A South African cryptocurrency exchange called VALR has raised $50 million in what it calls the largest fundraising round ever for an African crypto startup. VALR’s Series A fundraising of $3.4 million in July 2020 has now been valued at $240 million, a multiple of ten.
Pantera Capital led the Series B equity fundraising round for the exchange, with participation from Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, Cadenza, CMT Digital.
Distributed Global, GSR, Third Prime, and Avon Ventures, a venture capital fund linked with the parent company of Fidelity Investments.
Crypto Hedge Fund Pantera Enters Africa With Valr Exchange Backing
U.S. investment firm Pantera Capital has made its first entry into Africa by backing VALR.com. An African cryptocurrency exchange with a $240 million valuation from its most recent fundraising round.
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The fresh capital would be utilised to broaden operations into other African countries and other rising markets like India. This will also help the company expand its workforce and provide more options to its current clientele.
The effects of crypto assets on the global financial system are now beyond dispute, according to Farzam Ehsani, CEO and co-founder of VALR.
“I’m extremely thrilled that this round of funding will allow us to serve so many more across Africa and the world,” said a VALR executive.
“Since we already help consumers into this new world of crypto from the old banking system using their [U.S. dollars] or [South African rand].”
In order to enter the crypto asset market, VALR has stated that it will recruit additional institutions from the traditional financial system to assist with the necessary infrastructure.
Pantera Capital Partner Paul Veradittakit said in a statement, “We believe that Africa’s future is bright for the adoption of cryptocurrencies for both asset diversification and payments.”
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Conclusion
Since its 2019 introduction, VALR has attracted over 250,000 individual consumers, the vast majority of whom are located in South Africa, and 500 business and government entities.
It supports the buying, selling, and storing of bitcoin (BTC) and 60 other cryptocurrencies for its customers.
