South African-founded Luno has been acquired by Digital Currency Group (DCG) – a global enterprise that builds, buys and invests in blockchain companies.
Luno began in South Africa in 2013. It now has five million customers spanning over 40 countries as well as almost 400 employees based in London, Singapore and South Africa.
Led by co-founder and CEO Marcus Swanepoel, Luno has become a digital asset powerhouse in many emerging and frontier markets, providing digital asset education, knowledge, and investment tools for individuals in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe.
The company is a leading exchange in several countries that have the highest percentage of cryptocurrency ownership, including South Africa (third-highest of its citizens owning digital currencies), Nigeria (fifth-highest), Indonesia (sixth-highest), and Malaysia (tenth-highest).
DCG is an investment firm that has backed more than 160 blockchain companies around the world – it first invested in Luno in its seed round in 2013.
“We are proud to have supported Luno as an early investor, and we recognize a shared commitment to building mission-driven companies that can help transform traditional financial services and improve economic freedom for people all over the world,” says DCG Founder and CEO, Barry Silbert. “Luno is a high growth, global business and there is a massive opportunity to expand organically and through acquisitions.”
DCG enables its subsidiaries to operate as independent companies, providing leadership, partnership, and investment capital to help scale the businesses. The Luno leadership team will remain intact and Swanepoel will lead acquisition efforts in his role as CEO.
“The past seven years has been an incredibly exciting journey for Luno – helping millions of our customers get access to crypto for the first time,” says Swanepoel. “DCG has been an integral part of the Luno story during this time, and we’ve been fully aligned on our vision and culture since day one. Having the full backing of DCG just as we’re experiencing such a pivotal moment of growth in the industry is not just an exciting and important milestone for Luno, but more importantly, it will significantly accelerate our ability to reach our goal to help upgrade one billion people to a better financial system by 2030.”
