Season: Season 1 (2025 H2)
Funding: 102,000 CUSD
Status: IN PROGRESS
Author(s): Mukunde Brisa(@brisa), Nzioki Ronald(@rony23-byte), Cyndie Kamau(@CyndieKamau), & Chimizie Chuta(@chuta)
TLDR/Summary
This report provides a progress report for Celo Africa DAO in Season 1, 2025. Over this period (Sept - December), Celo Africa DAO solidified its position as the ecosystem’s primary developer growth engine on the continent. We advanced our mission by executing on three strategic pillars: accelerating high-potential early-stage startups through our Incubator program, dominating the global “Proof of Ship” developer pipeline, and driving real-world stablecoin adoption.
By shifting our focus from general education to measurable on-chain outcomes, the DAO successfully converted grassroots energy in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda & South Africa into tangible ecosystem value, onboarding early-stage projects, strengthening the developer funnel, deploying apps, and growing active users.
Aligning with Celo’s Vision 2030 and Season 1 Intents, we focused strategically on high-transaction verticals (stablecoins, ramps, gig economy) and developer activation.
Our mission to drive adoption and nurture local talent yielded significant results across our 2 key pillars:
- Developer Funnel: We dominated the regional hackathon circuit, most notably at ETHNile with over 30 projects built on Celo, and through our targeted MiniPay Hackathon, which saw over 60 high-quality projects built for Stablecoin rails, predictive markets, and mini-apps.
- Incubation Program & Real-World Traction: Transitioning from education to incubation, we successfully graduated 11 high-potential projects from our 3rd Cohort, all of whom pitched at our Demo Day. Real-world adoption followed suit, with the cKash app crossing over 1,000 users in 4 months, with over 100 monthly active users validating the demand for Celo-native payment rails.
- Ecosystem Leadership: We elevated Celo’s brand as the home for the “Real World” crypto at major industry events in the region, including a high-impact ETH for the World: Stablecoin Reception in Nairobi, Kenya and maintaining a strong presence at ETHNile in Kampala, Uganda, and Blockchain UNN in Lagos, Nigeria.
By focusing on these high-impact verticals, the DAO has catalysed grassroots growth in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, and South Africa, proving that African builders are not just learning about Celo; they are building the future of it.
Goals, Metrics & KPIs (Proposed/Achieved)
| Goal | Proposed | Achieved | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incubator Program | Onboard 8-10 high-potential startups in the transactions vertical. | Graduated 11+ early-stage startups with working MVPs | Achieved |
| Achieve an 80% Mainnet launch rate | Generated over $25,000 in on-chain transactions on Celo from the incubator program | ||
| Drive 70% of the high-potential teams to launch Minipay | 50% of the teams ready to launch Minipay | ||
| Ensure 80% of the teams proceed to Celo camp. | $10k in Milestone-based grant given to top teams | ||
| At least ensure that 50% are presented to Prezenti for pilot and growth grants. | Virtual Demo Day with top-tier ecosystem partners like minipay and investors, including Very Early Ventures, Hashed Emergent, and Verda Ventures. | ||
| 10+ Mentors & subject matter experts | |||
| Developer Acquisition & Retention Funnel | 200+ on-chain apps deployed, actively participating in Proof of Ship(all must be tracked on KarmaGAP with contract address and GitHub linked) | Onboarded 247 Projects in the Proof of Ship | Achieved |
| 500+ builders joining hackathons | Over 500 hackers participated in the HackersDAO Minipay Hackathon, ETHNILE & Blockchain UNN. | ||
| 50,000+ cumulative transactions generated across deployed projects | Over 239k in the Tx count from Africa | ||
| 20 Celo-native developer workshops | 15 IRL Codejams & 5 online technical workshops | ||
| 200+ active Celo repositories linked to deployed contracts | Over 2,300+ commits from Africa | ||
| 15+ MVPs integrating MiniPay(wallet integration tracked via app usage data) | 90 high quality projects submitted for the Electric Capital | ||
