Building and Investing in Africa’s Web3 Infrastructure to Tackle Real Life Problems with Vincent LI

[00:00:00] You're listening to the Unlocking Africa podcast.

[00:00:03] I'm the founding partner of Adverse.

[00:00:05] I started my career 16 years ago as a product manager.

[00:00:10] I think it's a really good thing.

[00:00:11] I really like this mindset that African founders have to solve the real world issues.

[00:00:17] We really love to see that founders have the innovation and openness for new technologies

[00:00:23] and willingness to try new things.

[00:00:25] During the course of product design, the founder and the team need to think how to make it work

[00:00:31] for local users.

[00:00:32] So adaptation is very important.

[00:00:34] We try our best to connect the founders and expose them with various global resources.

[00:00:40] Stay tuned as we bring you inspiring people who are unlocking Africa's economic potential.

[00:00:47] You're listening to the Unlocking Africa podcast with your host, Terser Adamu.

[00:00:55] Welcome to the Unlocking Africa podcast where we find inspirational people who are doing

[00:01:00] inspirational things to unlock Africa's economic potential.

[00:01:05] Today, we have Vincent Lee, who is the founding partner of Adverse, which is the

[00:01:11] Cardano ecosystem accelerator that aggregates entrepreneurs, strategists and mentors in

[00:01:18] Africa.

[00:01:19] Adverse supports blockchain founders with funds, mentorship and tech.

[00:01:25] Welcome, welcome, welcome to the podcast, Vincent.

[00:01:28] How are you?

[00:01:29] Hey Terser, I'm good, I'm good.

[00:01:31] Very happy to be here.

[00:01:32] How are you?

[00:01:33] I'm very well, thank you.

[00:01:35] It's a pleasure to have you on the podcast and looking forward to the conversation.

[00:01:39] So I'm not sure if you've listened to the podcast before, but I usually like to start from

[00:01:45] the beginning.

[00:01:46] So could you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit more about Vincent Lee?

[00:01:51] Yeah, sure thing.

[00:01:54] Thanks for this opportunity.

[00:01:55] My name is Vincent Lee.

[00:01:57] I'm the founding partner of Adverse.

[00:02:00] Actually I started my career 16 years ago as a product manager.

[00:02:06] And I remember at that time everything was quite static.

[00:02:10] We call it web one so far.

[00:02:13] Then I started my first startup by 2015 where I entered into web two.

[00:02:21] So I built a new segregator called QuTotiao in China and then went viral.

[00:02:26] And it got listed in Nasdaq two and a half years later in early 2018.

[00:02:33] And after that, I started business in Africa in early 2019.

[00:02:39] I founded Future Hub, a seed fund and incubator backing African startups and founders.

[00:02:46] And I did some exits.

[00:02:49] And then in early 2021, my journey in web three started.

[00:02:56] I founded Adverse together with a few venture building in web three.

[00:03:01] And so far as the web three seed fund and accelerator, Adverse have already invested

[00:03:08] more than 54 web three companies across different parts of the world,

[00:03:13] including Africa, Asia and Middle East.

[00:03:18] And so far I'm still on the way of building and investing in web three,

[00:03:23] web two, general tech companies.

[00:03:26] And I'm really enjoying what I'm doing.

[00:03:28] Thanks.

[00:03:29] Fantastic.

[00:03:30] Thank you for that overview.

[00:03:31] So you've detailed your journey starting as a product manager,

[00:03:35] started your first startup in 2015.

[00:03:38] Your first kind of foray or entrance into the African market was 2019,

[00:03:46] which has led you to Adverse.

[00:03:47] So if you can give us a bit more detail regarding the story behind the founding of Adverse.

[00:03:57] Yeah, sure.

[00:03:57] I still remember that it was a fantastic starting.

[00:04:01] At that time, actually, I was already in Africa for a few years.

[00:04:07] And I saw the huge potential of a blockchain and web three technology in Africa,

[00:04:14] which can really solve the real world problems.

[00:04:18] And at the same time, the Cardano, actually the Emergo,

[00:04:23] the founding entity of Cardano blockchain, was also looking to extend their presence

[00:04:30] in Africa, supporting web three companies.

[00:04:33] And then I remember it was a very good conversation when we met each other.

[00:04:40] So as a kind of GP, I was very happy to be backed by Emergo so that we can start

[00:04:48] one of the very first web three seed fund accelerator Adverse in the continent.

