Frequently asked questions

LAB operates across four parts: an ongoing developer community that produces candidates, a 16-week cohort that forms founders, a 6 to 12 month incubation residency for the strongest ventures, and recurring demo days that showcase the pipeline. The How It Works page sets out the full structure.

The cohort runs 16 weeks. Selected founders work through foundation, formation, shipping, and positioning phases. Every cohort ends with a Demo Day.

Ventures with the strongest shipping evidence continue into LAB's incubation residency, which runs 6 to 12 months per venture on a rolling basis. Each venture graduates from incubation when it is ready, not on a fixed calendar.

The developer community runs continuously through meetups, workshops, mini Buildathons, and university sessions. Follow LAB on X (@LetAfricaBuild) for event announcements, or subscribe to the newsletter for monthly updates.

Stablecoin payment infrastructure, AI, blockchain applications, and Bitcoin Layer 1 and Layer 2: protocol fundamentals, Lightning Network, Stacks smart contracts and related tooling.

Foundational programming skills and genuine interest in building the African market infrastructure. Every applicant goes through a technical assessment and interview. No prior blockchain experience required.

A micro-grant programme powered by Artizen supporting developers building open-source infrastructure across the Bitcoin ecosystem: Lightning tooling, Stacks contracts, wallet and payment solutions, and protocol-level experiments.

Any developer or small team building open-source Bitcoin L1 or L2 infrastructure. We prioritise African builders, but the fund is open to contributors worldwide building for the ecosystem.

Applications are submitted through BlockSurvey and reviewed in four stages: application review, technical evaluation, selection and funding, then milestone development. Start with the enquiry form on the Builder Fund page so we can read your repository first.

Through national capacity-building programmes, developer infrastructure initiatives, and policy consultation on Bitcoin and digital asset frameworks.

Curriculum integration for Bitcoin and Lightning development, faculty training, research collaboration on open-source infrastructure, and joint cohort programming.

Yes: executive education on Bitcoin infrastructure, developer upskilling for Lightning and Stacks, and integration consulting.

Founders who ship. Beyond them, protocol developers, Lightning engineers, Stacks contract developers and open-source contributors. Many join Bitcoin companies, launch infrastructure projects, or receive Builder Fund grants.

Yes. Everything built through LAB programmes is published publicly on GitHub. Open-source contribution is a core principle.