CoinSwitch Kuber Raises $25 Mn From Tiger Global At A Valuation Of Over $500 Mn Funds will be used to scale the company, hire top talent and build awareness among retail investors for cryptocurrencies in India
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
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Cryptocurrency investment platform CoinSwitch Kuber announced on Thursday that it has raised $25 million in a Series B round of funding from Tiger Global Management, at a valuation that is well over the $500 million mark. This marks New York-based investing Tiger Global's first investment in an Indian cryptocurrency company. This also makes CoinSwitch the highest funded cryptocurrency player in India and sets them on the path to follow the growth trajectory of global cryptocurrency platforms like Coinbase and Binance, in the Indian market.
Buoyed by the massive interest among Indians for cryptocurrencies, CoinSwitch Kuber has witnessed a 350 per cent growth in user base since January this year. The platform now has over 4.5 million users in India and crossed $5 billion in transaction volume in March 2021, all in a period of 10 months since launch.
The company plans to onboard 10 million users this year. CoinSwitch was founded in 2017 by Ashish Singhal, Govind Soni, and Vimal Sagar Tiwari as global aggregators of cryptocurrency exchanges. The company launched its India exclusive crypto platform, CoinSwitch Kuber in June 2020 to simplify crypto investments for Indian retail investors.
"This is a monumental time for the crypto industry in India and globally, as institutional adoption, as well as retail adoption for this asset class, is increasing exponentially. We are thrilled to have Tiger Global Management, the most prolific backers of the Indian startup story, as investors and mentors in our journey. This investment round brings us at par with some of the most sought-after cryptocurrency companies in the world and sets us up for the long run," Ashish Singhal, chief executive officer, and co-founder, CoinSwitch Kuber.
The platform will invest in enhancing technology and boosting productivity and security capabilities. The company also aims to set aside a substantial sum towards brand building and increasing awareness around cryptocurrencies as an emerging asset class by introducing an array of marketing initiatives. Hiring top talent across technology, operations, marketing, product, and compliance teams, to fuel growth, is another priority. CoinSwitch has plans to enter into new asset classes to offer more investment choices to its users.
"As they build India's leading cryptocurrency platform, CoinSwitch is well-positioned to capture the tremendous growing interest in crypto among retail investors. We are excited to partner with CoinSwitch as they innovate in this emerging asset class," added Scott Shleifer, partner, Tiger Global.
The global spike in interest in cryptocurrencies has rubbed off on the Indian investors too, making India the second-biggest bitcoin nation in Asia after China, and the sixth biggest in the world, after the United States, Nigeria, China, Canada, and the United Kingdom. According to reports, Indian cryptocurrency trading volumes have grown 500 per cent since March 2020, signaling the country's massive appetite for cryptocurrencies.
In January 2021, CoinSwitch Kuber raised $15 million in Series A funding from leading global fintech and crypto investor Ribbit Capital, San-Francisco-based crypto-focused investment firm, Paradigm and Sequoia Capital India.
