IDG Capital, Matrix Partners and Neo Global Capital, industry leaders in technology and venture capital investments, jointly announced today a partnership with Singapore-based international cryptocurrency platform KuCoin, to bring cryptocurrency trading into the mainstream world via the KuCoin exchange. IDG Capital, Matrix Partners, and Neo Global Capital have combined to invest a total of $20 million (USD) in KuCoin through this Round A of funding.
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Much like the early days of the Internet, cryptocurrencies bring as much hope as they do risk, with more than a thousand cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICO) having flooded the market. Moreover, the World Economic Forum in 2018 estimates that by 2027, 10 percent of global GDP will be stored on blockchain technology.
The partnership meets a critical market need and leverages key strengths of each partner — from IDG Capital’s marketing power, Matrix Partners’ resources and support, to Neo’s leadership in the early investing of the most promising blockchain projects and KuCoin as one of the most advanced trading platforms in the crypto industry — to make KuCoin a global household brand. The exchange has already attracted more than five million registered users with its sights set on becoming the market leader in the blockchain industry. This investment in KuCoin will create more secure, widespread global access to this rapidly expanding technology market.
“This is truly a dynamic and significant partnership,” said KuCoin CEO Michael Gan. “The combined forces of IDG Capital, Matrix Partners, and Neo Global Capital will help KuCoin grow substantially, expand understanding and adoption of cryptocurrency for millions of potential users, and help these users more efficiently find the best products available in the crypto-world no matter where on the planet they may exist.”
A fully-intended byproduct will be to aggressively promote blockchain technology for everyone. “I believe one day everything will function with blockchain technology,” Gan said. “And with our newly formed partnerships, we will build on today’s momentum and fulfill this vision. Furthermore, we will now be able to expand our team to dig deeper and find more valuable opportunities even faster and from more places than we can imagine today.”
Over time, Gan said, he expects KuCoin to evolve into one of the top exchanges in the world. “That, more than anything else, is why ‘The People’s Exchange’ team will continue to evolve and form additional partnerships that will benefit users in every market.”
According to Young Guo, Partner at IDG Capital, their company’s investment in KuCoin makes absolute perfect sense. “IDG Capital has been investing in crypto related companies since 2012 and sees the potential in the blockchain industry as a world changing technology and we want to continue to be at the forefront of this movement to ensure that legitimate projects led by teams with integrity get noticed.”
According to Gan, the partnership will focus on several critical elements that will support KuCoin’s growth and broad market access:
- Bring KuCoin Platform 2.0 to life. KuCoin strives to collect feedback from their community, both the listed projects and the users in hopes of consistently improving user experience to not only meet but hopefully exceed their expectations. The Platform 2.0, which is expected to be live in Q1 2019, will be much more than a single exchange — it will be a dynamic, secure and malleable trading platform which will allow KuCoin to scale and add quite a diverse set of features such as stop orders, upgraded APIs and dust collector.
- Increased customer support staff to offer concierge-level service to all traders. Major exchanges have a reputation for slow and ineffective customer support. While KuCoin already offers one of the most attentive and responsive Telegram community assistance channels in the industry, the primary objective of this new partnership will be to expand the KuCoin customer relations team to a gold standard level.
- Global expansion by concentrating on targeted markets. Vietnam, Turkey, Italy, Russia and all Spanish-speaking countries will be the main focus for growth in Q4 of 2018. Communities in these new markets are already live and will grow dramatically through the year, thanks to expanding targeted marketing and advertising campaigns. It is estimated that a total of ten global communities will be up and running by Q2, 2019.
- Increased research to find the best of the best in blockchain projects. A large portion of the newly secured funds will expand the research team to keep pace with the ever-increasing demand for in-depth research about new cryptocurrency ventures. KuCoin understands its responsibility to provide users with legitimate blockchain opportunities that offer a real-world solution and solid growth potential. By working with its Global Titan Ambassadors, KuCoin will remain true to its core vision of bringing the ‘hidden gems’ of the blockchain industry to its users and investors.
- Education and training will expand to meet demand. This partnership will address the huge lack of experienced staff in the cryptocurrency industry. The exponential growth in popularity of cryptocurrencies has created a talent gap. To sustain its unprecedented growth, KuCoin is investing heavily in its own Blockchain Training Center. KuCoin will use this new investment to train and develop the capable workforce needed to achieve its ambitious growth goals.KuCoin’s Blockchain Training Center is already operational. In the coming months, KuCoin will expand into different countries in which the company either presently has or will soon establish new offices.
For additional information, please visit www.kucoin.com
About KuCoin – The People’s Exchange
The KuCoin Exchange opened for cryptocurrency trading in September 2017 and has enjoyed steady growth into 2018. The KuCoin exchange puts a high priority on the quality of the projects listed based on a well-trained research department that scours the blockchain industry for the highest quality projects. KuCoin provides an exchange service for users to conduct digital asset transactions in a secure and efficient way. Over time, KuCoin aims to provide long-lasting, increased value to its more than five million registered users, in over 100 countries. In November, 2018 ‘The People’s Exchange’ officially partnered with IDG.
About the Investors
IDG Capital is a leading investment firm focused on developing extraordinary companies through expertise in private equity, venture capital and mergers & acquisitions. By starting the first investment in China in 1993, IDG Capital became the first global investment firm to enter China. As of today, IDG Capital has expanded into 15 cities around the world and has invested in more than 750 companies and made over 170 successful exits across the globe through IPOs and M&A. It is notable for its portfolio of top cryptocurrency companies including Coinbase and Circle. In June 2012 when it was founded, IDG Capital invested in Coinbase. Today, Coinbase trades more than $150 billion in assets across 20 countries. A few years later in April 2015, IDG Capital made its first investment in the blockchain world through a joint venture with Goldman Sachs, where they invested a combined total of $50 million in Circle Internet Financial, which later acquired Poloniex, the largest crypto exchange in the US.
Matrix Partners is the investment arm for specifically investing in promising tech startups within the Chinese market. The firm is known for outstanding returns to investors. Matrix Partners focuses on the mobile Internet marketplace, SAAS, FinTech, digital healthcare, new consumer and digital media, and social networks. As the top venture capital institution in China, Matrix Partners has more than 480 portfolio companies in China, the United States and many other places. Ten of these companies have a valuation of more than $5 billion USD, and 30 companies are valued at more than 1 billion USD.
Neo Global Capital is the strategic investment vehicle of the NEO Foundation and one of the largest institutional owners of cryptocurrencies. The company targets the most inspiring projects in the blockchain industry. They aggressively pursue various digital assets and the leading partners have been involved in investing in ICO’s for Ethereum, Factom, Antshares (NEO), nOS, Tomocoin, 0Chain, and more.
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SOURCE KuCoin
