Cryptocurrency markets have been catching attention for a number of years now and their volatility generates much opinion on their future applicability in financial services. Are they just a speculative investment or a fundamentally innovative way of delivering financial services? One of the blockchain platforms working on the latter is Celo.
With a motto of “Prosperity for All”, Celo “believes in a future where everyone can prosper”.
They have built a blockchain platform for DeFi applications that promotes financial inclusivity through features such as very low transaction costs (and carbon neutrality), strong mobile support and native stable cryptocurrencies to enable financial transactions.
Celo believes in the importance of community to bring out the innovative ideas necessary in tackling the wicked problem of financial inequality. It has establish an “Alliance for Prosperity” where members bring use cases that promote financial inclusion and Celo adoption. It has also created the Celo Camp accelerator program which brings together like-minded entrepreneurs to collaborate on breathing life into their ideas on the Celo platform. The eight week program delivers a structured approach with educational sessions on ideation, product market fit, user journey, technical build and much more. It also provides individual guidance on essential skills for the startup founder such as “The Art of the Pitch” and experienced mentor sessions to guide you and your project. Celo Campers are encouraged to engage with each other, share experiences, swap ideas, integrate applications and build the community. All campers are exposed to the Celo community and gain exposure to potential investors and the camp culminates in an Ideas Fair where selected teams pitch and demo their projects to a wide audience of developers, investors and the Celo community at large.
Celo Camp is run by Upright and Alon, Rachel and Elad do a great job at constantly engaging with all campers and making sure they are well connected with what they need to be successful. They are embedded into the Celo organization and know who can assist with specific questions. They are always very encouraging and available to support the campers’ journey.
The AgriUT team was fortunate enough to participate in Celo Camp cohort #3 along with 21 other teams. The program accelerated our progress and gave great guidance along the way that enhanced our approach and our project. Nine of our team members participated in sessions and in creating the camp weekly deliverables. We have also reached out to other parts of the cLabs and Celo community that can help us with our specific project needs such as building a community currency for small holder farming communities. The camp has jump started our journey with Celo and we look forward to progressing that engagement and participating in the community. The AgriUT team is focused on directly connecting consumers to remote farmer communities worldwide to foster awareness, understanding and support for the people that grow the coffee we drink. Our system allows small changes at one end of the value chain to have amplified effects at the other and thereby provide significant improvements in the well-being of farming communities. Built on the Celo platform, the AgriUT ecosystem incentivizes all participants to create token powered communities that include the smallholder farmer who grew the coffee we love to drink. In this regard, AgriUT fits hand in hand with the Celo mission of financial inclusivity and prosperity for all.
If you have a great, early stage idea and it aligns with the Celo ethos of prosperity for all then we would recommend applying for the Celo Camp. It will accelerate your progress in a structured way and give you the support to “make it happen” and at the same time connect you into the Celo community of like-minded entrepreneurs. Applications are now open for cohort #4. We appreciated our inclusion into cohort #3 and found it to be a beneficial experience that enhanced our approach. Good luck with your project.
Author: Mark Tsang, Project Lead for AgriUT
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