The Interledger Foundation, a US-based non-profit focused on global digital financial inclusion through open payments, has opened its 2025 NextGen Higher Education programme, with applications for grants of up to $50,000 USD (or ±R950,000) accepted until 3 October.
While digital transformation is reshaping global commerce, lingering financial and technological barriers still limit participation. Interledger is focused on breaking down these barriers and actively building what it terms "The Internet of Opportunity" – with its free and open-source technology, which fulfils an original vision of the Internet – making financial access universal, seamless and inclusive.
“Interledger’s Higher Education programme aims to prepare students for careers in open fintech and inspire them to advocate, champion and create solutions based on open source, open payment systems for inclusive digital financial systems,” says Chris Lawrence, Chief Programme Officer at the Interledger Foundation.
To achieve this, Interledger Foundation will be collaborating with higher education institutions that can provide students with real-world opportunities in open source practices, open payments technologies and inclusive digital financial systems.
The foundation will be supporting projects that:
Implement forward-thinking programmes that promote digital financial literacy and inclusion.
Highlight careers in Open Payments, open-source development, sustainable development, and open fintech.
Enhance student interaction with Open Payment technologies and digital financial inclusion, with a focus on the Interledger Protocol.
Grants of up to $50,000 USD (about R950,000) are available to selected higher education institutions. These will deliver a 12-month project aimed at producing diverse pathways for both undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in building fairer, more inclusive, and interoperable payment networks.
Previous recipients included the University of Cape Town (UCT), as well as Bowie State University in Maryland in the US.
UCT offers one of only a handful of the only Master's in Fintech programmes in Africa and has an exemplary track record.
“We have a 100 percent employment rate. All our alumni are employed in various sectors such as financial services, academia and consulting, while 17% have got their own startups” says Lindiwe Kers, General Hub Manager at FinHub.
According to Senior Lecturer and Director of UCT’s Financial Innovation Hub (FinHub), Dr Allan Davids, they welcome between 15 and 20 new students from South Africa and other African countries each year. “Our goal is to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs with the necessary skills to build the applications that are really going to power the future financial system. The Interledger Foundation helps us provide funding to these students so they can pursue their dreams,” he says.
Letters of Interest are welcomed from educators in higher education institutions to build campus and classroom programmes to shape the future digital financial inclusion leaders. For more information, please visit: Submissions.
