Digital Currency Group (DCG), Luno’s parent company, has closed a Ksh. 78 billion (USD 700 million) funding round from investors. The round was led by SoftBank, Google’s Capital G and GIC, valuing the company at Ksh. 1 trillion (USD 10 billion).
The investment is a huge endorsement for the global crypto sector and provides Luno with capital to fuel its expansion to the USA as well as the expertise and backing from a syndicate of equity investors.
DCG Founder and CEO Barry Silbert did not sell any shares as part of the secondary transaction. DCG has now invested in more than 200 blockchain companies in more than 30 countries around the world. The company is now expected to exceed Ksh. 111 billion (USD 1 billion) in revenues in 2021.
At the parent company level, DCG now has 30 employees. However, across the entire organization, the company has 1,000 employees in 10 offices on 4 continents.
Luno and TradeBlock have joined CoinDesk as wholly-owned subsidiaries that were formerly DCG portfolio companies. As the parent company, DCG participated in all three companies’ seed rounds years before the acquisitions.
Luno is a digital asset platform that has thrived in the emerging and frontier markets, providing digital asset education, knowledge, and investment tools to customers in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The company has grown from 2 to more than 9 million customers worldwide since 2019, and is expanding to the US in 2022.