DescriptionAbout the Fund
StarkWare has launched a pioneering Starknet-focused investment fund dedicated to identify, back, and accelerate the most promising blockchain entrepreneurs in Africa. Led by African entrepreneur and investor Kheireddine Kamal, this ambitious initiative is dedicated exclusively to African Web3 founders in a pre-seed/seed stage, tackling local inefficiencies in different African regions within the payment ecosystem.
Role Overview
We are looking for an Investment & Product Integration Associate with a strong technical and product background to join our team at Africa Ventures. This role bridges venture investing and product engineering, working closely with both portfolio founders and internal StarkWare/Starknet product and engineering teams. The Associate will play a pivotal role in helping startups integrate and adapt their solutions to Starknet, co-designing technical architectures, identifying missing components, and prioritizing milestones to ensure successful deployments.
This is an exceptional opportunity to sit at the intersection of venture investing, engineering, and payment ecosystem development in Africa, working with some of the most innovative Web3 founders and helping shape how products and protocols build on Starknet.
Key Responsibilities
1. Deal Sourcing & Investment Analysis
- Proactively source high-potential Web3 payment startups across Africa
- Build and maintain relationships with founders, ecosystem partners, accelerators, and other investors in the African blockchain space.
- Manage inbound deal flow and conduct initial product/tech evaluations of potential investments.
- Prepare product memos for the investment committee.
2. Technical Integration & Product Co-Design
- Collaborate with future portfolio founders and technical teams to brainstorm, adapt, co-construct and integrate their products onto Starknet.
- Assess each project’s current technical and product architecture to identify the components, tools, and protocols required for a seamless Starknet integration.
- Co-design technical roadmaps and milestones to ensure alignment with Starknet’s infrastructure and long-term strategy.
- Act as the bridge between external ventures and internal Starknet engineering/product teams to relay needs, share context, and prioritize integrations.
3. Portfolio Product Management
- Maintain close relationships with portfolio founders to monitor integration progress, track KPIs, and provide strategic guidance until they hit mainnet (and beyond).
- Serve as a liaison between Africa-focused ventures, developers, and internal teams to accelerate implementation and payment ecosystem alignment.
- Represent the fund and Starknet at ecosystem events, hackathons, and conferences across Africa and globally.
4. Portfolio & Ecosystem Management
- Track the performance of portfolio companies, monitoring key metrics and supporting founders as they scale.
- Assist with fundraising strategy, go-to-market plans, and other needs for portfolio companies.
- Organize and participate in key industry events, demo days, and investor meetups in Africa and globally.
- Represent the fund at conferences, hackathons, and ecosystem gatherings to strengthen our presence in the Web3 community.
RequirementsWe are seeking a technically fluent and product-minded investment entrepreneur who thrives at the intersection of venture capital, engineering, and ecosystem development.
Must-Have Qualifications
- Degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Business, or proven-track record/self taught entrepreneur.
- 3-4+ years of experience in a product, venture, or technical role within the blockchain, fintech, or developer ecosystem.
- Proven experience working with engineering teams and understanding GitHub workflows, APIs, smart contracts, and blockchain integrations.
- Strong understanding of African payment systems, fintech tools, and infrastructure nuances.
- Familiarity with Layer 2 solutions, especially Starknet, and knowledge of Web3 infrastructures and developer tooling.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, able to translate technical requirements into strategic actions.
- Exceptional communication skills and ability to engage with founders, investors, and stakeholders across different geographies.
- Fluency in English. Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
Nice-to-Have Qualifications
- Prior experience as entrepreneur or at a crypto-native VC, blockchain startup, or technical integration team.
- Hands-on familiarity with Solidity, Cairo, or similar smart contract languages.
- A network within the African tech, fintech, and blockchain ecosystem.
