Stellar Community Fund Awards $$437,500 To Six African Startups Scaling Real-World Blockchain Use Cases

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TL;DR,

• The Stellar Community Fund awarded $2.57M in its 38th round, with six African startups receiving $437,500 in grants.
• Winning projects focus on tangible utility, including a digital aid wallet (Freedom PayWallet), a food delivery network (FastBuka), and an agricultural supply chain tracker (AgroLinking), proving blockchain’s practical value.
• Aspiring projects can earn grants by demonstrating strong product-market fit, technical excellence, and deep, meaningful integration with the Stellar or Soroban blockchain ecosystems.

24 teams worldwide have received a collective of $2.57 million from the Stellar Community fund, and six African startups walked away with $437,500, 19% of the available pool.

The Stellar Development Foundation announced its 38th funding round, and Africa proved once more how innovation, utility and real-world application set it apart from first-world countries. The foundation’s key focus is on community-driven projects to fund and support funders building on Stellar while addressing local challenges. Here are the six who walked away with almost half a million dollars.

 African Startups Take Center Stage with Real-World Solutions

The latest round of blockchain funding in Africa unveiled a compelling narrative in Africa. Unlike most top-down grant systems, the Stellar Community Fund employs a unique governance model called Neural Quorum Governance. The model blends reputation-based trusts with flexible delegations, preventing any “bureaucratic walls” from sidelining startups that make a difference.

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So far, the SCF has awarded more than $42 million in XLM across 656+ projects and in its 38th round, 6 African startups proved that innovations and utility attract grants.

Freedom PayWallet

The largest individual award went to Freedom PayWallet, securing a maximum of $150,000 in XLM. The project, founded in 2023, operates as a digital wallet solution specialized in supporting agencies that deliver financial aid to rural Africa. Freedom Paywallet enables instant money transfers, remittance services and a QR code-based payment system. Currently, its focus regions are in Gambia and Tanzania.

The platform utilizes the Stellar Disbursement platform and integrates with MoneyGram Access to enhance functionality. USDC stablecoin payments are one of its main selling points, placing it at the top of the list.

Minah

Minah quickly followed by receiving a $97,500 grant to expand its Africa-focused Real-World Asset (RWA) investment platform. Its mission is centralized mainly in West Africa, targeting diaspora flows, which directed over $54 billion to West Africa in 2023. With the funding, the platform intends to introduce a utility token to enhance community engagement and integrate a DeFi mechanism.

Minah already has a few successes under its belt, winning the “Best Pitch Award” at the FinTech R:Evolution 2025 competition in Paris. Additionally, the platform has over 10 potential partnerships and is onboarding fore project with a cumulative valuation of $1.173 million.

FastBuka

FastBuka, a blockchain-enabled food and grocery delivery platform, received $70,000. The platforms enable local vendors and customers to pay using either cryptocurrency or fiat currency. Its main revenue generation occurs through delivery fees, vendor commissions and transaction processing.

As a bonus, the platform also incorporates a reward system where users earn points with every purchase and referral.

Within Stellar’s blockchain network, FastBuka uses Soroban smart contracts to enhance transparency, security and efficiency in its deliver systems. Secure payments can be facilitated through USD stablecoin, XLM or local bank transfers. According to the Stellar Community Fund, FastBuka caught its attention through its “Africa’s First Blockchain-Powered Food Network” pitch. It’s practical, uses stellar and has ample use cases.

CartWey 

CartWey, a self-checkout solution for supermarkets and grocery stores, secured $60,000 to improve operational efficiency and customer convenience. Its main focus is to allow customers to cart products with ease and complete transactions independently.

AgroLinking

In the agriculture sector, AgroLinking (listed as AgroTrail on Stellar) earned $60,00 to deploy blockchain-powered traceability for Nigerian agricultural producers. As per its official site, the company serves as “the operating system for African agriculture ” linking farmers, processes and investors. Acquiring this particular blockchain funding might be due to their flagship product, AgTail. A blockchain-powered food traceability platform that ensures end-to-end transparency, quality, and safety in agricultural supply chains.

AgroLinking combines QR codes and data analytics while providing mobile record-keeping for agricultural products from farm to consumer.

 SFXmoneyapp

Rounding out the African cohort is SFXmoneyapp, a cross-border payment solution, which received $55,000 to enhance its platform for sending, receiving, and saving money. The platform is accessible to over 14 African countries, allowing users to send and receive funds, save in USD stablecoins and exchange it for cash at over 200 digital exchange points. Unlike the other five, this platform resides in Polygon, issuing over 1,000 Circle USDC wallets and sponsoring over 500 gasless transactions.

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How to Get Funding from Stellar Community Fund

The SCF is a chance to gain community grants for crypto projects focused on utility, functionality and scale. Here’s a quick breakdown of the requirements you’ll need to qualify.

Eligibility requirements include:

• Teams or individuals must be at least 18 years old.
• Organizations must be legally incorporated and in good standing.
• Projects must integrate with Stellar or Soroban directly—not superficially.
• Certain regions (e.g., OFAC-sanctioned territories) are excluded.

Here are some must-have qualifications for startups

• Product-Market Fit: Teams need to provide evidence of market demand through user traction, customer discovery, and a thorough analysis of their target market.
• Technical Excellence: A detailed technical plan, a functional prototype (for Build Awards), and a clear integration strategy are essential. Applicants should explain why Stellar is the ideal solution for the problem they are solving.
• Ecosystem Alignment: Successful projects show a deep understanding of the existing Stellar ecosystem, explaining how their solution complements or enhances current tools rather than unnecessarily competing with them.
• Community Engagement: Active participation in the Stellar Developer Discord and evidence of early user feedback or partnerships can significantly strengthen an application.