India’s first cryptocurrency exchange, Unocoin, is close to finalizing its Series A funding round, targeted at $5 million. The round thus far is led by Tim Draper’s Draper Associates, with participation from XBTO Ventures and 2020 Ventures, veteran investors in the digital asset industry. The Series A funding round raises Unocoin’s valuation to US$20 million.
Following the lifting of the Reserve Bank of India’s ban on digital asset trading, Unocoin’s latest raise will bolster its continued growth in India, allow it to build a stronger technology team, and enhance its product infrastructure and offerings. Notable developments in the pipeline include expansion into DeFi with its own protocols and the implementation of a new AI-based chatbot system to improve customer support.
“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,” Unocoin CEO Sathvik Vishwanath said. “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.”
“We were delighted to hear the verdict by the Indian Supreme Court, and we had been tracking Unocoin, the leader in India for Bitcoin for years,” Tim Draper said. “We are so thrilled that the stars aligned and we could finally back Unocoin. Every Indian should have a Bitcoin account with Unocoin. It is a great way to do business in a currency that doesn’t devalue over time.”
Established in 2013, Unocoin operates India’s largest BTC-INR trading platform which enables users in India to transact and store bitcoin. Other crypto assets tradeable on the Uncoin Exchange include: LTC, XRP, ETH, BCH, BTG, and various ERC20 tokens. As a pioneer of India’s crypto industry, Unocoin offers such digital asset trading tools as the Bitcoin Systematic Buying Plan (SBP), Crypto lending, Crypto interest earning, Bitcoin Point of Sale (POS) App and Bitcoin Over-The- Counter trading (OTC).
Unocoin has previously raised more than US$3 million from investors, including Digital Currency Group led by Barry Silbert, Boost.vc led by Adam Draper, and India based VC Blume Ventures.
“The potential for widespread crypto adoption in India is massive,” Unocoin president Sunny Ray said. “Many in India remain underserved by traditional payment systems, increasing bitcoin’s attractiveness as an alternative currency. We are proud of our team’s resilience and commitment amidst the regulatory shifts and are excited to work with our partners — both new and old — to shape the future of cross-border payments, microtransactions and lending in India.”
