Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX has launched its investment arm, CoinDCX Ventures, to invest ₹100 crore in early-stage crypto and blockchain start-ups over the next 12 months.
While the CoinDCX Ventures mandate is to invest in Web3 companies globally, the company expects 30-40 per cent of its portfolio to come from India. The fund will focus on Seed and Series A investments but the mandate is flexible. In terms of sectors, the fund will focus on five sectors: Investing Infrastructure, Investing products (DeFI/CeFi), Infra layer development, development tools and Web3 applications.
The fund has already made seven investments, including a wallet solution, cross chain bridge protocol, Web3 notification protocol, Web3 social engine, as well as distributed storage and computing protocol, among others. CoinDCX has appointed Rohit Jain as Senior Vice-President and Head of Ventures and Investments to lead CoinDCX Ventures. Previously, Jain was a partner at a growth stage fund, The Fundamentum Partnership.
‘Great milestone’
Sumit Gupta, CoinDCX CEO and Co-Founder, said, “CoinDCX Ventures marks yet another great milestone in the company’s already phenomenal 2022, and we are not even halfway through the year. This is an immense leap forward for CoinDCX as we continue to chart the way forward and shape the Web3 industry at large, placing India on the map as a global hub for crypto and blockchain innovation. Having worked closely with venture capitalists in the space, we understand the value and importance of such support, inspiring our move to contribute to the still nascent industry as it cements its position in the future of finance and technology.”
Adding to this, Jain said, “As a leader in India’s crypto ecosystem, CoinDCX Ventures is an essential next step underpinning CoinDCX’s mission to grow India’s Web3 capabilities. CoinDCX Ventures will be crucial in supporting our vision of building India’s Web3 ecosystem and further the march of emerging technologies in the nation and beyond. I’m thrilled to lead CoinDCX Ventures, bringing my wealth of knowledge across various industries and verticals to further CoinDCX’s mandate to cultivate a stronger crypto landscape.”
Recent funding round
With India having one of the largest retail crypto bases globally and potentially the largest number of web3 developers in the future, CoinDCX Ventures said it has a unique vantage point in its access to both users/customers and the web3 developer community.
CoinDCX Ventures will help its portfolio companies get access to exchange infrastructure, access to leading crypto experts, help with growth strategies and distribution, helping build community and connect with key influencers, act as a connector between companies and the large and growing web3 dev community, make available best practices in HR and also, its legal and compliance engines as and when required.
CoinDCX recently raised $135 million Series D funding round. It has investors like former Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital, Coinbase, Polychain, Cadenza, as well as new investors such as Pantera, Steadview, Kingsway, and DraperDragon, amongst others.