Yoseph Ayele closes $11M LAVA fund to back Africa's Web3 startups
What's the deal? Ethiopian-born investor Yoseph Ayele has closed an $11 million venture fund named LAVA to back early-stage African Web3 startups. It targets digital identity, stablecoin applications, and cross-border payment infrastructure, writing checks of $100,000 to $500,000.
Where's the money going? LAVA has deployed more than half of the fund across 18 startups in two years. Roughly half went to West Africa, led by Nigerian startups such as Shield3 and UltramarketsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →; 16% to East Africa; and 34% to pan-African and global ventures.
Its East African bets include HoneyCoinDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a global payment platform founded by David Nandwa. HoneyCoin recently closed a $4.9 million round led by Flourish VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to expand its stablecoin ecosystem.
Who's backing it? LAVA's limited partners read like a roster of crypto's elite. They include Coinbase chief executive officer Brian ArmstrongDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Paradigm co-founders Fred Ehrsam and Matt Huang, and Figma CEO Dylan FieldDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, alongside founders from Polygon, Celo, and Centrifuge.
Why now? Ayele argues that legacy financial rails in Africa are expensive, with cross-border payment fees often between 8% and 10%, and slow to clear. Stablecoin rails, he and chief technology officer Andy Tudhope contend, settle in minutes for cents — a shift for merchants who wait up to five days for supplier payments.
What's the endgame? The fund grew out of Borderless Africa, an initiative Ayele launched in 2021 to connect Ethereum values with local talent. Before that, he spent eight years running New Zealand's Edmund Hillary Fellowship, an immigration program that attracted over 500 entrepreneurs. LAVA takes an operator-led approach, supporting founders through regulation, partnerships, and follow-on rounds.
The signal: LAVA reflects a broader pivot in crypto away from speculative trading toward practical utility — and positions Africa, where costly and unreliable banking infrastructure creates clear demand, as a proving ground for stablecoin-based finance.
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