[00:04:54] Fantastic.

[00:04:55] Thank you for that.

[00:04:56] So you mentioned that you saw the huge potential in blockchain to solve some of

[00:05:01] the challenges in the market.

[00:05:03] So from your perspective, what benefits can this ecosystem bring to the African economy?

[00:05:09] Maybe if we look specifically at addressing challenges such as financial inclusion and

[00:05:15] payment infrastructure?

[00:05:17] Yes, yes.

[00:05:18] Actually, I saw a very big potential leveraging blockchain web three technology in Africa.

[00:05:26] So as we know, in Africa, we have the not that stable currency.

[00:05:32] And also, we see a lot of people that they are not yet financial included.

[00:05:39] So in such kind of environment, actually, we see the big potential for

[00:05:45] African market to leapfrog the current web two solutions, where quite a few very

[00:05:52] cross border remittance companies charge very high rates, like 10, even 10, 15%

[00:05:59] of transaction fees for each cross border transaction.

[00:06:02] But if you look at the solution based on web three and blockchain, let's say the

[00:06:07] specific case of making a peer to peer transaction from Africa to other parts of

[00:06:15] let's say, UK, then basically you can do the transaction in less than one minute

[00:06:22] with a very minimum fee like less than one dollar.

[00:06:26] So basically, this type of solution is very innovative and disruptive and it's

[00:06:32] very good for everyday users in Africa to save money, save time and to achieve

[00:06:39] the financial inclusion.

[00:06:41] So if you look at what we have invested in Africa, quite a lot of the companies

[00:06:46] tackling the money transfer and remittance problems.

[00:06:51] Let's say Afreex, Bitmama, Onboard and quite a lot of others.

[00:06:56] So they have different positioning and the different targeted groups, but they

[00:07:02] all leverage blockchain technology and in a web three way to really add value

[00:07:07] to the market.

[00:07:08] So I see big potential and also it is already happening.

[00:07:13] So, so far, most of our companies, they're doing very healthy transfer volume

[00:07:18] and they really solve the big issue for users to make cross border transfer

[00:07:24] between their relatives and friends.

[00:07:26] So I'm very happy to see that.

[00:07:28] So for the people who are listening, who aren't familiar with blockchain,

[00:07:33] what is the infrastructure behind these smart innovations and technology?

[00:07:38] What infrastructure is required to achieve some of these great things that

[00:07:44] you're talking about?

[00:07:45] Yeah, so for this case, I can see two layers of infrastructure.

[00:07:50] So the fundamental layer is the blockchain itself.

[00:07:54] So as you know, let's say the Bitcoin, Ethereum and all the other major

[00:07:59] chains, they are kind of distributed ledger.

[00:08:02] Right?

[00:08:03] So once you transfer certain currency to others, then a record is occurred and

[00:08:11] that record is kept not by only one person, but by many nodes and many people.

[00:08:20] So it can keep a very big transparency.

[00:08:23] And on top of it is second layer, which is more like a web three.

[00:08:27] So because the blockchain is just a pure technology, people still need to have a

[00:08:33] good user base.

[00:08:34] They need to have a good interface and that they need a very good process and

[00:08:40] a very easy to use products to carry out the transfer.

[00:08:45] And that is why different companies, they build their own product interface and

[00:08:51] they build their own tokenomics to incentivize people who can support the

[00:08:57] record keeping and the transfer itself, and also encourage users to use more to

[00:09:03] get more discount.

[00:09:04] So this is the part that the web three startups are playing a very

[00:09:10] important part.

[00:09:11] So I see these two layers of infrastructure and they can work very well

[00:09:17] together in the context of Africa.

[00:09:19] Yeah.

[00:09:20] So you've detailed the infrastructure that lays the foundation for the landscape.

[00:09:26] How have you seen the landscape of blockchain startups evolving in Africa

[00:09:32] compared to other regions you've worked in?

[00:09:36] Yeah, actually it's a very good question.

[00:09:38] You know, I have an Asian background.

[00:09:40] I grew up in China and Adverse also invest a lot of companies in Asia and

[00:09:45] also United States and a couple of other markets.

