Xochitl Cazador, Head of Ecosystem Growth at Celo — Making Defi Mobile First
In today’s episode, Anirudh Singh sits down with Xochitl Cazador of Celo.
They discuss:
Xochitl’s Background:
Xochitl’s family is from a small town in Mexico with a population of 200. She’s the daughter of Mexican farmworkers and the first in her family to go to college. Upon graduating, Xochitl worked in the tech industry at Cisco. However, throughout her life, Xochitl had been drawn to the intersection of technology and impact, and upon learning of blockchain realized the potential the technology had for democratizing financial services. Soon thereafter, she discovered Celo and the concept of an open financial system that “creates conditions for prosperity for all”.
She(256):
She(256) is an organization created in UC Berkeley, by women who realized they were often the only women in the room for crypto conversations. The organization includes a mentorship program, pairing individuals who have less experience in crypto with experts in the space. The She(256) website also has resources to ramp up on the crypto space. Finally, the organization hosts numerous virtual (and soon in-person) events.
Celo:
Celo is a mobile-first blockchain, with a mission to create an open financial system that creates prosperity for all. It is a fork of Ethereum, optimized for mobile usage. The team initially piloted in Tanzania, Kenya, Colombia, Argentina, and others to explore the gaps in blockchain technology adoption. The organization uses phone number mapping, allowing everyday users to access blockchain and crypto simply by knowing somebody’s mobile phone. One example of an application built on Celo is Valora, which allows for cross-border and universal basic income payments. The cryptocurrencies on Celo are algorithmic stablecoins: Celo Dollar (CUSD), and Cello Euro (CEUR). There is a proposal right now to introduce the Celo Real. Celo has community members in 113 countries, with the most focus and growth in Brazil, India, Turkey, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda.
For more information on defi as a tool for financial inclusion, take a look at this paper by Nikhil Raghuveera, a Wharton grad and strategy & innovation partner at Celo.
Defi for the People:
The Defi for the People project is a $100M fund with the goal of making decentralized finance (defi) more accessible. Today, more people on the planet have access to mobile phones than jobs, food, or running water. Defi for the People aims to make defi applications mobile-first, easier to understand, and accessible to everyone. The project is built on Celo, and organizations like Aave, Sushi, and Curve are also part of the ecosystem. There are 3 phases for the Defi for the People initiative. The first phase includes building a robust ecosystem with the appropriate financial building blocks on the platform, the second phase involves promoting a native mobile experience, and the third phase is about creating products geared towards individuals with a lower risk appetite, who are not as familiar with crypto.
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Xochitl Cazador:
Xochitl Cazador leads Platform and Builder growth at Celo Foundation. She has extensive experience shaping strategy into execution to drive growth and scale operations. Prior to cLabs, Xochitl spent 15 years driving growth at Cisco, where she managed a $1 billion investment portfolio and led the expansion into 26 emerging markets resulting in 30% year over year growth. She previously served in leadership positions in the Americas, Europe, and Asia where she held roles in product and portfolio management. Xochitl is the granddaughter of Mexican migrant farmworkers and one of the first in her family to graduate from college. She understands firsthand how access to basic financial tools can change lives. Xochitl holds a master’s degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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Nikhil Raghuveera:
Nikhil Raghuveera is a Partner in Strategy & Innovation at Celo, a layer 1 blockchain and mobile-first platform that makes decentralized applications accessible to anyone with a mobile phone. At Celo, Nikhil focuses on DeFi for real world use cases, capital markets, and financial inclusion. He develops and pilots new use cases that can be built on the Celo blockchain in partnership with various DeFi protocols and NGOs. His most recent work is exploring under collateralized lending systems for microloans, community-based finance, and employer-based lending services.
Nikhil is also a Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech and GeoEconomics centers. His research at the Atlantic Council is on decentralized technology and the intersection of technology, social inequality and systems of oppression. Additionally, Nikhil co-hosts Untying Knots, a podcast series published by the Harvard Kennedy School Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project. Most recently, Nikhil was a Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. Previously, he was a Project Manager at the Equal Justice Initiative where he supported the racial justice nonprofit’s partnership efforts. Prior to Wharton, Nikhil worked in economic consulting at Cornerstone Research.
Nikhil graduated from Wharton in 2019 and the Harvard Kennedy School in 2020. He was co-president of the Wharton Social Impact Club and participated in startup competitions, including Y-Prize and the Hult Prize. His favorite thing and what he misses most about Wharton is living in Center City across the hall from his classmates. He also really misses Philly’s falafel scene.
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About the Author
Anirudh Singh is a second-year MBA Candidate at The Wharton School, where he is part of the Wharton FinTech Podcast team. He has a passion for economic development, venture capital, financial services, and all things FinTech. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions, comments, feedback, and opportunities at singhan@wharton.upenn.edu.
