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Lisk Launches $15M Venture Fund to Back Founders Powering Web3's Fastest Growing Markets
While developed markets often see competitive and dense VC activity and higher valuations, the Lisk EMpower Fund is hyper-focused on emerging markets where adoption is organic, purpose-driven, and transformative. To date, VCs are overlooking a $5.2 trillion opportunity in emerging markets, where small-to-medium-sized businesses remain underfunded.
" ," said Gideon Greaves , Head of Investments at Lisk.
High-growth markets offer significant growth opportunities, leveraging emerging technology to develop innovative solutions that solve local challenges that otherwise could not be solved by traditional technology. Many founders bootstrap to Series-A level traction without ever raising institutional seed capital. Yet, a knowledge gap remains in the opportunities to invest in these regions.
Emerging markets have consistently outperformed public benchmarks, delivering 9-11% annualized venture returns over the past 10-15 years , according to Cambridge Associates. Lisk believes this marks the start of a generational bull run in emerging markets, driven by unprecedented innovation and the rapid adoption of transformative technologies. In contrast, U.S. seed-stage venture has become oversaturated , with record-high early-stage valuations and near-zero three-year returns. This creates an opportunity to back high-growth founders in Africa , Latin America , and Southeast Asia at fair valuations, while generating uncorrelated, venture-scale returns.
The disconnect is Lisk's opportunity. The Lisk EMpower Fund addresses a critical gap that most VCs continue to miss. By backing founders at the earliest stages, the Lisk EMpower Fund delivers more than capital, it offers hands-on advisory, Web3 experience, and resources, becoming long-term partners with the founders at the intersection of local impact and global growth.
" ," said Dominic Schwenter , COO at Lisk. " ."
The Lisk EMpower Fund model integrates incubation, assessment, and growth capital through a scalable, end-to-end pipeline designed to accelerate high-potential ventures.
By investing in the essential digital infrastructure of emerging economies, Lisk generates venture-scale returns uncorrelated with saturated Western markets. Its structured investment model is designed to de-risk early-stage ventures while providing hands-on advisory support to prepare them for global institutional investment.
Through strategic partnerships with leading local incubators, Lisk gains early access to pre-vetted deal flow across Africa , Latin America , and Southeast Asia . Selected companies are eligible to receive $250,000 in capital alongside strategic support, ranging from investor-grade financial modeling and legal structuring to access to Lisk's global VC network.
This past September, Lisk celebrated its growing community of founders at ETHSafari, Africa's largest Ethereum conference. For more information, visit www.lisk.com/fund and access Lisk's media kit here .
Lisk is a growth platform designed for Web3 founders in high-growth markets. We provide the tools founders need to build and scale: capital, local programs, key partnerships, and an Ethereum-aligned Layer 2 primed for deployment.
Lisk takes a founder-first approach that's both committed and hands-on. We collaborate with teams from early concepts through go-to-market, with on-the-ground teams in Africa , Southeast Asia , and Latin America , helping transform regional challenges into real opportunities.
As a founding member of the Optimism Superchain, Lisk is helping shape the industry's first fully interoperable network, expanding access for builders with minimal fees, intuitive user experiences, and solutions designed to address local challenges.
Since its inception in 2016, Lisk has focused on tangible routes to Web3 adoption, supporting founders who are tackling pressing local issues and developing lasting solutions.
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