How to apply to LAVA as an African founder

TL;DR

LAVA is an operator-led Web3 venture fund writing $100K to $500K cheques at pre-seed and seed to African founders building stablecoin, payments, credit, identity, and financial-infrastructure products. Pitch through lavavc.io/pitch or engage the team on X @lavavc.

Who LAVA is

LAVA is a Web3-native fund with an operator-led model, focused on backing founders building the financial and trust infrastructure of frontier markets. Africa is the primary geographic focus, with a stated remit to support products designed to scale to other emerging markets over time.

The fund runs from a distributed team including Yoseph Ayele, Andy Tudhope, Songyi Lee, See Eun Ha, Ryan Kamalu Uche-Tasie, and Girum Gizachew. Their affiliation network references backers connected to Coinbase, Paradigm, Base, Celo, Polygon, Figma, Notion, and Centrifuge, which signals the operator community LAVA sits inside rather than a formal LP disclosure.

What they invest in

Stages: Pre-Seed and Seed (through pre-Series A)
Sectors: Fintech, Blockchain, Infrastructure, and AI as a leverage layer. Concretely: stablecoins, payments, credit, identity, on/off-ramps, wallets, savings, escrow, insurance, and FX.
Cheque size: $100K to $500K
Geography focus: Africa first, with a stated openness to products that travel to other emerging markets

LAVA is opinionated about the "operator" filter. They favour founders who have shipped something real, not just written a thesis, and their public essays at writing.lavavc.io signal what they see as the actual, unsolved infrastructure problems in African financial systems.

How to apply

Pitch submissions go through lavavc.io/pitch. The form on that page is the primary channel.

Two additional signals matter with LAVA more than most:

Read their writing before pitching. The team publishes essays at writing.lavavc.io. Reading a few and referencing a specific idea in your pitch shows you understand the thesis, not just the acronym stack.
Warm intros from crypto-native operators help. LAVA sits inside the Coinbase, Base, Celo, Paradigm operator networks. If any of your advisors or angels overlap with those communities, a personal intro carries weight.

Portfolio pattern

LAVA does not publicly name portfolio companies on their site, likely a deliberate choice to protect founder confidentiality at this stage of their portfolio. Founders considering LAVA should treat the public essay archive as the best proxy for what the team wants to back.

Before you apply

Have these ready before you reach out:

Deck: Check your readiness first so you know where the gaps are
Metrics dashboard: Set up your metrics dashboard so you can show real traction, not slides
Cap table
A one-line description of what your company does
Two or three specific references to LAVA's public writing showing you understand their thesis
Your operator story: what have you actually shipped in the space before

FAQ

Does LAVA invest outside Africa?

The fund's stated focus is Africa first, with an openness to products that scale to other emerging markets from an African starting point. Pure US or European Web3 plays are not their target.

What stage does LAVA typically write cheques at?

Pre-Seed through pre-Series A, with cheque sizes from $100K to $500K.

Do you need a warm intro to LAVA?

The pitch form at lavavc.io/pitch is a real channel, so no, a warm intro is not required. But given the operator-led model, a personal introduction from one of their portfolio founders or from the Coinbase / Base / Celo / Paradigm operator networks meaningfully increases your odds.

Is LAVA sector-agnostic within Web3?

No. They are focused on financial and trust infrastructure specifically: stablecoins, payments, credit, identity, wallets, savings, escrow, insurance, FX. Pure NFT, gaming, or DAO plays are not their thesis.

Does LAVA fund AI or non-Web3 companies?

They treat AI as a "leverage layer" within their broader infrastructure thesis, not as a standalone vertical. Companies applying AI to financial infrastructure problems in African markets are in scope; pure AI or non-Web3 fintech is not the primary target.