A Kenyan-based Company, Mara, has raised a sum of Ksh2.67 billion (USD23 million) just a year after it officially launched its operations.
The firm, which was founded in Kenya in April 2021, announced on Wednesday, May 11, that it had raised the amount through a seed round backed by over 20 investment companies.
It is aimed at creating a portal through which cryptocurrency fans and traders across the African continent can trade hence boosting the continent's economy.
The announcement comes shortly after the company revealed that it had partnered with the Central African Republic, which now recognises bitcoin as a legal tender.
According to the agreement, Mara will serve as the official crypto partner of the country whose roles will include advising its President, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, on crypto strategies.
Some of the companies that have invested in Mara include Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research (FTX), Distributed Global, TQ Ventures, DIGITAL and Nexo.
Others are Huobi Ventures, Day One Ventures, Infinite Capital and DAO Jones.
“What we’re doing is we’re creating financial infrastructure for people to build their lives. And so it’s more than just being able to buy crypto; it’s about African engineers creating their (own) projects.
"We want to be the source for incubating talent; we want to give them the platform through our exchange to launch their projects,” the company's founder Chi Nnadi told TechCrunch.
Nnadi, a Graduate of both the Wharton School as well as the University of California, currently serves as the company's Chief Executive Officer.
Prior to founding the company, he worked in various firms among them Sustainability International, Sela Technologies and The Boston Consulting Group.
Mara Crypto Company has since expanded its workforce to 80 employees and launched its services in both Kenya and Nigeria.