[00:09:48] And what I can see in the other markets, especially Asian and the US is that

[00:09:55] there are lots of crypto native projects where they solve the problem of

[00:10:01] efficiency of running a blockchain, the transparency and also the financial

[00:10:07] part of the crypto native scene like the stable coin swapping,

[00:10:13] decentralized exchange, ZK rollups and quite a lot of other very crypto native

[00:10:19] concepts.

[00:10:20] But when we see things happening in Africa, actually we see more

[00:10:25] fundamental products that are solving the real world issues.

[00:10:31] So we just cover one of the biggest sector, which is the cross-border

[00:10:36] remittance.

[00:10:37] But beyond that, we also see many other sectors.

[00:10:41] For example, the supply chain management, land registration, gaming, medical and

[00:10:48] quite a lot of other verticals.

[00:10:51] Founders in these verticals, they are innovative enough to leverage the

[00:10:57] blockchain and the Web3 technologies to solve the real world problems in

[00:11:04] their sectors.

[00:11:05] For example, Adverse invests Checkit, which is a supply chain management

[00:11:10] company, and also SideMap, who is solving the land registration

[00:11:16] transparency problem for the developers and also the users.

[00:11:21] And we see a lot of these kind of vertical solutions beyond cross-border

[00:11:26] remittance.

[00:11:27] It's far more than what we see in other regions where people solve the

[00:11:33] quite crypto native things.

[00:11:35] And speaking of the evolution and trends, we see more and more African

[00:11:41] founders.

[00:11:42] They started with Web2, but they leverage more and more, deeper and

[00:11:47] deeper Web3 concepts.

[00:11:49] So they started solving the real world issues.

[00:11:52] And then right now, they use more and more token-related

[00:11:56] mechanisms like tokenomics to really solve the distribution issue, the

[00:12:01] fairness and quite a lot of other deeper problems in their industry.

[00:12:07] I haven't really seen a very big group of founders who really go for

[00:12:13] tokenizing without solving much problem, but I think it's a really

[00:12:18] good thing.

[00:12:19] And I really like this kind of mindset that African founders have to

[00:12:24] solve the real world issues.

[00:12:26] Thank you for sharing.

[00:12:27] As you mentioned, in Africa, you see more startups solving fundamental

[00:12:32] real-life issues and challenges.

[00:12:35] So what unique challenges and opportunities have you encountered

[00:12:39] while helping to build and scale companies in Africa?

[00:12:44] It's a very good question.

[00:12:46] So as I mentioned, we see a very big bunch of experienced founders

[00:12:51] in Africa who know what they're doing, who have very solid

[00:12:55] industrial experiences.

[00:12:57] But for those who are eager enough to learn Web3, they still need a

[00:13:02] very good channel to learn it and to get really genuine and solid support.

[00:13:08] So I see the gap.

[00:13:10] And that was why Adverse provided this kind of acceleration program

[00:13:15] support for our portfolio companies in Africa.

[00:13:18] So we ran a three-month acceleration program.

[00:13:22] And in the program, we focus only Web3-related knowledge and know-how.

[00:13:28] And we equipped the founders in the Web2 background with all the

[00:13:34] Web3 knowledge we think is necessary.

[00:13:38] So in the program, we help them to build the product mechanism and

[00:13:42] the utility of tokens.

[00:13:44] We help them to consult the technology development of the

[00:13:49] blockchain.

[00:13:50] And we help them to build a community and go to market, and also help them

[00:13:54] to get a follow-on investment from Web3 investors globally.

[00:14:00] So with all this support, we try our best to make them ready for

[00:14:06] Web3 launch and also the operation.

[00:14:09] And I think this is the key value that Adverse can add to the African

[00:14:15] Web3 ecosystem.

[00:14:16] And I'm really proud that we can do this for the past two years.

[00:14:22] So you highlighted a key point in terms of getting them ready.

[00:14:26] How do you assess the readiness of African markets to adopt

[00:14:31] Web3 technologies?

[00:14:34] It's a very good question.

[00:14:36] So I see things in two ways.

[00:14:38] The first is B2C, and second is B2B.

[00:14:42] So for the B2C part, the biggest use case I can see now is the flow of

[00:14:48] money, let's say the transfer or the settlement.

[00:14:53] So as I mentioned, quite a lot of companies we invested

[00:14:57] tackling this issue.

[00:14:59] So this is for B2C.

[00:15:02] And what is yet to be seen in the B2C part is more like

[00:15:07] crypto-native products.

