B Capital-led $90m round catapults Indian crypto startup into unicorn club

Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX has closed a US$90 million series C funding round at a valuation of US$1.2 billion, riding its way into the unicorn club and making it the country’s first crypto unicorn.

The company is the 22nd Indian startup to breach the US$1 billion valuation mark this year.

CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Gupta (left) and Neeraj Khandelwal / Photo credit: CoinDCX

The round was led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group, with participation from existing investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Block.one, and Jump Capital, among others.

CoinDCX will use the funds raised to spread crypto awareness in order to make it a popular investment asset class in India. It will also invest in product development and hire new talent.

“Apart from this, we will be joining hands or entering into partnerships with key fintech players to expand the crypto investor base, set up a research and development facility, and work with the government to introduce favorable regulations,” said Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of CoinDCX.

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Founded in 2018, CoinDCX said it has already onboarded more than 3.5 million users and has a vision to reach 50 million Indians in the future.

The cryptocurrency space in India has seen a huge surge over the past couple of years, according to an Economic Times report. Despite unclear regulations and the segment’s volatility, around 15 million Indians have invested in cryptocurrencies, the report said.