- The Stellar Development Foundation and CV Labs have launched a 12-week accelerator for blockchain startups in EMEA.
- Selected teams can receive up to $150,000 in XLM while building across payments, tokenized real-world assets and DeFi.
The Stellar Development Foundation is turning more directly toward early-stage builders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Stellar targets builders where payments demand is already visible
The nonprofit behind the Stellar network has announced the Stellar x CV Labs Accelerator, a 12-week program for startups working on payments infrastructure, tokenized real-world assets and decentralized finance applications.
The program will support ten early-stage companies building in, or targeting, the EMEA region. It is scheduled to begin in August 2026 and will run mostly remotely, with an on-site component in Cape Town, South Africa. It will end with a Demo Day at Stellar’s Meridian conference in Lisbon in October 2026.
Selected startups will receive technical support, tokenomics guidance, go-to-market help and access to funding pathways. Each team can secure up to $150,000 in XLM in initial development funding from the Stellar Development Foundation.
The timing is not random. Stellar said real-world assets on its network grew by 158% in 2025, while total value locked rose by 127%. The network now counts more than 800 active projects, over 10 million active accounts and more than 21.5 billion total operations.
Institutional activity gives the program its backdrop
Stellar’s institutional footprint has also widened. Franklin Templeton expanded its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund to European institutional investors on Stellar, while PayPal launched PYUSD on the network. MoneyGram has also rolled out a stablecoin-powered financial app built on Stellar.
CV Labs, the ecosystem arm of blockchain venture firm CV VC, will operate the accelerator. The group runs innovation hubs across Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Portugal, South Africa and the UAE.
José Fernández da Ponte, Stellar’s president and chief growth officer, said EMEA is one of the most active regions for real-world blockchain finance. Olaf Hannemann, co-founder of CV VC, said the program brings CV Labs’ accelerator model to one of the fastest-growing digital regions:
“Our experience is built on a long track record of accelerating blockchain startups, many of which are now part of our venture portfolio through CV VC. Our acceleration-as-a-service model has already helped other leading blockchain ecosystems. With Stellar, we are now bringing that track record to one of the fastest-growing digital regions in the world.”
For Stellar, the move is also strategic. Developer growth is no longer just a Silicon Valley story. In payments and cross-border finance, EMEA is already part of the product map.
