Defy Raises $5.5 Million, Launches India’s First Social Crypto Exchange

Social trading is a form of investing that emulates the strategies of large traders and influencers or even friends and relatives, which means directly copying a position taken by another trader.

DeFi, founded by entrepreneurs Bhagwan Behera, Sriharsha Setty and Nakul Kelkar, aims to disrupt the cryptocurrency space in India with a social and community-based approach.

Users can use social channels to interact and follow experts for investment strategies while tracking their friends’ portfolios. Additionally, Defy aims to educate users around crypto with gamified content and social interactions.

The first version of the platform is available on Google Playstore for Android users.

“For new users, getting started with where to invest and when to invest is a really big challenge. Crypto investing today is a lonely journey and can be intimidating. The way we are building DeFi “That is, users are not alone and they invest with their friends. A user gets a chance to interact and communicate with others, grow and learn,” said Bhagban Behera, Co-Founder and CEO, DeFi he said.

On DeFi, investors can follow other users and replicate their portfolios as well.

“Today’s generation learns things very quickly through social media. We want to empower our users through a social channel and help them get into the crypto world quickly and accurately,” Behera said.

As of now, the social interaction part happens on Discord, a digital distribution platform, but there are plans to bring this feature to the app itself.

The fintech startup has started with 10 crypto-assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Stellar.

Usually copy trading platforms tie up with large traders whose strategies can be followed by investors. However, the startup does not plan to follow this strategy and instead assigns some sort of badge to the profiles of investors whose portfolios are performing well.

DeFi, which plans to add one million transacting users over the next six months, will also offer investors some incentives to make their portfolios public.

The startup will also explore the launch of fixed deposits, systematic investment plans (SIPs), crypto-backed credit cards for its users at a later stage.

The team of second-time entrepreneurs, Bhagwan, Sriharsha and Nakul, received $5.5 million in seed round funding for parent company, the Y Combinator-backed Walrus. The round was led by Bakri VC, Jam Fund and Goodwater Capital. Existing investors participating in the round included Gemba Capital, Knight Ventures, GMO Venture Partners, Uncommon Capital, Soma Capital, Olive Tree Capital, in addition to Better Capital.

One of the key investments, according to Behera, will be to grow the team from 20 currently to 50 in the next six months. Acquiring customers will also be another focus area.

Behera is an IIT Kharagpur graduate and has worked with Barclays Capital in the past. Sriharsha, chief technology officer at DeFi, has over 15 years of experience in technology and engineering, while Nakul, who comes with a management consulting background, is a graduate from IIM Ahmedabad.