Binance, along with its Indian subsidiary WazirX, announced on Tuesday the launch of a $50 million fund to tighten its grip on the Indian blockchain industry.
Dubbed Blockchain for India, the fund will incubate and invest in Indian blockchain projects and startups focused on solving industrial and social problems through the use of blockchain technology.
The India-specific fund is a joint effort by Binance and WazirX and will be backed by three digital currencies – BNB, BUSD, and WRX.
Though India has massive potential for blockchain, hostile regulations have so far been keeping crypto companies from the market. Despite the harsh rules, Binance entered the market last year with the acquisition of WazirX.
Monetary support is not all
The announcement also specified that the investments would be made in both equity and token and range from $100,000 to $5 million. Moreover, the fund will also partner with venture capitals in the country that are already investing in the blockchain sector.
“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,” Nischal Shetty, founder and CEO of WazirX, said, commenting on the new fund.
The startups backed by the new fund will also gain direct access to any Binance’s products and its subsidiary or partner companies.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Kraken is also planning to expand its services in the Indian market with the lift of the banking ban in the country.
(Photo: Binance)
