Global cryptocurrency company Luno has announced the launch of Luno Expedition, a global, early-stage investment arm to support the best fintech and crypto/web3 founders on their journeys to build the next generation of financial services.
Luno Expeditions will now be in charge of all of DCG’s early-stage investing (seed and pre-seed) and strategic partnerships. Building on DCG’s seven-year track record in early-stage crypto investing, the dedicated team will increase investments to 200-300 per year and broaden the emphasis beyond crypto to the broader fintech market globally.
“These are incredibly exciting times in cryptocurrency and the broader fintech ecosystem,” said Jocelyn Cheng, the new chief executive officer of Luno Expeditions
Luno Expeditions has already invested in over 20 crypto and fintech companies around the world while in stealth mode over the last few months. It also invested in a crypto compliance solution in Israel, an NFT marketplace in the United States, a bank dedicated to women in Pakistan, and a ground-breaking remittance solution in Tanzania.
“We’ve got ambitious plans to build a leading fund designed around the needs of early-stage founders. It will be a privilege to work with ambitious entrepreneurs from all over the world, all intent on solving problems and building the next generation of financial service companies,” Cheng said.
Read also: Luno adds two new cryptocurrencies to app
Marcus Swanepoel, Luno co-founder, and CEO noted that while it is hard to build a company, particularly in the fintech space.
He says Luno has an advantage with its experience in building, scaling, and operating fintech businesses in some of the hardest markets in the world.
Luno is present in Nigeria where the cryptocurrency market is currently under restriction by the top bank in the country. Luno has had to shut down part of its operations and find strategic ways to serve its about 3 million customers in Nigeria.
“We’re looking to support a new generation of entrepreneurs from all over the world does the same,” Swanepoel said.
Luno was acquired in 2020 by DCG making it the crypto trading unit of the sprawling New York-based company.
Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of DCG, and Marcus Swanepoel, co-founder, and CEO of Luno, are both closely involved in the new investment unit and will be part of the Investment Committee.
Back on October 2021, it was reported that Luno announced that Nigerians trading cryptocurrency on Luno could resume naira deposit, and withdrawal, after it was halted in February 2021 following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) clampdown on cryptocurrency trading in Nigerian.
The company also announced this week that it had added two new cryptocurrencies, LINK by Chainlink and UNI by Uniswap.
