VALR, South Africa’s largest bitcoin exchange by trading volume, announced today that it has raised R57-million (US$3.4-million) to advance the adoption of cryptocurrencies.
The Series A equity round of funding was led by 100x Ventures, the investment arm of 100x Group who are behind cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform BitMEX, with participation from SA-based 4Di Capital and continued support from former FNB CEO Michael Jordaan and US-based Bittrex.
VALR.com, founded in 2018 to bridge the gap between the traditional financial system and the new world of cryptocurrencies, launched bitcoin-rand trading in June 2019 and has since grown to become South Africa’s leading bitcoin trading platform with over 13,000 bitcoin traded over the last month. VALR offers its 40,000+ customers the ability to buy and sell more than 50 cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether at the lowest fees in the market.
“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,” says Farzam Ehsani, VALR CEO and Co-Founder.
VALR will use the proceeds from the capital raise to build new products and services, expand into new territories, and continue to build its team of professionals, particularly in the technology, regulatory and compliance, and client service domains.
Arthur Hayes, CEO and Co-Founder, 100x Group, says, “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.”
VALR has raised R79-million to date, including an equity funding seed round of R20-million in July 2018.
“At 4Di we have been looking for an 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,” says Justin Stanford, Co-Founding General Partner at 4Di Capital. “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.”
