CoinSwitch Kuber, India’s largest cryptocurrency investment platform announced it has raised USD 25 million (Rs 181 Cr.) in 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 powerhouse 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. This round of funding is an endorsement of CoinSwitch’s vision of becoming the most preferred crypto investment destination for retail investors in the country and the exceptional growth and momentum that the company has seen in less than a year of operations in India. 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. 3 out 4 investors in CoinSwitch have also invested in global crypto leader Coinbase, which got listed on NASDAQ last week.
Buoyed by the massive interest among Indians for cryptocurrencies, CoinSwitch Kuber has witnessed 350% growth in user base since January this year. The platform now has over 4.5 million users in India and crossed USD 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 a global aggregator of cryptocurrency exchanges. The company launched its India exclusive crypto platform, CoinSwitch Kuber in June 2020 to simplify crypto investments for Indian retail investors.
CoinSwitch Kuber will invest heavily in enhancing technology and boosting product 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.
Ashish Singhal, CEO and Co-founder, CoinSwitch Kuber, said, “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.”
"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,” said Scott Shleifer, Partner, Tiger Global.
This funding round comes at a time when global behemoths like Tesla, MasterCard, PayPal have joined the crypto bandwagon. 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% since March 2020, signalling the country’s massive appetite for cryptocurrencies.