure.

Flutterwave and TEMPO launched two new remittance corridors between Europe and Africa on Stellar, using Stellar USDC to reduce costs and improve efficiency for cross-border payments to underserved regions.

The Stellar Development Foundation announced a $40M investment in Tala, a fintech company serving unbanked populations in Kenya, Mexico, India, and the Philippines. Tala will expand its digital banking platform to offer borrowing, saving, and payments using Stellar assets and USDC stablecoins.

The Stellar Development Foundation launched Stellar Next-Gen, an educational initiative partnering with universities and organizations worldwide to develop blockchain talent and foster financial inclusion through courses, hackathons, and mentorship programs.

The Stellar Development Foundation announced a new Matching Fund track within its Enterprise Fund to co-invest up to $500K alongside lead investors in early-stage companies building on Stellar. The fund targets pre-Series B startups globally, particularly in emerging markets, with expedited processing and a one-year integration timeline.