Emerging market bitcoin exchange startup BitX has just announced an undisclosed round of funding from Southeast Asia’s Venturra Capital.
Venturra Capital is a US$150-million Southeast Asia-focused venture fund based out of Jakarta.
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“Venturra is one of those rare funds that doesn’t just talk about adding value, but actually does it, in a consistent, relevant and tangible way,” BitX co-founder and CEO, Marcus Swanepoel. “This, combined with their unrivalled expertise and networks in the Southeast Asian market, makes for an exciting partnership that will help solidify our leading position in the region.”
Werner van Rooyen, who heads up business development at BitX, tells Ventureburn that although the company “didn’t need to raise more funds for quite a while… we decided to make an exception to bring Venturra into our investor group, considering the value they add, especially for our operations in Southeast Asia, a key market.”
BitX launched in 2013 with a mission to spread the adoption of digital currency in emerging markets. It is currently headquartered in Singapore with additional offices in Jakarta and Cape Town.
The company is behind a range of bitcoin services including mobile wallets, institutional quality exchanges, and various APIs for merchants and other business integration.
Read more: Bitcoin exchange BitX launches digital currency services in Nigeria
The news comes after the startup secured US$4-million from South Africa’s internet and media giant Naspers in July this year.
“BitX has an exceptional team that combines deep technical expertise and commercial acumen. They have proven they can build innovative products and strong traction in a rapidly emerging industry,” says Stefan Jung, Venturra Capital co-founder and managing partner.
BitX tells Ventureburn that the cash injection would enable the team to accelerate a number of initiatives such as hiring, product development, user experience improvements and expansion into new markets. “We’ve seen some fantastic growth over the past three months and the additional cash will help us hopefully speed it up even more,” adds van Rooyen.
BitX currently operates in high-growth markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
Update: The article was updated to include comments from BitX’s Werner van Rooyen.
