By Staff Writer
Global bitcoin platform Luno announced on Tuesday that it has received R120 million investment and revealed its expansion plans into 35 new markets across Europe.
The company said the R120 million Series B funding round was led by London-based Balderton Capital, one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms.
Rand Merchant Investments, through its fintech investment arm, AlphaCode, and existing investors Digital Currency Group also participated in the round.
This follows Luno’s R60 million Series A round, which was led by emerging market tech giant Naspers.
Luno is one of the world’s most popular Bitcoin platforms, making it easy for people to buy, sell and learn about digital currencies.
With a team of over 70 in offices in London, Singapore and Cape Town, Luno services will now be available in 40 countries around the world.
The funding will be used for product refinement and development, global expansion and to bring to market a number of exciting new features.
Luno will be hiring across all three their main hubs in London, Singapore and Cape Town.
“In Europe we’ve seen an unprecedented demand, not just for digital currency, but also for our high-quality, secure and very user friendly products, in particular the Luno mobile apps,” said Marcus Swanepoel, Luno CEO.
“Enabling more people in Europe to have access to these products and services is a critical part of our mission to bring digital currencies to everyone, everywhere – and in a way that makes everyone’s journey into the world of digital currency safe, super easy and highly enjoyable”.
He added that over the past few years, Luno have seen strong growth in digital currency awareness and adoption across both the consumer and institutional markets in South Africa.
“This is placing South Africa at the forefront of innovation in the global financial sector,” said Swanepoel.
Luno has a high quality team in the rapidly evolving, highly disruptive bitcoin industry.
“We have been impressed with their ability to build a trusted, secure product and to engage with regulators globally. We think this sets them apart from many in this industry and we have no doubt we will continue to see phenomenal growth from this company,” said Dominique Collett, senior investment executive at Rand Merchant Investments.
