The Stellar Development Foundation will launch a 12-week accelerator with CV Labs for early-stage startups across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The Stellar x CV Labs Accelerator will support companies building payments infrastructure, tokenized real-world assets, and decentralized finance applications. The program will begin in August 2026 and will support ten startups building in, or targeting, the EMEA region.
Selected teams can receive up to $150,000 in XLM in initial development funding from the Stellar Development Foundation.
They will also gain technical support, tokenomics guidance, go-to-market help, and access to funding pathways. The program will run primarily remotely, then include 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.
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.
At the same time, Stellar’s institutional activity has expanded across tokenized assets, stablecoins, and payment applications. Franklin Templeton expanded its tokenized U.S. Treasury fund to European institutional investors on Stellar.
PayPal also launched PYUSD on the network, while MoneyGram introduced a stablecoin-powered financial app built on Stellar.
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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 remains one of the most active regions for real-world blockchain finance. He said the accelerator aims to support founders building scalable financial infrastructure that can operate across borders.
Olaf Hannemann, co-founder of CV VC, said CV Labs will bring its accelerator model to one of the world’s fastest-growing digital regions. Stellar already has foundations in EMEA through partnerships and integrations with MoneyGram, Yellowcard, and Flutterwave.
The foundation has also invested in companies such as Invoicemate, ChipperCash, Kredite, OkHi, and Cedar.
Stellar Development Foundation’s new partnership with CV Labs places early-stage EMEA blockchain startups at the center of its growth strategy. The 12-week accelerator will support ten teams working on payments infrastructure, tokenized real-world assets, and decentralized finance.
With funding worth up to $150,000 in XLM, technical guidance, and investor access, the program gives selected founders a pathway to scale. Its Cape Town component and Lisbon Demo Day also connect regional builders with Stellar’s wider global ecosystem.