Cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX has entered the burgeoning club of Indian unicorn start-ups after its latest funding round valued the company at $1.1 billion (Rs 8,150 crore). It is the first Indian firm in this business to reach the unicorn status.

The crypto exchange, founded in 2018, raised $90 million (Rs 670 crore) in a series C funding round led by former Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group along with some returning investors — Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Block.one, Jump Capital among others.

The exchange, which has more than 3.5 million users, on Tuesday said the funds raised would be predominantly used to expand business, hire talent and raise awareness around cryptocurrencies.

“The funds raised will be allocated to expand and make crypto a popular investment asset class in India and strengthen our workforce that will cater to our growth story,” said Sumit Gupta, co-founder and CEO, CoinDCX.

“With the support of the largest institutional backers in both the traditional and digital asset spaces, we will double down our efforts to build the next generation of products, improve our existing product array and strengthen exchange infrastructure and product team,” Gupta said.

He added that the exchange plans to enter into partnerships with fintech players and set up a research and development facility.

The exchange also plans to introduce offerings for high net worth individuals and enterprises in the coming months through CoinDCX Prime as well as Cosmex, the global trading product of the exchange. The firm anticipates a potential to bring in 50 million Indians into crypto currencies.

Unicorns upsurge

In the eight months of 2021, already a total of 21 startups have entered the unicorn club (valuation of more than a billion USD) taking the total to 63 till Tuesday according to data compiled by Inc42.

BharatPe, Mindtrickle, upGrad and CoinDCX have entered the unicorn club in August 2021.