Bitso hopes to utilize the newly acquired funds to expand its operations by setting up an office in Brazil.
Mexico City-based Bitso cryptocurrency exchange has raised $62 million in a new Series B funding round. According to a Coindesk report on the matter, the Bitso exchange Series B funding round was led by notable fintech VC firms QED Investors and Kaszek Ventures.
“We have been talking to QED and Kaszek for a really long time and they have been interested in crypto but hadn’t pulled the trigger until now,” said Daniel Vogel, CEO, and co-founder of Bitso. “I think the conviction from them is because we are really focused on making this technology accessible to the people of Latin America.”
Bitso’s previous partners including the Coinbase exchange and Pantera Capital also participated in this latest funding round. Despite the amount of funds committed by each partner in this latest funding round is unknown, Nigel Morris, co-founder and managing partner of QED Investors, and Nicolas Szekasy, co-founder and managing partner at Kaszek Ventures will be joining the board of Bitso exchange.
The cryptocurrency opportunities in Latin America are gaining grounds owing to the fact that banking and traditional financial institutions are less sophisticated. These inherent opportunities are arguably what attracted the new funding round leaders who are both making their first investments in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
“Crypto has more opportunity in regions like Latin America than the U.S. where the banking infrastructure is more sophisticated,” said Nicolas Szekasy, speaking over the phone with Forbes. “We’ve been looking into the space for years and we have strong conviction that Bitso is the way to go.”
While Nicolas’ words reflect what drove them to back Bitso in the funding round, QED Investors were particularly intrigued by the potentials of the remittance opportunities Bitso exchange will provide considering its close proximity to the United States.
Following the Funding, Bitso to Expand into Brazil
Bitso currently enjoys a reasonable market share in the $36 billion US-Mexico remittance corridor and the exchange hopes to utilize the newly acquired funds to expand its operations by setting up an office in Brazil.
“Brazil is probably the most exciting place to be building out how we envision crypto-powered financial products for the end customer,” Vogel said. “So there’s going to be a very strong commitment from Bitso in Brazil where we aim to triple the size the team over the next 12 months.”
Bitso is already making impressive strides in Latin America, the decision to establish a branch in Brazil comes following its growing userbase in the country which now tops 1 million. Bitso is also the only regulated exchange in Argentina, giving the firm a strong foothold in the country.
QED investors are also committed to helping Bitso achieve this expansionary goal. “QED has long kept a pulse on the crypto market and Bitso in particular,” said Nigel Morris in a statement. “The power crypto has to disrupt and innovate traditional financial services is inexorable and we look forward to using our operating knowledge and expertise to help Bitso achieve exactly that.”
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