[00:15:09] But I believe given time, African will be there.

[00:15:12] And the other angle is B2B.

[00:15:15] So B2B, as I mentioned, there will be a lot of different sectors that can

[00:15:20] leverage the blockchain technology.

[00:15:22] Let's say the supply chain, the land registration and

[00:15:27] anti-counterfeit solution and so on and so forth.

[00:15:31] So basically for this two part, we already cover quite a big number of

[00:15:35] startups that are adding value.

[00:15:38] So what would you say are the factors that contribute to their willingness

[00:15:43] to embrace this transition to adopt web-free technologies?

[00:15:48] So the simple answer is they see the market demand, right?

[00:15:53] So let's go back to the cross-border remittance case.

[00:15:57] So if you are an everyday user in Africa and you have two options.

[00:16:03] One is to go to MoneyGround to make a transfer to UK,

[00:16:07] which takes you two weeks time and 15% of a transaction fee.

[00:16:15] And the other option is you use, let's say, Bimama,

[00:16:19] Kotani Pay, AfraX, those innovative apps.

[00:16:24] Then you make the transfer and then you complete it in one minute

[00:16:29] with less than $1 transaction fee.

[00:16:32] So which one would you choose?

[00:16:34] Right?

[00:16:34] So basically it's very huge market demand for users to save money and

[00:16:40] save time.

[00:16:41] So for that part, it's basically the market demand will drive

[00:16:46] all the different solutions to come out.

[00:16:49] And the same case for B2P part.

[00:16:52] The blockchain technology and web-free mindset can really solve the issue and

[00:16:57] improve the efficiency and improve the transparency of a certain industry and

[00:17:03] sector if they really see the importance of efficiency and transparency.

[00:17:10] Interesting, interesting.

[00:17:11] So if we look closely at the work you do in terms of funding and

[00:17:15] supporting entrepreneurs, do you think your approach to supporting

[00:17:19] entrepreneurs or founders in Africa is different from how you'd approach

[00:17:26] supporting founders in other regions such as Southeast Asia,

[00:17:31] within the Middle East?

[00:17:33] Yes.

[00:17:34] So based on my experience, the difference is kind of big because the market

[00:17:39] condition is very different.

[00:17:42] So in Southeast Asia, one thing is that the whole market is different.

[00:17:47] Right?

[00:17:48] Maybe people don't really need to have more like a fundamental solution

[00:17:53] based on blockchain, but rather more like an enjoyable, interesting things

[00:17:59] like a game fight to kill time and to make hustle in Southeast Asia.

[00:18:06] That makes founders build different solutions, right?

[00:18:10] Build differently.

[00:18:11] But in Africa, what I see is that the founders, they are solving

[00:18:16] the real world issues and challenges.

[00:18:19] Basically, they try to solve a certain problem that others fail to solve.

[00:18:25] Right?

[00:18:26] And in that sense, in let's say Southeast Asia or Asia in general,

[00:18:32] basically the support would be in product what we can build for fun

[00:18:38] or for users to have fun.

[00:18:40] Right?

[00:18:41] And also what we can build to make like a very disruptive,

[00:18:46] innovative solution that can happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

[00:18:51] Right?

[00:18:51] But in Africa, things are more straightforward.

[00:18:55] So what current issue you can solve right now and how you solve it

[00:19:01] and how you can save money, save time for users.

[00:19:04] And as simple as that.

[00:19:06] So the whole market condition and the way of doing business different,

[00:19:11] I would say.

[00:19:12] But I think to be very honest, it feels very much more meaningful

[00:19:18] to support founders in Africa to solve these issues.

[00:19:22] That's great to hear.

[00:19:23] So if we take a few steps back in terms of before you decide to support

[00:19:28] founders and startups in Africa, what criteria do you use when considering

[00:19:34] or selecting startups for investments and acceleration on the continent?

[00:19:40] Yeah, it's a very good question.

[00:19:42] So I will answer in two folds.

[00:19:44] The first fold is that we also are kind of investor

[00:19:47] and the criteria is not that different from others.

[00:19:52] So we're happy to work with very experienced founders who know what they're doing.

[00:19:58] And also, we want to back the founders who have a very reasonable

[00:20:03] and logical business plan and power of execution.

[00:20:07] So that is one fold.

[00:20:09] But the second fold is more important for us as a Web 3 focused VC and accelerator.

