Tim Draper Leads Targeted $5M Series A for India Crypto Exchange Unocoin
Noted bitcoin investor Tim Draper is backing a planned $5 million Series A funding round for Bangalore-based cryptocurrency exchange Unocoin.
- Announcing the news Thursday, the exchange said Draper Associates is currently lead investor with an undisclosed contribution, while XBTO Ventures and 2020 Ventures are also joining the round.
- If the full $5 million target is achieved the trading platform says its valuation would rise to to US$20 million.
- Speaking to CoinDesk, Unocoin CEO Sathvik Vishwanath said that so far $3.5 million has been raised.
- The investment will help the exchange grow within India and enable it to further develop its tech team and product offerings.
- Among the latter is a plan to offer services around decentralized finance, or DeFi, for which Unocoin would launch its own protocols.
- Since India’s Supreme court overturned a ban on providing banking services to the cryptocurrency industry, customer numbers surged 10 times in the first month, Vishwanath said, while trading volumes subsequently rose 5 times.
- Unocoin has previously raised $3 million from investors including Boost VC, CoinDesk parent firm Digital Currency Group and India-based Blume Ventures.
