Crypto investing app CoinSwitch said it has launched a fund with an initial corpus of $10 million to invest in and incubate early-stage startups building blockchain solutions for the Web3 landscape.
Through the fund, CoinSwich aims to back up to 100 startups in India.
The fund will curate portfolio startups and provide single-window access to marquee investor partners — Tiger Global, Ribbit Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, Woodstock Fund, and Elevation Capital (ex-SAIF partners), and incubation partner Builders Tribe.
CoinSwitch’s fund launch announcement comes at a time when many Web3 startups in India have been attracting funding. Last month, Web3 zbyte raised $10 million to accelerate blockchain adoption by enterprises. Cryptocurrency startup Crypso also raised $3 million in seed funding to expand its user base and offerings.
Earlier this year, Polygon raised $450 million from a slew of investors, including SoftBank, Tiger Global Management, Galaxy Digital, and Sequoia Capital India.
Founded in 2017 by Ashish Singhal, Govind Soni, and Vimal Sagar Tiwari, Coinwitch is backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, Paradigm, and Coinbase Ventures.
The crypto industry has been shaken by a series of downfalls in recent months such as the failure of the so-called stablecoin TerraUSD, Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital entering into liquidation and the large US-based lender Celsius Network pausing withdrawals.
Being an unregulated asset in India, cryptocurrencies have been under scrutiny. Earlier this year, the Indian government announced a host of tax regulations, sending a wave of shock and disappointment, especially among retail investors.