Indonesia-based cryptocurrency exchange Pintu has completed an extended Series A funding round led by global venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Alameda Ventures, Blockchain.com Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Intudo Ventures, Pantera Capital and others also participated.
In May the exchange raised $6m in funding from Pantera Capital, Intudo Ventures and Coinbase Ventures. The proceeds of $35m will be used to recruit new employees, develop new products and services, and conduct training events for staff. It is also in the process of launching a new feature called Pintu Earn, which lets users automatically earn interest on a variety of crypto assets.
The crypto exchange doesn’t force people into crypto. Instead of encouraging users to make an investment when they open the app for the first time, Pintu presents them with educational materials. For example, one of its features is Pintu Academy, a collection of articles and videos. While Pintu’s target demographic is millennials, it’s also attracting older demographics, including people who have traded other assets, like stocks, but want to learn more about the fundamentals of crypto trading.
Pintu, which currently offers trades on 16 cryptocurrencies on its platform, says that its number of active traders grew 4x in the first half of this year. According to Pintu, there were more than 6.6 million cryptocurrency investors in Indonesia as of June this year. This prompted the government to consider a bill to tax the crypto industry. Regardless, digital assets are steadily becoming more popular in the country.
Founded in April 2020 with a focus on simplifying the trading experience for newcomers to the industry, the exchange is registered as a licensed cryptocurrency broker under the Indonesian Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency.
Coinbase’s successful initial public offering in April helped fuel interest in crypto trading, especially among first-time investors. Pintu is the latest investment app in Southeast Asia to quickly raise a much larger follow-on round as interest in retail investing grows. Other examples include Bibit, Ajaib and Syfe.
Lightspeed partner Hemant Mohapatra said, “Lightspeed has invested in over 17 crypto and blockchain companies globally including FTX, Blockchain.com, Offchain Labs and more. We believe crypto is at an inflection point to become an important asset class globally, and will give rise to massive companies that will become regional leaders. Pintu has created the strongest market brand, best user experience and hands down one of the strongest teams we’ve ever come across in this market.”
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