Binance and WazirX announce $ 50M ‘Blockchain for India’ Fund for the growth of Indian startups

Binance, the global blockchain company behind the world’s largest digital asset exchange by trading volume and users, and WazirX, India’...

Binance, the global blockchain company behind the world’s largest digital asset exchange by trading volume and users, and WazirX, India’s most trusted bitcoin exchange, today announced a joint initiative “Blockchain for India” to support the development and growth of blockchain startups in India.

In 2019, Binance acquired WazirX with the vision of promoting the use and adoption of blockchain technologies in India. Today, we are happy to announce that Binance and WazirX have jointly set up a USD 50 million Blockchain for India fund (backed by BNB, BUSD, and WRX digital assets) to incubate and invest in blockchain projects and startups focused on solving industrial and social problems through the use of blockchain technology. 

Given the incredible tech talent that India has to offer, this fund will help fuel the growth of many Indian blockchain startups and entrepreneurs and encourage the sustainable growth of the blockchain startup ecosystem in India. The investments will include, but not limited to, fiat-to-digital assets gateway solutions, trading platforms, payment, and remittance solutions, digital asset wallets, stablecoins, DeFi platforms, decentralized applications (dApps) and more.

Nischal Shetty, Founder and CEO of WazirX, said “We started WazirX with the aim to involve everyone into this technology revolution, and the Blockchain for India fund marks a big step in this direction. India has the biggest tech talent pool in the world. With this fund, we want to encourage and enable more and more founders and teams to come in and BUIDL. This initiative also shows the incredible potential that the Indian blockchain ecosystem has to offer. Apart from funding transformative blockchain projects in India, we look forward to collaborating with other investment funds to grow the ecosystem even further.”

The Blockchain for India fund will make investments in both equity and tokens, ranging from USD 100,000 to USD 5 million. The fund will also partner with venture funds in India that are actively investing and supporting the blockchain ecosystem. Additionally, the initiative will look to provide mentorship and support to universities and student organizations interested in setting up university blockchain technology incubators.

Under the Blockchain for India initiative, the selected startup founders and teams will get direct access to Binance’s global blockchain ecosystem comprising of Binance Chain, Binance Cloud, Binance DEX, Binance Launchpad, Binance Research, Binance Academy, Binance X and Binance portfolio companies, such as WazirX, DappReview, Trust Wallet and more. They will not only benefit from knowledge and resource sharing but also receive direct mentorship from other founders and leaders within Binance.

“Let's invest in India,” said Binance CEO and Founder Changpeng Zhao (‘CZ').

Projects interested in inquiring about, and applying to the fund, please write to helloIndia@binance.com with your project information and business presentation. 

Additionally, the team is calling on talent from various areas to join the fund with a background in venture capital and/or blockchain research. The team is also looking for advisors to join its advisory committee; industry leaders or experts in blockchain technology, business development, and government relations are welcome.