And we're Stellar Nigeria now.
It's been quiet here for a while now. Behind the scenes, though, quite a lot was going on. Some of it on our end, and a good deal of it on yours.
On our end, the biggest change is that we rebranded. Stellar West Africa is now Stellar Nigeria. Focusing on Nigeria alone means we can better support the people here, whether you're building, contributing, or still working out where to start.
We also spent that time listening to you. A lot of you told us what needed improvement, most of which had to do with needing a clearer path for contributing and building something of your own. We took all of that seriously, and nearly everything below came out of those conversations.
Meanwhile, on your end
While things were quiet here, a number of you carried on building anyway, which says more about this community than anything we could write.
Kobox received a $5,000 Instaward to validate their MVP. Kobox is a modern digital banking solution that grants you access to traditional finance and cryptocurrency in one place
Blink was awarded $75,000 worth of XLM. Blink is a mobile app that lets businesses accept crypto as payment over Bluetooth and settle instantly in their local currency, while letting users spend their crypto like cash.
Jumpa was awarded $89,700 worth of XLM. Jumpa is an automated payment platform designed to make cross-border transactions simple, fast, and accessible for users in emerging markets through chat-based interfaces and USSD.
Fundable Finance was awarded $96,499 worth of XLM. Fundable Finance is an on-chain financial operations platform for global teams, handling automated payouts, payment streaming, and crypto-to-fiat offramping across emerging markets.
A funding pipeline that has already been tested
This year alone, West African projects have received over $1.3 million in XLM to build on Stellar. So it is established that we have a route into SCF funding that works. Now that our focus is on Nigeria alone, the Builder's Circle is where that route begins. It's where you learn about the ecosystem, make your first contributions, find a gap worth building into, and get proper help with your grant application before you submit.
It isn't only for founders
We also want to be clear about something: you don't need a product idea to belong here.
Members of this community are consistently earning on Drips and GrantFox for contributing to Stellar repos. Over $400,000 has gone to contributors on Stellar this year, and a lot of that has come to people in this community. That is another path in its own right, and we're building around it now.
Starting this August:
Monthly themes. Every month, we pick one Stellar topic and learn it together, whether that's accounts, Soroban, wallets, or something else. Our weekly syncs are becoming classes, so once a week, we'll explore that month's topic. If you're looking to learn about Stellar, that's your way in, and no prior knowledge is assumed.
A monthly raffle for Drips and GrantFox contributors. You're already earning over there, and now your participation gets you a shot at something from us as well.
Weekly games night. Skribbl, Kahoot, or whatever the group votes for, with data subscriptions going to three winners every week.
Referral rewards. Bring your developer friends along, and members with the most valid invites win from the referral pool each month.
Come build with us
If you joined us during the residency and left afterwards, kindly reapply. As mentioned already, some of the best work out of this community has come from people who stayed consistent and carried on regardless.
And if you've never contributed to open source before, start with our guide to making your first contribution to a Stellar repo. It assumes you know nothing.
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