Phemex, a crypto derivatives exchange, announced on Thursday that it had raised $3.5 million in a Series A funding round.
The round was led by NGC Ventures, while the other participants in backing the company include “a number of Morgan Stanley executives and a leading team of quants.”
As detailed in the press release, the proceeds from the investment round will be utilized in the derivatives Exchange ’s global expansion and in growing the team of the project. Phemex is targeting three markets, specifically Russia, Japan, and South Korea.
The exchange is also planning to launch a renewed product design.
With the fresh funding round, the company has now raised a total of $5 million with a valuation of $50 million.
“Finance is advancing rapidly and with this innovation comes great opportunity. Blockchain has the ability to bring billions of potential users into a more equitable global system, and we want to be there to enable them to have access to user-friendly, secure, and efficient trading platforms,” Jack Tao, CEO of Phemex, said, commenting on the funding.
“This investment from NGC Ventures will help us to fulfill this vision, bringing our expanded product offering to new markets, allowing new users to transact with ease.”
Growing at a fast pace
The Singapore-based exchange was founded by eight former Morgan Stanley employees last November. In the short time span, the exchange added 105,000 registered users, the announcement detailed. Notably, the platform only had 2,000 traders at the time of its launch.
“As we witness an increase in global demand for products such as cryptocurrency derivatives, there is a need for market-ready products and platforms that can cope with this rise in demand,” Tony Gu, founding partner at NGC Ventures, said.
“NGC Ventures believes in Phemex’s technical superiority and has full confidence in its team to expand its platform and product offering across the new markets successfully and meaningfully.”
