Indian Crypto Exchange CoinDCX raises $135 million, surpasses $2 billion valuation mark

Image Credits: CoinDCX

Mumbai-based crypto exchange CoinDCX has raised $135 million in Series D funding, valuing the startup at $2.15 billion. The round was co-led by Steadview and existing backer Pantera, and observed participation from Coinbase Ventures, Kingsway, DraperDragon, Republic and Kindred Ventures.

The latest funding comes in eight months after the B Capital Group-led $90 million Series C round which made CoinDCX India’s first crypto unicorn. The company has now raised capital of over $245 million.

Co-founded in 2018 by Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, the crypto platform enables the users to conveniently add money to their digital wallet, legally trade multiple cryptocurrencies, and transfer amount to their bank accounts, thus allowing a quick, easy, and insurance-backed flow of funds through single-point access to a diverse suite of crypto-based financial products and services.

With over 10 million users trading on its platform, CoinDCX allows the purchase from a pool of over 80 vetted coins for as low as INR 100 ($1.3), thus empowering the masses to explore the world of cryptocurrencies.

The startup presently employs around 400 people and plans to expand its strength to 1,000 employees by the end of the year. It will also scale its education platform DCX Learn, for investors to gain knowledge about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, with the aim of widening the crypto community to 50 million users. Additionally, the startup has recently partnered with crypto-native trade surveillance companies such as Solidus Labs and Coinfirm, to fortify its “anti-money laundering” protection and to provide accurate and timely detection of suspicious activities.

Addressing the addition of wealth management tools on the platform, Gupta said that the company will continue to double down on crypto and not explore areas that are, in his opinion, already solved. Further, he also confirmed that CoinDCX is not planning to add a venture arm in the near future unlike other crypto exchanges such as CoinSwitch Kuber (another popular crypto exchange in India backed by Coinbase Ventures), Coinbase, FTX and Binance.

Adding to the list of ventures that the startup isn’t planning to explore in the near future, is the introduction of its own token. “We don’t want to launch a token for the sake of it. Token is generally useful when you want to get the network effects faster. It’s something you try to solve massive adoption early on. I think we’re already doing pretty well. We are very cautious about each new feature or product we introduce as it’s an irreversible thing. I have been telling the team, for example, if we do something, we need to do it right.” Coinbase and Kraken are other exchanges that have not launched their own tokens.

Extending his support to the vision of CoinDCX, Ravi Mehta, Managing Director of Steadview, claimed, “We have long been impressed by CoinDCX’s vision to build a thriving Web3 ecosystem in India and it has been our pleasure to support the team’s execution in building the most customer-centric and feature-rich crypto exchange in India following our initial investment in 2021. We are excited to now deepen our investment to fuel the growth of one of the most loved Web3 companies in India.”