[00:20:16] So we really love to see that founders have the innovation and openness

[00:20:23] for new technologies and willingness to try new things.

[00:20:27] So that is very important.

[00:20:29] I don't deny that there are a bunch of founders who are very experienced

[00:20:34] and they can do what they have done to make sure things don't go wrong.

[00:20:38] But for us, we prefer founders who can build innovative solutions

[00:20:43] and things out of the box where it gives us the ground to try new things

[00:20:49] like blockchain and Web 3 together with founders.

[00:20:53] So you mentioned that you are drawn to founders who welcome innovation.

[00:20:58] So how do you identify or build your pipeline

[00:21:02] of promising founders or startups to invest in?

[00:21:06] Yeah, it's a very good question.

[00:21:08] So basically we see two things.

[00:21:10] The first thing is that we will have a discussion with the founders

[00:21:15] about their product and the thinking behind why and how they build the product.

[00:21:20] So in that chat or discussion, we can see whether or not

[00:21:25] the founder has the innovative thinking and why they build these features.

[00:21:31] Usually they can speak in great passion about their new feature,

[00:21:37] leveraging blockchain.

[00:21:39] So if we see that, for sure we see the openness and willingness to try blockchain.

[00:21:45] And the second part is about the related attractions of that new features.

[00:21:51] So for example, Bimama rules the virtual credit cards.

[00:21:55] We didn't know whether or not it would be the effective solution

[00:21:59] for the African users.

[00:22:01] But with some early stage traction,

[00:22:03] we can be pretty sure that this is one of the effective solutions.

[00:22:09] So once we see why they build this product and the early stage attractions,

[00:22:14] basically it is much easier for us to make decisions.

[00:22:18] So you touched on a key point there in terms of early stage traction.

[00:22:22] So how do you measure the impact and success of your investments

[00:22:27] and accelerations beyond financial returns?

[00:22:31] Yeah, it's a very good question.

[00:22:33] So let me share how we make decisions.

[00:22:36] So actually we tap in when the founders have the MVP, right?

[00:22:41] So we tap in in the post-MVP stage and we're willing to see

[00:22:46] some early stage attractions to make decisions.

[00:22:49] That is not only for the product or for the potential of the product,

[00:22:54] but also we will see how this solution can make impact

[00:22:59] to everyday users' lives, right?

[00:23:02] So for example, if this solution can really drive the financial inclusion,

[00:23:08] if this solution can really drive the fairness of the users,

[00:23:13] if this solution can really drive the financial freedom for the users,

[00:23:18] then basically this is very positive to us.

[00:23:23] And we're happy to see that the founders are not just built to earn,

[00:23:28] but also built to impact.

[00:23:31] So I was wondering if we can discuss potentially a specific company

[00:23:35] that you've supported.

[00:23:37] Are there any successful case studies from your portfolio

[00:23:42] that demonstrates the type of impact that you're hoping to make on the continent?

[00:23:48] Yes, thanks for this question.

[00:23:51] So I can remember one of our portfolio companies called Kotani Pay.

[00:23:56] So they originally started from Kenya.

[00:24:00] And what they're building is very interesting.

[00:24:02] So you know, all these Web3 blockchain technologies and products,

[00:24:08] it seems very fancy, right?

[00:24:09] So you need an application or you need a DApp,

[00:24:13] and you need a wallet,

[00:24:14] and you need to deal with your seed phrase and then connect.

[00:24:20] So you do a bunch of things.

[00:24:21] Seems very complex, right?

[00:24:23] But what they build is very simple.

[00:24:27] So they build a Web3 wallet solution for feature phones, right?

[00:24:33] The feature phone means it's not a smartphone.

[00:24:35] It doesn't have the Android system or iOS system.

[00:24:38] Basically, it's like a Nokia burner.

[00:24:41] So they build a wallet for the feature phones

[00:24:45] and for the everyday users in Kenya.

[00:24:49] And the reason why they build that is because they build a solution

[00:24:55] for the international institutions and organizations

[00:24:59] to give the donation to the local people, right?

[00:25:03] So to me, it's a really impactful solution, right?

[00:25:08] So for all the international donors,

[00:25:11] the only thing they need to do is to donate stable coin,

[00:25:15] cryptocurrency.

[00:25:16] And the Kotani Pay, they do all the dirty work.

