Luno parent firm DCG raises $700m from syndicate of investors

The parent company of crypto exchange Luno, Digital Currency Group (DCG), has secured an over $700m investment round from SoftBank’s Vision Fund II and Latin American Fund valuing the company at $10 billion.

Other equity investors led by the two funds include Google’s Capital G, Ribbit Capital, GIC, Tribe Capital, and Emory University who purchased stock from existing investors.

Luno is a consumer-focused digital asset platform that has thrived in the emerging and frontier markets, providing digital asset education, knowledge, and investment tools to customers.

Headquartered in London, Luno which operates across Africa, South East Asia, and Europe and plans to expand to the US in 2022, currently has over 2 million customers in 40 countries and a team of over 250.

This transaction values the Luno parent company now at $10 billion. Without selling any shares as part of the secondary transaction, Barry Silbert, DCG Founder, and CEO has raised $25m in primary capital since the company was formed in 2015.

The company claims that revenues in 2021 will exceed $1b, and includes subsidiaries crypto exchange Luno, digital currency asset manager, Grayscale Investments, digital currency prime brokerage, Genesis and bitcoin miner, Foundry among others.

DCG is also looking to expand its investment focus, with the expansion of seed investments into new and emerging markets, building a team to focus on public equity investing, and a new credit team to grow to lend in the cryptocurrency industry.