Indian crypto exchanges Coinswitch Kuber and CoinDCX are looking for investment opportunities, seeking to inject $100,000 -$200,000 in crypto and Web3 startups that need funding, according to sources familiar with the development.
According to the people speaking on condition of anonymity, they plan to invest that much money in each of the multiple deals they are seeking.
One of the individuals cited above who has direct knowledge of the matter said that both exchanges are in talks with the founders of some crypto and Web3 start-ups, but the discussions are still in the early stages and not yet formalized.
In the coming quarters, the companies are likely to announce investments. Coinbase Ventures, Coinbase’s investment arm, will also invest up to $1 million in Web3 start-ups in India.
Over the past year, investments in the Web3 and crypto space have soared, raising over $500 million. Experts predict that funding for this space will increase 5-6 times this year with more global venture firms interested in investing. Regulatory clarity will also significantly increase investment.
When it raised $90 million in a funding round led by Eduardo Saverin’s fund B Capital last year, CoinDCX, India’s first cryptocurrency unicorn, was valued at $1.1 billion.
In a funding round led by Coinbase Ventures and Silicon Valley fund Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) later last year, Coinswitch became a unicorn with a valuation of $1.9 billion.
Neither CoinDCX nor CoinSWitch responded to specific questions about their initiatives. Coinswitch is looking for a person to head an investment program called Startup Partnership.
Moneycontrol reported that Nischal Shetty and Siddharth Menon, co-founders of WazirX, made multiple investments as active angel investors in the ecosystem who support entrepreneurs not only with capital but also mentorship and community building.
The majority of Web3 start-up founders seek expertise, mentoring, and value addition from investors. Startups are also issuing token assets instead of equity stakes as a means of raising funds. The majority of Web3 startups are raising seed rounds between $1 million and $3 million, most of which are equity rounds.
