Blockchain startup 5ire turns 105th unicorn, valued at $ 1.5 billion
Blockchain startup 5ire said it raised $ 100 million in Series A funding from the British conglomerate SRAM & MRAM, making it the 105th unicorn in India and the 20th this year.
The company said the investment made it the fastest growing blockchain unicorn in India, valued at $ 1.5 billion.
5ire wanted to use the funds to expand its business and expand its footprint across three continents – Asia, North America and Europe. It plans to make India the hub of operations and core focus. 5ire aims to hire talent in the industry across functions such as product and engineering.
“We are on a mission to integrate blockchain sustainability,” said Pratik Gauri, CEO and founder of 5ire.
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The company was founded in August 2021 by Gauri and Prateek Dwivedi, together with web3 financier Vilma Mattila. 5ire had previously raised $ 21 million in its $ 110 million seed round with the participation of Alphabit, Marshland Capital, Launchpool Labs and Moonrock Capital.
“As a scientist, I have always believed in finding better ways of doing things, and 5ire is committed to finding solutions to the UN’s 17 goals for sustainable development,” said Sailesh Lachu Hiranandani, Chair of the SRAM & MRAM Group.
Venture capital financing for blockchain start-ups exceeded $ 25.2 billion in 2021, an eightfold increase from the previous year, according to a CB Insights report. Of the worldwide funding, US-based startups received just over half of the capital ($ 14.1 billion).
Last October, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, CoinSwitch Kuber, achieved unicorn status in a round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures. Named after the god of wealth, CoinSwitch Kuber, completed a $ 260 million Series C financing round. Existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Tiger Global also participated. CoinSwitch’s valuation rose to $ 1.9 billion – surpassing CoinDCX, India’s second crypto unicorn, which had announced a valuation of $ 1.1 billion in August last year.
A blockchain is a decentralized ledger of all transactions over a peer-to-peer network. The technology enables the existence of cryptocurrency (among other things). Bitcoin is the name of the most well-known cryptocurrency, the one for which blockchain technology was invented.
A cryptocurrency is a currency of exchange, such as the US dollar, but is digital and uses encryption techniques to control the creation of monetary units and to verify the transfer of funds, according to consulting firm PwC.
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