A16z, Coinbase Ventures join an alliance to build financial apps on top of Celo blockchain

Venture firms Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, and several other crypto firms have joined the "Alliance for Prosperity" to build financial apps on top of the Celo blockchain.

The Celo Foundation announced the news on Wednesday, saying that 50 initial members of the alliance will work toward financial inclusion and explore several use cases such as remittances, humanitarian aid, and microlending.

"Our hope is that this partnership will start unlocking the potential of internet money, from faster and more affordable remittances to enabling microlending and more transparent and effective distribution of humanitarian aid, in addition to beneficial use cases we haven't yet even imagined," Katie Haun, general partner at a16z, told The Block.

Notably, Celo is backed by a16z and Polychain; both of them led Celo's $30 million funding round last year.

Celo operates an open blockchain platform, and also issues a stablecoin called Celo Dollar. Members of the alliance will build apps to incorporate the stablecoin.  "The end goal is to make Celo Dollars as accessible as possible to bring open finance to the 5.6 billion smartphones around the world," said the Celo Foundation.

Other notable members of the alliance include crypto wallet provider Abra, crypto custodian Anchorage, blockchain protocol provider Bison Trails, Blockchain.com, Grameen Foundation and Mercy Corps. Hardware maker Ledger has also joined.

Interestingly, a16z, Anchorage and Bison Trails are all members of the Libra Association as well.

Rene Reinsberg, founder of Celo, said the Alliance for Prosperity would help create a future "where everyone can share prosperity."

"From sending money home across borders to donating to a humanitarian organization, we want to make sure that money arrives in the right hands — not in the pockets of a middleman," said Reinsberg.

This report has been updated with additional information.