Unocoin, which claims to be India’s first cryptocurrency exchange, has closed its Series A round on $5m.
The investment was led by Draper Associates, with contributions also coming from XBTO Ventures and 2020 Ventures.
This funding round has put the company’s valuation to $20m.
With the close of the round and the Reserve Bank of India having lifted the bank on digital asset trading, Unocoin will use the capital to foster its growth in India. It plans to build a stronger technology team and enhance its product infrastructure.
Some of its planned growth initiatives include expanding into the decentralised finance space with its own protocols and the implementation of an AI-based chatbot system to improve customer support.
The FinTech platform enables users in India to transact and store bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies including Ethereum. It also offers a selection of tools to let holders spend their cryptocurrencies, with servicing including over-the-counter trading and bitcoin point of sale.
Unocoin CE0 Sathvik Vishwanath said, “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.”
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