impactMarket wants to become one of the main contributors to end extreme poverty in the world by 2030 leveraging blockchain technology to reach vulnerable communities and people living in extreme poverty. Launched in late 2020, the protocol operates on top of the Celo network and claims to be one of the world\’s largest blockchain-based Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) systems, with over $1.65 million distributed to almost 25,000 beneficiaries in over 25 developing countries.
impactMarket has raised a total of $2.1M ($1.6M in pre-seed and seed equity rounds, and $500K through an IDO), to further develop the protocol and expand into vulnerable communities in the poorest countries in the world while driving Defi adoption and access to finance among those who need it the most. The investment counted with 12 investors, including Celo Foundation, Davoa Capital, Flori Ventures, Eutopia Foundation, Valora, and individual investors such as Diogo Mónica (Anchorage), Marek Olszewski (Celo), Albert Wenger (USV), and more.
The IDO (Initial DEX Offering) reached the $500,000 goal in just 17 minutes with the $PACT governance token, on Polkastarter in December 2021, which had 2288 participants. $PACT is currently listed on Ubeswap and tracked on CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko.
The amount raised will further ensure decentralization, independence, and collective decisions among protocol participants, with the introduction of the impactMarket DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) and the $PACT governance token. $PACT holders can help and influence the future direction, growth, and impact of the protocol.
A way to acquire $PACT tokens is through impact Farming, a mechanism that allows contributors to be rewarded with $PACT tokens for supporting vulnerable communities. Every 24 hours, new $PACT tokens will be available to be claimed by those who have contributed.
Beyond UBI, impactMarket is working on providing access to more financial services and education, such as microcredit, collective savings with rewards, crowdlending, and more financial tools that are essential to empower vulnerable communities out of extreme poverty.