CoinSwitch Kuber, a crypto asset marketplace, announced a fund inflow of $260 million in a Series C financing.
This fresh capital comes from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures, and previous investors Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital India, and Tiger Global.
With a value of $1.9 billion, CoinSwitch becomes India’s 30th unicorn business this year, surpassing CoinDCX’s $1.1 billion disclosed in August. CoinSwitch has joined the unicorn league within just 14 months of being operational. Coinbase Ventures participated in CoinDCX’s recent investment round as well.
Let’s get to know CoinSwitch Kuber
CoinSwitch Kuber is a safe, user-friendly website for Indian customers. Here, they can conveniently purchase 100+ cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and others, at the best rate possible, using many payment methods.
After completing the KYC/AML processes, customers may use the pooled liquidity of India’s top exchanges to receive the best rate and trade instantly.
Ashish Singhal, the chief executive of CoinSwitch and a former employee of Amazon and Microsoft, launched the cryptocurrency exchange platform in 2017 as a global aggregator of cryptocurrency exchanges.
Govind Soni and Vimal Sagar are co-founders and work as chief technology officer and chief operating officer, respectively. In June 2020, the firm began operations in India.
What do the new funds mean for CoinSwitch?
It aims to utilize the money to employ expertise in technical, product, and data operations, as well as introduce additional asset classes, raise bitcoin awareness, and pursue institutional clients, as opposed to its current retail customer base.
Investors will not be able to buy traditional assets using Bitcoin under the new asset classes. Instead, it will work with the existing crypto market, allowing customers to utilize fiat currency.
According to Singhal (CEO of CoinSwitch), plans to develop this aspect of the business are now in the works. The firm expects that its new goods and services will help it expand its user base from the current 10 million to 50 million users.
CoinSwitch Kuber will also create a new ecosystem fund in India, to invest in other crypto and blockchain startups. The money will also be utilized to raise cryptocurrency awareness and make smart investments that will aid the platform’s growth.
“The first agenda is to identify companies that are solving issues for India using blockchain,” Singhal said.
How is the future of cryptocurrency being shaped in India?
According to Singhal:
“The tonality of the finance minister and other folks who regulate crypto has really changed. They’re sending clear statements, saying they won’t shut down crypto. We have also seen policymakers ask experts about how to go about regulating the crypto space. This funding, because it involves investors like a16z, who have never really invested in India before, will also build confidence among regulators.”
From David George, general partner of Andreessen Horowitz:
“We are incredibly excited about the crypto market opportunity in India, and with its breakout growth, CoinSwitch has emerged as the leading retail platform in the country. Ashish and the team have demonstrated strong execution abilities and the ambition to deliver an investment platform for the masses in India.”
India has a large talent pool capable of developing world-class crypto products and protocols but lacks a robust support mechanism to keep these creative brains at work.
To solve this problem, up-and-coming firms such as CoinSwitch Kuber are establishing an ecosystem fund to discover and promote the country’s rising talent.
Do you know of more interesting facts about crypto’s potential in India? Let us know in the comments.