Fedi, the Nigerian innovative community-centric financial and data technology company, has successfully raised $17 million in a Series A funding round.
With the new injection of capital, the U.S. based company is preparing to pre-launch an Alpha version of Fedi for builders later this month.
Empowering communities with Fedi
Fedi is designed to become the world’s first federated operating system, enabling individuals to collaborate within federations – communities comprising friends, families, neighbors, nonprofit organizations, social clubs, businesses, and more.
By facilitating the control of money, data, and digital lives, it aims to protect user privacy and autonomy.
The open-source Fedimint protocol forms the foundation of the company, making it easy for developers to create additional apps and modules to enhance its offerings and expand user options.
Obi Nwosu, CEO of Fedi, expressed excitement about the future potential of the startup and the investors who share the company’s vision.
He stated that users don’t need to be tech-savvy or involved with Bitcoin to start solving real problems within their communities using their platform.
The funding round was led by Ego Death Capital and featured participation from TBD (part of Block), Kingsway, Trammell Venture Partners, and Timechain.
This investment brings the company’s total funding to $21.21 million. Notable earlier seed round investors included Ten 31, Hivemind, Steve Lee, and Recursive Capital.
Addressing core functions and scalability
Initially, Fedi will concentrate on securely storing and transacting Bitcoin, protecting and utilizing data, and enabling secure communication with friends, family, and coworkers.
The underlying technology is designed for rapid expansion and can be adapted for virtually any purpose currently fulfilled by smartphones or computers.
Built on the Lightning Network, Fedi scales Bitcoin and provides an alternative for users who don’t have access to or don’t trust third-party cryptocurrency exchanges, cloud backup services, or encrypted messaging apps.
Fedi’s community or “second-party” custody model offers a solution to the security, privacy, and trust deficiencies of existing alternatives, while eliminating technical or financial barriers to entry.
Empowering disadvantaged communities and NGOs
Fedi and the open-source Fedimint protocol were originally created for communities facing poverty, oppression, and loss of financial autonomy.
These communities will be crucial early adopters of the product, providing them with a means to overcome limiting forces and dysfunctional systems.
Fedi’s early use cases include managing remittances, savings, and microlending for disadvantaged communities and NGOs that work with them.
The company’s structure offers value to businesses, nonprofits, and affinity groups built on mutual trust and common goals.
One possible application is for “event-based communities” like conferences or festivals, where organizers desire a common platform for commerce and community during a limited time and space event.
Fedi Alpha, aimed at the builder community, is set to roll out later in May. Nwosu teased the pre-launch, with more details to be announced in the coming weeks.
The pre-launch will enable builders and pioneers to create their own federations or experiment with a test federation within the product. Fedi anticipates high interest from the developer community and looks forward to seeing what innovations they create.
