Indian Crypto Startups Enjoy Foreign Funding, Lack Indian Support

The cryptocurrency sector in India is witnessing an unusual trend. 

Despite the lack of concrete regulations, the Indian cryptocurrency market is attracting blue-chip venture capital funds and international funds. The concern here is, Indian investors are varied in the absence of a clear regulatory framework and the rumored cryptocurrency ban. This means international market players are capitalizing on the advantages Indian players are missing out on. 

Indian crypto companies have received less than 0.2% of the global crypto and blockchain investments that roughly amount up to US$5.5 billion. International funds like Pantera Capital and Coinbase Ventures, and individual investors like Mark Cuban have been investing in Indian-formed blockchain and crypto startups. 

Vaas Bhaskar from Elevation Capital invested in Paytm, Meesho, and Swiggy. Three years ago, he started showing interest in cryptocurrency startups and got hooked. Basker met a few cryptocurrency entrepreneurs to starting funding this sector. According to him, the investment has reached a sizeable amount in the booming SaaS sector. 

"The potential of the crypto and blockchain space is very evident and is something we've been keenly looking to invest in. It feels like the next paradigm shift," added Bhaskar. "I think we have great talent here. We will find teams that come together and build something that can be used globally. This model has worked well in enterprise tech." 

Observing the trend of increased investors and bullish market, the achievements made ny Indian blockchain companies like Polygon and Instadapp have put the spotlight on Indian players, attracting funds. But according to several blockchain founders who are interacting with the venture capitalists, these funds are not enough to chase targets at an aggressive pace. VCs are still doubtful about investing in token projects that have a public buy-in from day one, unlike IPOs that these funds are experienced in. This lack of trust is stemming from the need to build domain expertise along with scaling companies and product adoption. To solve this issue, governments must step in with friendly policies, and crypto and blockchain startups should start filling in the expertise gaps.