Stellar Picks 10 Startups For New Africa Focused Accelerator

The Stellar (@StellarOrg) Development Foundation (SDF) and CV Labs have announced the 10 startups selected for their joint accelerator programme, with six of the cohort building products specifically for African markets.

A Regional Push With Real Funding Behind It

The SDF launched the programme targeting startups across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), with a focus on companies building in payments infrastructure, tokenised real-world assets, and decentralised finance. Founders may receive up to $150,000 in $XLM as initial development funding from the Stellar Development Foundation. They also gain access to ecosystem perks, investor exposure, and strategic VC introductions, and may be eligible for additional grants from SDF after the programme concludes.

The accelerator is run by CV Labs, the ecosystem arm of blockchain venture capital firm CV VC, which operates innovation hubs across Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Portugal, South Africa, and the UAE. The cohort spans stablecoins, payments, wallets, treasury, DeFi, and tokenised credit.

Stellar's Wider EMEA Ambitions

The 12-week programme runs primarily remotely, with an in-person component in Cape Town, South Africa, and a Demo Day in Lisbon in October 2026. Stellar already has foundations in the region, with partnerships including MoneyGram, integrations with Yellowcard and Flutterwave, and investments in companies such as ChipperCash, Kredete, OkHi, and Cedar.

The move comes as the Stellar network itself has been growing. In 2025, real-world assets on Stellar grew by 158%, while total value locked increased by 127%. More than 800 active projects are now building across payments, savings, lending, and liquidity use cases, and the network has surpassed 10 million active accounts and more than 21.5 billion total operations.

Africa's digital payments market is projected to nearly double to $19 billion by 2029, positioning Stellar to capture a meaningful share of that growth by backing the builders creating that infrastructure.

Sources:
TechMoran: Stellar Launches $150,000 EMEA Accelerator with CV Labs
TechAfrica News: Stellar Development Foundation Launches CV Labs Accelerator
CV Labs: Stellar x CV Labs Accelerator (Official Programme Page)