VALR today announced it as has secured US$3.4-million to advance cryptocurrency adoption.
The platform is South Africa’s leading cryptocurrency exchange.
100x Group Ventures with participation from US-based company Bittrex, FNB CEO Michael Jordan and 4DiCapital led the Series A equity round of funding.
The cryptocurrency exchange was established in 2018 with the aim of bridging the gap between the world of cryptocurrency and the conventional financial system.
VALR in June 2019 launched bitcoin-rand trading, growing to be one of South Africa’s foremost bitcoin trading exchange platform.
According to VALR, the cryptocurrency exchange has offered the ability to trade in over 50 cryptocurrencies to more than 40, 000 of its customers at the cheapest possible fees in the crypto market.
Farzam Ehsani, Co-founder and CEO commented, “I am very grateful that despite the challenging global COVID-19 pandemic that has adversely affected many businesses around the world.
VALR has been able to grow at a phenomenal pace and we’ve been able to raise funds and partner with a set of world-class investors, adding to our already distinguished group of shareholders,”
The cryptocurrency exchange will use the raised fund to create new products and services while making expansion into other African countries.
It also plans to continue building teams of professionals in the technology and client service domains.
Arthur Hayes, Co-founder and CEO, 100x, who led the round funding said:
“South Africa has an incredibly exciting and fast-growing cryptocurrency ecosystem, and we believe VALR is well-placed to capitalise on future growth of bitcoin trading.
In VALR we’re backing not only a successful early-stage business but a management team with the ability to scale operations significantly.”
Justin Stanford, Co-Founding General Partner at 4Di Capital also commented:
“At 4Di we have been looking for appropriate investment in the crypto sector for some years, and we are delighted to be backing such a high-quality business and management team.
VALR has shown great integrity and leadership coupled with impressive growth and delivers a mature, institutional-grade offering to the local market.
This is becoming a necessary component in all markets the world over, as the crypto-asset ecosystem becomes increasingly more accepted and integrated into the global financial system.”
Altogether, VALR has secured $5.8 million to date, with an equity seed fund of around $1.2 million sometime in July 2018.
Featured Image: Farzam Ehsani, Co-founder and CEO, VALR
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