| 20 Miniapps onboarded | |||
| 10+ projects progressing to the Incubator program | Codejams/ IRL events onboarded over 320 developers |
KPIS
| KPIs | KPIs Description | Goal | Status as of today | % achieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incubator Program | Support(11) early-stage startups with working MVPs in our accelerator. | 10 | 11 | 110% |
| ### Developers Onboarded | Developers onboarded through our funnel; hackathons, virtual sessions, workshops - tracked on KarmaGap | 500 | 900+ | 180% |
| Projects Onboarded | Projects tracked and onboarded from our developer grassroots strategies(codejams, sessions, etc). | 200 | 200 | 100% |
| Celo Github Repos | Projects with tracked repositories on GitHub & KarmaGap | 200 | 200 | 100% |
| Codejams/ Workshops | IRL Workshops(15), developer side events(3), Virtual workshops(10) | 20 | 28 | 140% |
| Hackathons | Hackathons organised to onboard/boost the Celo Developer ecosystem | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| Hackathon Projects | Projects yielded from Hackathons | 200 | 350 | 175% |
| Tracking & Transparency | Projects must be tracked on KarmaGAP with the contract address, and GitHub linked | KarmaGap Dashboards Live | 100% |
Budget and Spending
In Season 1, Celo Africa DAO has successfully allocated 80% of our $102,000 funding budget to drive impact in key regions on strategic programs(Incubator Program outstanding team grants, hackathon rewards, developer IRL events, & workshops).
Due to governance delays in September, our operational timeline shifted to January. This will allow us to sustain core activities(Online workshops & IRL codejams) through January 2026, ensuring zero disruption by keeping our incubator pipeline, developer funnel and ecosystem active.
| Program | CUSD |
|---|---|
| Incubator Program Top teams Grants(5) | 10000 |
| Incubator Program Mentors/ Judges(10) | 3000 |
| Hackathon Prizes(Minipay Hackathon & ETHNile) | 6000 |
| Hackathon Campaign | 500 |
| Sponsored Regional Events(Stablecoin Reception, ETHNile & Blockchain UNN) | 3500 |
| Codejams | 9000 |
| Developer Rewards | 1500 |
| Team(Contributors & Multisig) & Operations | 45600 |
| Tooling(X & Request Finance) | 2600 |
| TOTAL | 81,700 |
Details
Celo Africa DAO focused on 2 Strategic Programs:
In Q4 2025, Celo Africa DAO delivered a fully virtual, high-touch incubator designed to accelerate early-stage native startups. Shifting focus from experimentation to what’s working, the program prioritised founders with working MVPs building high-impact financial use cases (payments, lending, merchant acceptance). The season successfully strengthened Celo’s reputation as the default settlement layer for African fintech.
Key Impact Highlights
- Pipeline Growth: Supported 11+ early-stage startups with active MVPs across key fintech verticals.
- On-Chain Traction: Generated $25,000+ in on-chain transactions during the program, laying the groundwork for sustained TVL growth.
- Founder Readiness: drastically improved go-to-market strategies, regulatory navigation, and fundraising preparedness.
- Performance Incentives: Implemented a milestone-based reward structure to ensure accountability and drive tangible traction.
Demo Day & Ecosystem Success
The program culminated in a virtual Demo Day connecting founders directly with top-tier ecosystem partners like minipay and investors, including Very Early Ventures, Hashed Emergent, and Verda Ventures. This exposure successfully positioned multiple teams for post-incubator pilots and funding opportunities.
Projects that participated in Cohort III include:
Future iterations of the incubator can further increase impact by expanding post-incubator capital and pilot programs, deepening fintech and enterprise partnerships, and tracking long-term on-chain performance of alumni teams.
In Q4 2025, Celo Africa DAO executed a hybrid acquisition strategy combining online education, in-person codejams, and targeted hackathons. This multi-channel approach successfully positioned Celo as the top-of-mind ecosystem for stablecoins, mini-apps, and prediction markets in the region.
- Total Reach: 900+ developers onboarded.
