Luno Expeditions, a new investment arm of global cryptocurrency startup Luno, will finance early-stage fintech and crypto companies, with hopes to make between 200 and 300 investments each year.
Luno, which has over nine million clients and operates in 43 countries spanning Africa, Southeast Asia, the United States (US), and Europe, makes it safe and simple to purchase, store, and learn about cryptocurrencies.
Luno Expeditions, a worldwide, early-stage investment arm of Digital Currency Group (DCG), has launched to help the top fintech and crypto/web3 innovators on their travels to develop the next generation of financial services.
Luno Expeditions will now lead all of DCG’s early stage investment, at seed and pre-seed stages, building on DCG’s seven-year track record in early-stage crypto investing. It has already invested in over 20 leading crypto and fintech companies around the world, including a crypto compliance solution in Israel, an NFT marketplace in the US, a bank dedicated to women in Pakistan, and a remittance solution in Tanzania while remaining in stealth mode for the past few months.
The team will next build its investments, aiming for 200-300 per year, and broaden its emphasis beyond bitcoin to include the whole financial industry.
“These are incredibly exciting times in cryptocurrency and the broader fintech ecosystem. 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,” said Jocelyn Cheng, who is taking on the role of CEO at Luno Expeditions.
“We know how hard it is to build a company, especially in the fintech space, and with our deep experience building, scaling and operating fintech businesses in some of the hardest markets in the world, we’re looking to support a new generation of entrepreneurs from all over the world do the same,” said Marcus Swanepoel, Luno co-founder and CEO.
