South African exchange raises $50M in Africa’s largest funding round

Published at: March 1, 2022

South African crypto exchange VALR has raised $50 million in a Series B equity funding round, marking the largest-ever funding for an African crypto exchange.

With this latest round of funding, VALR’s valuation has increased to $240 million, a 10X in growth since it raised its $3.4 million in a Series A round in July 2020. This round was led by VC Pantera Capital, Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, and several others.

VALR claims to have processed over $7.5 billion in trading volume since 2019 from over 250,000 retail customers and 500 global institutional users. It currently has about 420 BTC ($18 million) in trading volume from 69 trading pairs according to CoinMarketCap.

Funds from this round will be used to expand VALR’s operations into other emerging African markets and India, introduce more products for its users, and hire more talent.

VALR CEO and co-founder Farzam Ehsani said in a Mar. 1 official statement shared with Cointelegraph that “Society’s financial tools should unite us, not divide us.” He added:

“VALR is helping to build a financial system that recognizes the oneness of the human race. There is no longer any room for doubt regarding the impact crypto assets are having on our global financial system.”

Ehsani also expects to inflate the number of institutional customers such as banks and insurance providers that use VALR’s platform to provide the crypto infrastructure they may need in the future. Ehsani said:

“Crypto assets will become more and more pivotal to all our lives. VALR is here to help bridge our customers from the old financial system to the new.”

Related: Crypto firms ignore Africa at their peril as continent set for major adoption

Despite a turbulent crypto market through 2022 so far, investments in crypto projects have not slowed down. On Feb. 27, the South Korean government announced a $187 million pledge to build a national Metaverse, and The Graph (GRT) opened a $205 million fund on Feb. 17 designed to attract developers to its platform.

Tags
Business
Cryptocurrency Exchange
Funding
Africa
South Africa
Related Posts
African crypto exchange Yellow Card closes $15M Series A
African cryptocurrency exchange Yellow Card has concluded a $15 million Series A financing round led by some of blockchain’s biggest venture funds, underscoring the growth potential of digital assets on the continent. The fundraiser, which was described as the largest ever by any African cryptocurrency exchange, will enable Yellow Card to scale its operations across Africa and onboard new talent, the company announced Monday. The Series A came roughly one year after Yellow Card successfully raised $1.5 million from various investors. The investment round was led by Valar Ventures, Third Price and Castle Island Ventures with additional participation from Square, …
Business / Sept. 27, 2021
Binance crypto exchange delists its own token on Uganda platform
The world’s largest exchange, Binance, is delisting its own token for trading against the Uganda shilling (UGX). According to a Sept. 9 announcement, the Binance Uganda platform decided to delist and cease trading on all trading pairs for Binance’s native token, Binance Coin (BNB). The BNB/UGX trading pair will be officially removed from Binance on Sept. 17, while BNB deposits will be terminated on Sept. 10, the exchange said. BNB withdrawals will be still available on Binance Uganda till Nov. 6, Binance noted. Binance provided little information about the reasons behind the delistings, only stating that the BNB/UGX trading pair …
Business / Sept. 9, 2020
South African Gov’t Reveals It Has No Plans to Ban Crypto in Recent Consultation Paper
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has issued a consultation paper assessing the benefits and risks of cryptocurrencies. The paper, developed jointly with a number of the country’s government agencies, was announced in an official statement published Jan. 16. In the document, titled “Consultation Paper on Policy Proposals for Crypto Assets,” South Africa’s government clarifies that it does not intend to ban either cryptocurrency trading, or crypto payments at the moment. The consultation paper further proposes that all crypto asset trading platforms, as well as custodial services, payment service providers, and crypto ATMs, should be required to register with the …
Bitcoin Regulation / Jan. 17, 2019
Upbit crypto exchange's blockchain sister firm raises $60M
Dunamu, the operator of major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, is progressing with blockchain development as its blockchain arm Lambda256 secured new funding. According to a Dec. 15 announcement, Lambda256 raised 70 billion Korean won ($60 million) in a Series B round, valuing the company at over $300 million. The firm is focused on enterprise-grade chains for businesses, building on its own blockchain protocol called Luniverse. The funding round included major venture capital firms and individual investors like tech giant Hanhwa Systems, travel tech startup Yanolja, bikes manufacturer Daelim, DSC Investments, Shinhan Venture Capital, KB Investments and SBI Investments. Dunamu …
Blockchain / Dec. 16, 2021
FTX bankruptcy freezes millions worth of crypto company funds
The collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX continues to have knock-on effects throughout the crypto industry with multiple crypto-focused companies reporting significant amounts of their capital stuck on FTX. Between Nov. 11 to 14 three crypto companies announced large losses with one of them having to lay off workers to deal with the crisis. On Nov. 11, crypto hedge fund Galois Capital announced it had “significant funds” stuck on FTX, with a Nov. 12 Financial Times report that said a possible $50 million worth of Galois’ assets were stuck on the exchange. Other crypto-focused companies have reported their funds arestuck …
Business / Nov. 16, 2022