The United Nations International Children’s Fund has always worked towards the betterment of humanity. It has hoped to make the world a better place to stay in. Cecilia Chapiro, an investment advisor at UNICEF Ventures, was quoted as saying by Cointelegraph that UNICEF had launched its innovation fund in 2016 with the goal to support emerging technologies being built in developing countries.
UNICEF has invested in over 50 startups across 35 countries.
“We invest in technologies that have the potential to influence billions of people, especially children in emerging countries,” Chapiro said.
UNICEF identified blockchain as one of the technologies that could make a global impact, according to Chapiro.
UNICEF invested $100,000 of equity-free funding through its innovation fund a year and a half ago into six startups, three of which were focused on blockchain.
The report mentioned that UNICEF launched a cryptocurrency fund supported by the Ethereum Foundation in October 2019.
“UNICEF’s innovation fund allows companies to partake in a one-year portfolio experience. We provide non-financial benefits that go along with the investment. We look for companies with a prototype that can be reviewed and strengthened to benefit a large number of users. We support the companies in a number of ways, helping prepare them to speak with additional investors after the one-year program ends,” Chapiro said.
On June 20, UNICEF’s crypto fund made its largest crypto investment to date, worth 125 ETH in eight open-source technology companies.
Later the body announced that it will invest another $100,000 worth of both United States dollars and crypto in blockchain startups.
Chapiro, who helped launch UNICEF’s crypto venture, said: “After investing in three blockchain companies over a year ago and then a few more just two weeks ago, UNICEF’s crypto fund has reached a new level of growth to accommodate the funding of about five to eight more open-source blockchain projects.”
