Ripple is excited to announce Unlocking Opportunity, the next phase of our partnership with Mercy Corps Ventures (MCV) supporting emerging market entrepreneurs and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) building solutions for financial resilience through blockchain and fintech innovation.
The expanded partnership will include financial and technical support from Ripple for fintechs and SMEs—including those leveraging the XRP Ledger (XRPL) and Ripple’s products such as the pending Ripple USD stablecoin (RLUSD)—focusing on financial inclusion use cases such as savings, remittances, micropayments, and tokenization of real-world assets.
With a focus on transformative, scalable solutions, Ripple has now committed more than $5.5M to support Mercy Corps Ventures.
Scaling Impactful Solutions
MCV is the impact investing arm of Mercy Corps, a leading global development and humanitarian organization. They have unparalleled visibility into high-impact startups across frontier markets, evaluating more than 1,500 startups annually and supporting founders whose products tackle critical financial inclusion challenges.
Over the past three years, Ripple and Rippleworks partnership with MCV has supported investments in 54 early-stage companies, 44% of which have at least one female co-founder, which has resulted in more than $500M in follow-on funding.
Among Mercy Corps Ventures’ investments are Ejara and Bitmama, two standout startups advancing financial inclusion across Africa. Ejara, a pioneering fintech based in Cameroon, offers accessible savings and investing products including tokenized assets like government bonds. Meanwhile, Bitmama leverages stablecoin infrastructure to address key market challenges, including currency devaluation, dollar shortages, and high remittance costs.
Scott Onder, Chief Investment Officer at Mercy Corps Ventures, underscores the importance of this long-term partnership, "Ripple has been a catalytic funder and partner for Mercy Corps Ventures, helping us drive meaningful impact across our portfolio. Together, Ripple and Mercy Corps Ventures, will equip more entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to implement web3 technologies that foster financial and climate resilience in underserved markets."
Ken Weber, Ripple’s Vice President of Sustainability and Social Impact, added, “Mercy Corps Ventures has been a trusted partner for Ripple with an exceptional record of responsibly testing scalable, transformative solutions in emerging markets. With Unlocking Opportunity we are confident we can maximize the impact of our partnership for entrepreneurs on the frontlines of financial innovation and aid-delivery.”
Crypto for Good Fund
Unlocking Opportunity kicks off with MCV’s latest Crypto for Good Fund, which funds real world use cases for Web3 technology in the Global South with equity-free grants up to $100,000. Use cases focus on DeFi loans, real-world-asset tokenization, savings and payments, and stablecoins in humanitarian aid delivery. Applications to the Crypto for Good fund are now open.
On December 3rd, Mercy Corps Ventures and XRPL Commons will host an informational webinar for builders interested in leveraging XRPL in their submissions to the Crypto for Good Fund. The XRPL’s low transaction costs and scalability, and upcoming EVM sidechain launch, make it an ideal choice for fintechs looking to develop affordable, accessible financial solutions. Register for the webinar here.
Projects funded in previous cohorts include the asset tokenization of Cameroonian government bonds by Ejara to avail a low-risk, high-yield savings product to unbanked micro, small, and medium enterprises (reaching 11,000+ savers in the pilot period) and an anticipatory action pilot with DIVA Donate leveraging stablecoins, smart contracts and crypto rails to provide climate risk financing to farmers in the Horn of Africa.
A Shared Vision for Global Impact
Unlocking Opportunity reflects Ripple and MCV’s shared mission to support entrepreneurs in creating more resilient economies. As we strengthen our partnership, Ripple remains committed to empowering innovators to build transformative solutions and to making financial services more inclusive and sustainable across emerging markets.
