[Funding alert] CoinSwitch Kuber raises $15M from Ribbit Capital, Kunal Shah, others

CoinSwitch Kuber, a cryptocurrency investment platform, has raised $15 million in Series A funding round led by Ribbit Capital and San-Francisco based crypto focussed investment firm Paradigm. The round also saw participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital India and CRED founder Kunal Shah.

The Bengaluru-headquartered startup said it will use the funding to enhance its product, security, compliance and tech capabilities, and brand building.

Commenting on the latest funding, Ashish Singhal, Co-founder & CEO, CoinSwitch Kuber, said,

“We aim to double down on the Indian market, and are targeting ten times growth in our user base by the end of the year. To this end, we will invest in product and technology and also run a slew of awareness initiatives to educate investors about the potential of crypto as an emerging asset class.”

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CoinSwitch was founded in 2017 by Ashish Singhal, Govind Soni, and Vimal Sagar Tiwari. It launched its India exclusive crypto platform, CoinSwitch Kuber, in June 2020, to simplify crypto investments for Indian retail investors.

According to the startup, within six months of the launch, it had over one million users with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, and it aims to reach a number of 10 million in the next one year.

Nick Shalek, General Partner at Ribbit Capital, said, 

"We are very excited to invest in CoinSwitch, which we believe can become a generational technology brand in India. Our mandate is to invest in the best entrepreneurs and technologists driving change in financial services….We backed the team not only because of their track record of product and technology innovation, but also because of their resolute commitment to serving their customers."

CoinSwitch believes the Indian market is witnessing an unprecedented growth in cryptocurrency trading and investments. 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, it said.

According to reports, Indian cryptocurrency trading volumes have grown 500 percent since March 2020, signalling the country’s massive appetite for cryptocurrencies.