South African Crypto Exchange, VALR raises $50M in Series B funding round to expand across Africa
VALR, a cryptocurrency exchange based in South Africa, has raised $50 million in a Series B round to help it expand across the continent.
This is the largest fundraising round ever by an African cryptocurrency company. VALR’s valuation now stands at $240 million, more than ten times what it was in July 2020 when it secured $3.4 million in its Series A round.
The Series B equity funding round was led by Pantera Capital with participation from Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, Cadenza, CMT Digital, Distributed Global, GSR, Third Prime, and Avon Ventures, a venture capital fund affiliated with the parent company of Fidelity Investments.
VALR, a digital asset marketplace that began in 2019, allows consumers to buy, sell, store, and transfer Bitcoin and 60 other cryptocurrencies, the most of any platform in Africa. It has processed over $7.5 billion in trade volume so far and currently serves over 250,000 retail and 500 institutional customers from across the world.
The funds will be utilized to grow into new African countries as well as other rising markets like India. It will also allow VALR to provide additional products and services to its current clients, as well as hire more employees, according to the business.
“Society’s financial tools should unite us, not divide us. That’s why I’m very excited that VALR is helping to build a financial system that recognizes the oneness of the human race. There is no longer any room for doubts regarding the impact crypto assets are having on our global financial system,” said Farzam Ehsani, VALR’s CEO and co-founder.
“We already help VALR’s customers enter this new world of crypto from the traditional financial system using their USD or ZAR and I’m very excited that this round of funding will allow us to serve so many more across Africa and the world.”
Pantera Capital partner, Paul Veradittakit expressed his delight at leading the Series B round.
“We believe that Africa’s future is bright for the adoption of cryptocurrencies for both asset diversification and payments,” he said. “VALR brings an amazing product and service to onboard both retail customers and institutions.”