[00:25:20] They converted this cryptocurrency

[00:25:24] into different kinds of assets and then dispatch

[00:25:28] through that feature phone wallet,

[00:25:30] which is more like a keyboard-based solution

[00:25:34] to the everyday users in Kenya.

[00:25:36] So from this case, I can really see the impact

[00:25:40] that Web3 can give,

[00:25:42] and also the simple solution that they make

[00:25:45] is really impactful.

[00:25:47] Thank you for sharing that.

[00:25:48] So you mentioned that they built a simple solution

[00:25:50] for everyday users.

[00:25:52] So with your expertise in the African market,

[00:25:55] what are some crucial considerations for businesses

[00:25:59] aiming to successfully enter the market?

[00:26:03] Yes, I can think of three things.

[00:26:05] The first thing is the innovation,

[00:26:08] and the second thing is the adaptation.

[00:26:12] So adaptation is very important

[00:26:14] because not all the global solution can work locally.

[00:26:20] So during the course of product design,

[00:26:24] the founder and the team really need to think

[00:26:27] how to make it work for local users.

[00:26:30] So adaptation is very important.

[00:26:33] And the third thing is that the utility

[00:26:36] or the economy of the token or the Web3 mechanism

[00:26:41] is also very important, right?

[00:26:43] So who are paying, who are receiving,

[00:26:46] who are the benefactor and who are the supporter.

[00:26:50] So all these things need to make sense.

[00:26:53] So for all these three factors,

[00:26:56] if the founder can really have all of them,

[00:26:59] I believe they can really make it work for the market.

[00:27:03] Fantastic.

[00:27:03] So I guess to make it work requires partnerships,

[00:27:06] both local and global.

[00:27:08] So what strategies have you employed

[00:27:12] to bridge the gap between African startups

[00:27:16] and potential investors or partners in other regions?

[00:27:20] Yeah, it's a very good question.

[00:27:22] So remember at the beginning,

[00:27:23] I mentioned the acceleration program.

[00:27:26] So we covered the four dimensions,

[00:27:29] the product and token utility,

[00:27:32] the technical consultancy, the go-to-market strategy,

[00:27:35] and also the fundraising strategy, right?

[00:27:39] So to run this acceleration,

[00:27:42] we have both in-house team

[00:27:45] and also the external mentors, right?

[00:27:47] So I can give you two examples.

[00:27:50] The first one is in the technical consultancy, right?

[00:27:54] So if the founder needs the support and connection

[00:27:59] with different chains,

[00:28:00] then we can make the connection.

[00:28:02] For example, if the gamify products

[00:28:06] need very high performance chains,

[00:28:08] we will connect them with Solana.

[00:28:11] And if they really need to have a very secure

[00:28:15] and a green chain,

[00:28:16] then we recommend them to use Cardano.

[00:28:19] And this is the first case.

[00:28:20] And the second case is that

[00:28:22] we also connect the founders

[00:28:25] with all different resources we have,

[00:28:27] like a Web3 Global investors.

[00:28:30] So last year we just ran a very big demo day.

[00:28:33] So we presented 25 portfolio companies

[00:28:37] and we invited more than 150 global Web3 investors,

[00:28:43] mostly from US and Asia.

[00:28:46] And we made the connection

[00:28:47] and then we facilitate all the communications

[00:28:51] between the founders and the global investors.

[00:28:54] So in this way,

[00:28:56] we try our best to connect the founders

[00:28:58] and expose them with the various kind of

[00:29:01] global resources.

[00:29:03] So I'm assuming as part of your acceleration program,

[00:29:06] you're fully embedded in the ecosystem

[00:29:09] and you're probably aware of all of the trends

[00:29:12] that have taken place over the years.

[00:29:14] From your perspective,

[00:29:15] what are some of the key trends

[00:29:17] that you've observed in the African Web3 ecosystems

[00:29:22] since you started working there in,

[00:29:24] was it 2018, 2019?

[00:29:27] Yes, it's a really good question.

[00:29:29] So when I started,

[00:29:31] I saw quite a lot of Web2 or Web2.5 style of projects

[00:29:38] like the payment based on blockchain

[00:29:41] and cross border remittance and settlement protocols.

[00:29:46] But more and more till this year,

[00:29:48] I started to see a lot of a few Web3 native projects.

