· Series A raises Unocoin’s valuation to US$20 million
· Investment by the early investor of Skype, Tesla, and
Twitter, follows 10x customer growth after lift of crypto banking ban in India
· Funds will be used for the
development of new products and offerings, enhancement of existing
infrastructure and technology talent acquisition
· Investors from earlier rounds
include Digital Currency Group, Boost VC, Blume Ventures, Future Perfect
Ventures, Bank to the Future, Bitcoin Capital, FundersClub, ah! Ventures and
Mumbai Angels
India’s first cryptocurrency exchange,
Unocoin, is close to finalising its Series A funding round, targeted at US$5
million. The round thus far is led by Tim Draper’s Draper Associates, with
participation from XBTO Ventures and 2020 Ventures, veteran investors in the
digital asset industry. The Series A funding round raises Unocoin's valuation
to US$20 million.
Following the
lifting of the Reserve Bank of India’s
ban on digital asset trading, Unocoin’s latest fundraise will bolster its
continued growth in India,
allow it to build a stronger technology team, and enhance its product
infrastructure and offerings. Notable developments in the pipeline include
expansion into Decentralised Finance (DeFi) with its own protocols and the
implementation of a new AI-based chatbot system to improve customer support.
Sathvik
Vishwanath, CEO of Unocoin, said of the investment, “We’ve seen a dramatic increase
of crypto adoption in India
following the lifting of an industry-wide ban by the Reserve Bank of India enacted in
2018. Customer growth rates have surged by more than 10X in
the month the Supreme Court verdict was announced, accompanied by a 5X increase
in trading volume in subsequent months. The funding will help us
scale our business further, and give us a strong financial foothold to expand
our platform’s offerings. We will double down on our efforts to improve our
product features and offerings, which will enhance the overall usability and
functionality for our customers.”
Tim Draper, Founder of Draper Associates, which is known for its success from
early investments into high valuation companies such as Tesla, Skype, and
Twitter said: "We were delighted to hear the verdict by the Indian
Supreme Court, and we had been tracking Unocoin, the leader in India for Bitcoin
for years. We are so thrilled that the stars aligned and we could finally back
Unocoin. Every Indian should have a Bitcoin account with Unocoin. It is a great
way to do business in a currency that doesn’t devalue over time."
Established in 2013, Unocoin operates India’s largest BTC-INR trading platform which
enables users in India to
transact and store bitcoin. Other crypto assets tradeable on the Unocoin
Exchange include: LTC, XRP, ETH, BCH, BTG, and various ERC20 tokens. As a
pioneer of India’s crypto industry, Unocoin boasts leading innovation in
digital asset trading such as the Bitcoin Systematic Buying Plan (SBP), Crypto
lending, Crypto interest earning, Bitcoin Point of Sale (POS) App and Bitcoin
Over-The- Counter trading (OTC) — all of which offers convenience and ready
access to a wide array of digital products seamlessly and securely.
Unocoin has
previously raised more than US$3 million from a range of reputable investors,
including Digital Currency Group led by Barry Silbert, Boost.vc led by Adam
Draper, and India
based VC Blume Ventures.
“The potential
for widespread crypto adoption in India is massive. Many in India remain
underserved by traditional payment systems, increasing bitcoin’s attractiveness
as an alternative currency. We are proud of our team’s resilience and
commitment amidst the regulatory shifts and are excited to work with our
partners — both new and old — to shape the future of cross-border
payments, microtransactions and lending in India,” added Sunny Ray,
President of Unocoin.
Bangalore, India,08,October, 2020