Crypto platform Coinswitch Kuber on Wednesday said it has raised $260 million (Rs 1,943 crore) in a funding round, valuing it at $ 1.9 billion.

Coinswitch has now become the most valued crypto company in the country and the second entity to achieve the unicorn status after rival CoinDCX which was valued at $ 1.1 billion in August. A unicorn is a privately held start-up which is valued at over $ 1 billion. The Reserve Bank has expressed concerns over the spread of crypto currencies, though its use is growing among investors.

Coinswitch has raised the money in a C-series funding from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures and existing investors Paradigm, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Global.

The company said it was targeting to bring 5 crore Indians on its platform. Recently, it said it has registered 1 crore users to become the country’s largest crypto platform since starting operations in June 2020. Of this, close to 70 lakh users were classified as monthly active.

The funds will be utilised to hire skilled personnel for [roduct development and data purposes. It will add new asset classes and bring institutional clients with the funds.

Founded by Ashish Singhal, Sagar Vimal, and Govind Soni, Coinswitch Kuber allows investors to start trading in cryptocurrencies with investment of as low as Rs 100 on its platform.

There is no brokerage or any lock-in period. According to its website, investors can buy, sell and trade in more than 100 cryptocurrencies on its platform.