[00:29:54] For example, Play2Earn

[00:29:56] and even let's say online entertainment chat rooms

[00:30:00] where people can communicate with each other.

[00:30:03] At the same time, they can earn some rewards

[00:30:05] based on NFT.

[00:30:07] So more and more fancy concept coming out from Africa,

[00:30:10] which is really a good thing.

[00:30:12] And I believe this year and next year,

[00:30:15] we will see more and more,

[00:30:17] I say next generation crypto

[00:30:18] and blockchain solution from Africa.

[00:30:21] Thank you, Fridas.

[00:30:22] So how do you stay updated on the emerging trends

[00:30:26] and developments in the space?

[00:30:29] Yeah, so firstly,

[00:30:31] we have a really big global network from AdWords.

[00:30:35] So we have team members based in New York,

[00:30:38] team member based in Singapore,

[00:30:39] in Shanghai, in Dubai, in Saudi Arabia,

[00:30:43] in Kenya and in Nigeria and also in UK.

[00:30:47] So we have a very big network

[00:30:49] and we have the weekly meetings

[00:30:51] to exchange everything that happened in each office.

[00:30:55] So we stay in touch with each other

[00:30:57] and learn things from different regions

[00:31:01] in terms of trends and news.

[00:31:03] And secondly, since we have this big multinational team,

[00:31:08] we can be exposed to the Web3 ecosystem

[00:31:13] and the founder network in each region.

[00:31:15] So it's not that difficult for us to know the latest trends

[00:31:20] and also the most popular Web3 projects from time to time.

[00:31:25] And not to mention personally speaking,

[00:31:28] I keep traveling in different regions,

[00:31:30] in the UK, in the US,

[00:31:32] in the Middle East and Asia,

[00:31:34] in Africa to conferences and to all the networkings

[00:31:40] to keep updated with everyone.

[00:31:43] And I really enjoy this work

[00:31:46] and most importantly,

[00:31:47] I really love to share the latest insights

[00:31:51] and trends to the founder network

[00:31:53] and to our portfolios.

[00:31:55] So from the insight that you gather,

[00:31:57] from your opinion,

[00:31:58] what are the most exciting and promising trends

[00:32:01] that you're currently seeing

[00:32:03] in the African Web3 space?

[00:32:07] Yeah, so for this year,

[00:32:08] there are a few very hot sectors in the Web3 space.

[00:32:13] For example, the real world assets, RWA,

[00:32:18] which means people will tokenize

[00:32:20] the real world assets on chain.

[00:32:22] So this is highly related to Africa

[00:32:25] because Africa is so resourceful,

[00:32:28] like gold, like different mining resources

[00:32:31] and also the solar power and clean energy

[00:32:35] and a lot of different things.

[00:32:37] So RWA is definitely one of the related trends to Africa.

[00:32:42] Apart from that,

[00:32:43] I also see the potential of social fire

[00:32:45] and game fire projects

[00:32:48] that could be very big potential in Africa.

[00:32:50] And also the restaking

[00:32:53] and some crypto native things like D-Pain.

[00:32:57] It might be early for African,

[00:33:00] but I'm very happy to see

[00:33:02] that there will be some emerging projects from Africa

[00:33:07] tackling D-Pain and the restaking.

[00:33:10] Brilliant, brilliant.

[00:33:11] So if we look past current trends and look at the future,

[00:33:15] what role do you see African startups playing

[00:33:18] in shaping the future of the global Web3 space

[00:33:23] in the next five years?

[00:33:26] It's a very good question.

[00:33:27] What I see if I can only say one word is the adoption.

[00:33:33] So I can see a huge potential

[00:33:36] of Mars adoption of Web3 in Africa in five years.

[00:33:42] Typically because the Africa is a very big continent,

[00:33:46] so it's three times of China.

[00:33:47] It's a very big place and with a very big population.

[00:33:51] And here, if we can play it well,

[00:33:55] solve the fundamental issues

[00:33:57] and we catch up the opportunity to leapfrog,

[00:34:02] then we can drive very big, massive adoption in Africa.

[00:34:07] So I think that is the ultimate vision

[00:34:11] for all the Web3 startups

[00:34:13] and also our portfolio companies and also for ourselves.

[00:34:18] So if we look closer to home at yourself,

[00:34:21] where do you see yourself and Advers in five years time?

[00:34:25] What role will you be playing

[00:34:27] in shaping the space on the continent?

