Crypto for good : the UNICEF way with Cecilia Chapiro
Hey there friends! Here I bring to you another episode of the ‘Society 3.0’ podcast series where I explore the roadmap to the future of society.
Blockchain is a noble technology that impacts society in more positive ways than one. It rewards contribution with immediate gratification in order to encourage constructive contributions at scale. We see many individuals that come to the space with the mindset of this healthy contribution. This time I had the pleasure of conversing with one such talented change maker Cecilia Chapiro.
Cecilia is the investment advisor and blockchain portfolio manager at UNICEF ventures. She leads sourcing, selection and incubation efforts for startups UNICEF chooses to invest in (like I-STEM, GeoSpoc, VRapeutic etc). Under her leadership, the team explores how blockchain and other emerging technologies work towards UNICEF’s mission of protection and development of the most vulnerable children in the world.
In this podcast she introduces us to the UNICEF venture fund and how she is ushering in the Society 3.0 revolution through it.
Some of the upshots from the podcast are-
- Unicef Venture Fund (or Innovation Fund) is a 30 million pooled funding vehicle that focuses on identifying, piloting and growing emerging technology startups that improve the lives of children.
- Cecelia discusses her work with Mohammad Yunus. “There is a high need in the world for young people who want to start a social business but don’t know how to.” With this aim she founded Yunus and Youth to make this global platform for young people to get access to resources and build impactful business everywhere in the world.
- Amid the pandemic, they launched UNICEF’s Crypto Fund within the umbrella of UNICEF’s Venture Fund which allows them to accept donations and make investments in cryptocurrencies exclusively. It’s the first investment vehicle that allows to deploy funding in cryptocurrencies in startups that are aligned to UNICEF’s mission.
- UNICEF’s Venture Funds works to explore how emerging technologies work towards UNICEF’s mission. They mainly focus on blockchain because of the transparency it provides.
- They mostly invest in startups that have the potential to positively impact large groups of people, but also lie in financially sustainable markets in a way that they wouldn’t need grants to continue financing their operations. In India, they have invested in Statwig’s vaccination tracking solution.
Listen to this podcast and explore ways to contribute with the Unicef Crypto fund. In her words, “With this podcast more people will learn about the very exciting work we’re doing and join us in exploring how these emerging technologies can support the development and growth of children around the world”.
I hope you like the episode. Do share and help us in reaching relevant folks amongst your network. You never know who gets inspired towards their next big break!
