VALR, a South African cryptocurrency exchange, has raised $50 million in a Series B equity financing round.
Pantera Capital led the round, which also included Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, and Avon Ventures. These corporations join previous investors such as Bittrex, a cryptocurrency exchange, and 4Di Capital. According to the exchange, the round gives VALR a $240 million valuation and is the largest crypto fundraising round in Africa to date.
VALR began bitcoin-rand trading in June of this year, and since then has seen significant volume, making it a prominent exchange for rand-to-crypto exchanges. The exchange claims to have processed over $7.5 billion in trade volume to date and to have over 250,000 retail and 500 institutional customers around the world.
It will continue to develop across Africa and into other areas, such as India, with this new funding. Traditional finance institutions, such as big banks, insurers, and hedge funds, will also be onboarded to help build out the exchange’s infrastructure. According to the company’s announcement, it will continue to hire across the board.
That’s all good happening with VALR.