- Pipeline Volume: 550 projects reached, with 110 projects successfully admitted into the Proof of Ship pipeline(200 high quality projects coming from grassroots strategy and 90 high quality projects from hackathons)
- Strategic Shift: Introduced AI-assisted tooling to scale project evaluation and integrated heavily with the Electric Capital reporting framework, submitting 90 projects from 2025 report.
1. Education & Activation (Online + Offline)
- Online Workshops: Hosted 5 live streams and 5 regional workshops focusing on Mini-apps, x402 rails, and Games. These sessions reached over 500 developers virtually, emphasising live coding and architectural breakdowns.
- In-Person Codejams: executed 15 regional codejams across Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya. These events onboarded over 320 developers, serving as a direct conversion layer from “learner” to “builder.”
2. Hackathon Dominance
- ETHNile Hackathon (Uganda): Anchored the regional event by sponsoring the Celo track. Resulted in over 235 developers’ participation with 100+ (45% participant rate) onboarded, hacked, and 30+ projects built on Celo, focusing on payments and consumer apps.
- MiniPay Hackathon (via HackersDAO): Hosted a hackathon specifically for Mini-apps, Prediction Markets, and Games. This resulted in 250 developer participants and 60 submissions with a product-market fit.
3. Operational Innovation: AI Tooling
To scale oversight, we built an internal AI agent to evaluate GitHub repositories for code quality, Celo integration, and commit activity. This automation reduced manual overhead and identified 90 high-quality projects suitable for the Q4 Electric Capital report.
Building on this momentum, the 2026 focus shifts to deepening the Proof of Ship pipeline, converting high-signal projects into long-term founders, and expanding AI ecosystem intelligence.
Celo Africa DAO Verticals (Success Story: cKash)
cKash validates Africa DAO’s ability to execute against Season 1 Intents. As a direct incubator graduate, the app has evolved from a prototype into an active driver of Daily Transactions and TVL Growth, proving our regional strategy engineers sustainable on-chain volume through real-world utility.
Q4 Milestones(live in 4 months)
- Validation: Secured Prezenti Almond Grant, confirming ecosystem alignment.
- Adoption: 1,500+ Installs (Google Play) and 300+ Monthly Active Users.
- Impact: 1,000+ Transactions and $13,000+ Volume ($10k on-chain + $3k off-ramp).
- Brand: 60k+ Impressions on X (Twitter) with active local engagement.
Verification: Visible via Divvi’s Dune Dashboards: Stablecoin Circulation | Proof of Impact S1
cKash provides functional payment rails (merchant payments & off-ramps) that drive daily active usage on Celo.
Closing Remarks
This season was defined by a strategic alignment: connecting local execution directly to Celo’s Season 1 Intents, specifically Growing Daily Transactions and Increasing TVL. Celo Africa DAO successfully pivoted from broad community education to becoming a targeted Transaction Growth Engine, product incubator, and developer powerhouse. Notably, our developer funnel contributed over ~50% of Celo’s global hackathon activity & projects in the proof of ship & impact, driving measurable ecosystem value.
Looking Ahead
Building on Q4’s momentum, our focus shifts from activation to scale; doubling down on the high-leverage verticals that drove our Season 1 Intents wins. We will refine our incubator into a venture-building pipeline to produce more impactful products, deepen builder retention through Proof of Ship, and aggressively expand real-world stablecoin utility to engineer sustainable, long-term transaction growth for the Celo network.
We extend our gratitude to the Celo community for their trust, and to our ecosystem partners, CPG, Prezenti, Divvi, Minipay, and the Celo Foundation, for their collaboration in making this season a success.
Useful Links
Proof of Ship Stats: https://dune.com/celo/proof-of-ship-stats
HackersDAO Minipay Hackathon: Celo MiniPay Hackathon
ETHNile Hackathon: EthNile Kampala | Hackathon | DoraHacks
Incubator Program: https://www.celoafricadao.xyz/incubator
cKash App: https://ckash.app/