The Venture Fund leverages ether and bitcoin crypto funding as a fast and transparent way to receive and disburse donations. The Fund is the first financial vehicle for the UN to recieve, hold, and dispurse cryptocurrency — allowing UNICEF to explore what it means to operate in a digitally financed future.
We provide up to USD 100K in BTC or ETH equivalent in seed funding, and up to 400K in BTC or ETH equivalent in growth funding, to startups developing software and data-driven solutions.
The Venture Fund team engages various internal stakeholders to determine which startups can benefit the most using cryptocurrency.
The transactions made in cryptocurrency are easily traceable, since the transaction information gets registered on a public ledger. By distributing funding in cryptocurrency, UNICEF, donors, recipients, and the public can track where funds are going and how it is being spent – providing an unprecedented level of transparency in the NGO and funding space.
This technology relies on cryptography and immutability. This means that the information available on Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain is kept in a way that is verifiable and permanent. No one can lie on these cryptocurrency technologies.
Cryptocurrencies allow for the global movement of funds at a rate that is faster than existing systems (2-3 days). The Bitcoin blockchain has a settlement time of around 60 minutes and the Ethereum blockchain has a settlement time of around 6 minutes.
| From | Recipient | Crypto amount | Transaction type | Date |
|---|
| UNICEF HQ | AfriLearn | 1.2734 btc | Investment | 2022-04-21 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | Afinidata (Educatic) | 1.2600 btc | Investment | 2022-05-12 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | AfriLearn | 0.6901 btc | Investment | 2022-12-09 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | Atix Labs | 62.5000 eth | Investment | 2020-10-01 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | AfriLearn | 0.6901 btc | Investment | 2022-12-09 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | AfriLearn | 1.2734 btc | Investment | 2022-04-21 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | Afinidata (Educatic) | 1.2600 btc | Investment | 2022-05-12 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | AfriLearn | 0.6901 btc | Investment | 2022-12-09 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | AfriLearn | 1.2734 btc | Investment | 2022-04-21 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | Afinidata (Educatic) | 1.2600 btc | Investment | 2022-05-12 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | Atix Labs | 62.5000 eth | Investment | 2020-10-01 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF HQ | Atix Labs | 62.5000 eth | Investment | 2020-10-01 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF VF | KAIROS | 0.4043 btc | Investment | 2025-11-26 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF | Jen Company | 2.0000 eth | Investment | 2025-12-25 | Transaction Proof |
| UNICEF | Lorem Ipsum | 3.0000 btc | Investment | 2025-12-25 | Transaction Proof |