Company: The Starknet Foundation

Executive Director: James Strudwick

Website: https://www.starknet.org/

The Starknet Foundation is the steward of one of Ethereum’s most advanced Layer 2 scaling networks, building a future where blockchain infrastructure delivers real-world value at scale. With a focus on decentralisation, global accessibility, and permissionless innovation, Starknet is redefining what Layer 2s can achieve.

At its core, Starknet is a validity rollup (zk-rollup) that brings Ethereum-grade security, negligible transaction fees, and high throughput to developers and users alike. But what makes The Starknet Foundation stand out is not just its powerful technology but the way it’s being used to tackle global challenges.

In Africa, the Foundation has partnered with Ejara, a fast-growing savings platform with over 100,000 users across Francophone Africa, to power secure and low-cost DeFi services for underserved communities. Ejara is now leveraging Starknet to offer on-chain savings and tokenised financial products, bringing compliant, crypto-native solutions to users who’ve long been excluded from traditional finance. It’s an example of Starknet’s commitment to practical impact: not just tech for tech’s sake, but infrastructure designed to unlock financial freedom for all.

In Latin America, Starknet’s support of Mexican fintech Chipi Pay is another standout. Designed for small businesses and consumers without access to banking, Chipi Pay abstracts away crypto complexity and delivers seamless QR code payments with negligible fees. The Foundation’s deep involvement – from technology grants to product incubation – has accelerated Chipi Pay’s mission to serve 50 million people across the region. This is blockchain not as hype, but as railways for the future of financial inclusion.

Starknet’s approach to education and innovation is also bold. Its partnership with Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest gaming publishers, brings together leading minds in game development to educate the next generation of Web3 game builders. Through expert-led webinars, the Foundation is equipping developers with the knowledge and tools needed to bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3.

Perhaps most ambitiously, the Starknet Foundation has announced a roadmap to bring smart contract capabilities and scalable settlement to the Bitcoin blockchain. By settling on both Ethereum and Bitcoin, Starknet aims to unify the world’s two largest crypto networks on a single 3x3cution layer — a breakthrough that could unlock programmable Bitcoin, reduce fees, and bring DeFi to Bitcoin’s vast user base. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has publicly backed the initiative, calling it a potential turning point for crypto payments.

Guided by Executive Director James Strudwick, the Foundation continues to invest in ecosystem growth, decentralisation, and governance. Its partnership-first approach, deep technical support, and mission-driven ethos have made it a catalyst for some of Web3’s most exciting and inclusive projects.

In a world often distracted by speculation, The Starknet Foundation stands apart by building long-term infrastructure that is global, inclusive, and transformative. From African savings apps to Bitcoin programmability, it is not only scaling Ethereum – it is scaling the potential of blockchain itself.