CoinSwitch Kuber Likely To Be A Unicorn, To Raise Fund From A16Z: Report

India is likely to get its second crypto exchange unicorn soon, as CoinSwitch Kuber is reportedly in talks to raise a fresh round of funding that will push the valuation of the startup to over $1.5 Bn. As per reports, the app-based cryptocurrency exchange platform is in talks with Silicon Valley investor  Andreessen Horowitz and major crypto exchange giant Coinbase, to raise the fresh round along with its existing investors.

As per a TechCrunch report, Andreessen Horowitz, also known as A16Z, will mark its first investment in India through CoinSwitch Kuber. The news portal reported that post funding, the startup will be valued at $1.9 Bn valuation. It is worth noting that A16Z has invested in some of the major startups that have eventually gone for stock exchanges such as Airbnb, Box, Lyft, Coinbase, Facebook, and Asana, among others. 

It is worth noting that CoinSwitch Kuber is raising a fresh round at a time when it claims to have become the country’s largest crypto exchange platform in terms of total registered users. The startup hit the 10 Mn registered users’ mark last week. 

If the deal comes through, CoinSwitch Kuber will be the second Indian crypto exchange platform after CoinDcx which entered the unicorn club last month. CoinDCX raised $90 Mn in Series C funding round, led by Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group as well as Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Block.one, Jump Capital among others, alongside and returning other unnamed investors at a valuation of $1.1 Bn.

Founded in 2017 by Ashish Singhal, Govind Soni and Vimal Sagar, CoinSwitch launched its India exclusive crypto platform, CoinSwitch Kuber in June 2020 to simplify crypto investments for Indian retail investors. The startup raised its Series B round worth $25 Mn from New York-based Tiger Global at a valuation of $500 Mn in April this year. This implies with the recent funding, CoinSwitch Kuber is most likely to triple its valuation within an year. 

The startup had bagged its Series A worth $15 Mn in January this year from Ribbit Capital and San Francisco-based crypto-focused investment firm Paradigm along with participation from Sequoia Capital India. 

Over the last couple of months, India is witnessing a significant rise in the number of crypto transactions. The Indian cryptocurrency market grew from $923 Mn in April 2020 to a staggering $6.6 Bn in May 2021 as per Chainalysis, a blockchain data platform. Binance-owned  WazirX in May had reported that  it witnessed a 10X growth in five months after it processed transactions worth  $5.4 Bn. Nischal Shetty-led WazirX had processed $500 Mn in December last year. 

Seeing the rise in demand, several foreign crypto exchange platforms are trying to enter India. Earlier this month, a US-headquartered digital currency exchange CrossTower announced the launch of its crypto trading platform in India. Today (September 17), Belfrics Group, had resumed its crypto exchange operations in India and is investing $15 Mn in the country.