[00:34:31] Yeah, thanks for this question.

[00:34:33] So in five years, I can see Advers

[00:34:36] would probably become the most widely spread VC

[00:34:41] and accelerator globally, right?

[00:34:43] Because when we started from Asia and then Africa

[00:34:47] and then Middle East, Saudi now,

[00:34:50] we have that mission and the path

[00:34:53] that we really want to cover everywhere in the globe.

[00:34:57] So that is our mission to cover most of the part

[00:35:01] of the market.

[00:35:02] And the second part is that I can see myself

[00:35:06] as a connector, right?

[00:35:07] So maybe there will be more bigger VCs,

[00:35:12] great supporters other than Advers,

[00:35:15] but for Advers and myself,

[00:35:17] I really like to become the connector

[00:35:19] between founders in different regions

[00:35:22] and also between founders and global resources.

[00:35:26] So that is the personal vision.

[00:35:31] As people, we often have quotes, mantras,

[00:35:33] proverbs or affirmations that keep us going

[00:35:36] when times are challenging or when times are good.

[00:35:39] Do you have one that you can share with us today?

[00:35:43] Yeah, so there is an old Chinese saying,

[00:35:46] 静水流升, which means quiet water flows deeper.

[00:35:52] So the reason why I share this is because,

[00:35:56] for most of the founders,

[00:35:58] they really need to be endurance and persistence

[00:36:02] to build something and spend years

[00:36:04] until it can make a very big impact

[00:36:08] and show very big attractions.

[00:36:10] And it is the case in most areas,

[00:36:12] in Africa, in different areas.

[00:36:15] So it's difficult to really anticipate

[00:36:19] very short-term return for what you have started.

[00:36:23] And it's the same thing I would like to share

[00:36:27] using this saying to all the founders.

[00:36:30] Just keep building and keep providing good solutions

[00:36:34] to your users, to the market.

[00:36:36] And then given time,

[00:36:38] the big success will ultimately come.

[00:36:41] So that is what I want to share.

[00:36:44] Fantastic.

[00:36:45] Thank you for sharing that.

[00:36:47] I think it's something that will definitely resonate

[00:36:50] with a lot of the listeners

[00:36:52] who are founders or business owners

[00:36:54] because it is about the long-term journey and path

[00:36:59] and resilience as well to generate those results.

[00:37:03] So yes, Vincent, thank you for sharing that.

[00:37:06] Beautiful.

[00:37:07] As we've come to the close of today's conversation,

[00:37:10] one that I've thoroughly enjoyed,

[00:37:12] do you have any closing remarks,

[00:37:14] final course to action

[00:37:16] for people who are interested in the work

[00:37:18] that you're doing or just genuinely interested

[00:37:21] in exploring web-free in Africa?

[00:37:24] Yeah, thank you so much for having me, Tse.

[00:37:27] I'm really pleased to share things.

[00:37:30] And also if you are listener from entrepreneurship,

[00:37:35] web-free in Africa,

[00:37:37] welcome to come to our website, adwares.co,

[00:37:41] adwares.co.

[00:37:43] You can follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter,

[00:37:47] and also submit your business plan on our website.

[00:37:52] And I really look forward to connect with all you guys.

[00:37:54] Thank you.

[00:37:55] Brilliant, thank you, Vincent Li.

[00:37:57] Thank you for joining us

[00:37:59] and highlighting the potential

[00:38:02] of web-free technology in Africa

[00:38:05] and also the crucial role adwares is playing

[00:38:08] in driving the adoption of this technology

[00:38:12] on the continent.

[00:38:13] It's been a pleasure having you on the podcast

[00:38:16] and looking forward to seeing how things develop

[00:38:19] with adwares and yes, let's keep in touch

[00:38:21] and see how things build on the continent.

[00:38:25] Yeah, let's do this.

[00:38:26] Thank you so much, Tse.

[00:38:27] Thank you.

[00:38:29] Thank you to everyone who has listened

[00:38:31] and stay tuned to the podcast.

[00:38:33] If you've enjoyed this episode,

[00:38:35] please subscribe, share or tell a friend about it.

[00:38:38] You can also rate review us in Apple Podcasts

[00:38:41] or wherever you download your podcast.

[00:38:43] Thank you and see you next week

[00:38:46] for the Unlocking Africa podcast.