In a major nod to Africa’s rising crypto innovation scene, Circle has awarded grants to five African blockchain projects in the fourth cohort of its USDC Developer Grants Program. The announcement marks the region’s best performance yet in the program, which has now funded over 60 teams globally since launching in 2023.
Amid a global slowdown in venture funding – especially following the FTX collapse – ecosystem grants like Circle’s are becoming lifelines for early-stage builders. For African founders, where venture capital investment into crypto dropped by over 70% in the first half of 2024, these grants are proving vital for survival and growth.
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TL;DR
- Circle awarded five African startups in its latest USDC Developer Grant round—Africa’s best showing yet.
- Each project receives up to $100,000 in USDC, along with technical and go-to-market support.
- Africa’s growing reliance on stablecoins and real-world crypto use cases is fueling this momentum.
- With VC drying up post-FTX, ecosystem grants are now key early-stage lifelines for African Web3 builders.
- Circle and Tether continue to battle for stablecoin dominance, each with distinct strategies across the continent.
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What Circle Is Offering
The USDC Developer Grants offer funding between $5,000 and $100,000, paid in $USDC, for teams building real-world blockchain applications using Circle’s developer stack.
This includes:
- Programmable Wallets
- Smart Contract APIs
- Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP)
- On/off-ramp services via the Circle Payments Network (CPN)
In addition to funding, grantees receive product and compliance support, technical mentorship, co-marketing, and potential referrals to Circle Ventures.
“The applicants’ creativity and ambition pushed us to dig deeper and ultimately select the projects we believe will move the industry forward,” Circle said in its announcement.
Meet the African Grantees
The five African projects selected in Cohort 4 are:
This cohort represents a step-change for African participation. Only one African startup was selected in the second round, rising to three in Cohort 3, and now five in the fourth.
We are excited to announce that Flipeet Raise is now part of @circle Grant Program, Cohort 1.
Our mission is to help amazing startups raise money from anywhere in the world using USDC. We will be launching beta for a select few of startups in the coming weeks
LFG! pic.twitter.com/CMZoBSxxUO— Flipeet Raise (@FlipeetRaise) June 11, 2025
This surge aligns with broader trends in the region, where USDC adoption is accelerating across use cases – from remittances and savings to B2B cross-border trade.
As VC interest in crypto cooled globally, stablecoins have become the most adopted crypto asset across many African markets. Platforms like Onafriq, and Flutterwave – all partnered with Circle’s infrastructure – now process billions in cross-border and intra-Africa payments using stablecoins as settlement tools.
$USDC and $USDT dominate stablecoin flows in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. Circle, however, is pushing harder into developer ecosystems – building out infrastructure and tooling to create long-term Web3 rails.
LIST | Here Are Popular African Fintechs You Did Not Know Are Leveraging #Stablecoins
A lot of these fintechs have obfuscated their stablecoin offerings making it quite difficult to know if they’re leveraging stablecoins to achieve this.
See list below:https://t.co/AsdaNxw8AS pic.twitter.com/anf9k3TlV2
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) May 22, 2025
In contrast, Tether has taken a grassroots approach:
- Funding education campaigns
- Sponsoring conferences, and
- Making equity investments in African startups like Sorted Wallet, MANSA, and Shiga.
FUNDING | @Tether_to Expands in #Africa with Investment in @ShigaDigital Targeting FX and Treasury
The Shiga Digital partnership is expected to serve legacy sectors such as oil and gas – industries with considerable FX exposure and treasury needs.https://t.co/Fp0qUHNN6G $USDT pic.twitter.com/q84J44tu1t
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) June 10, 2025
Tether’s model seems to be working much better compared to Circle’s approach in Africa with little traction for $USDC compared to the massive growth of $USDT.
[TECH] STABLECOINS | ‘We Have 400 Million Users in Emerging Markets – We’re Basically Pushing Dollar Hegemony, Selling U.S Debt Outside the U.S,’ Says Tether CEO: Tether is currently the 17th largest.. https://t.co/B9NgyF7CeK via @BitcoinKE
— Top Kenyan Blogs (@Blogs_Kenya) March 9, 2025
Circle’s initiative is part of a broader shift in how crypto startups raise capital. With traditional VCs pulling back, ecosystem grants have become the new seed round, especially in markets like Africa.
These grants not only offer a financial runway but also grant credibility – opening doors to deeper integrations, product adoption, and eventual Series A funding.
And with Circle’s push into compliant, regulated stablecoin use – evidenced by its approval in Japan and its expanding presence in global financial infrastructure – African grantees are well-positioned to build products that scale across regions.
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