Indian "green" blockchain startup turns unicorn for cryptocurrencies

The sustainable blockchain network 5ire announced that it has received $100 million in Series A funding from SRAM & MRAM group in the UK. With this round, its valuation increased to $1.5 billion, making it a unicorn—a designation granted to startups with a valuation of at least $1 billion.

According to 5ire, a green blockchain unicorn in India, it rewards its creditors and validators for making environmentally friendly decisions. It is built on the Layer 1 blockchain network (BNB Smartchain, Bitcoin, Ethereum), which may authorise transactions decentralizedly. Entrepreneurs of Indian descent Pratik Gauri and Prateek Dwivedi, along with web3 financier Vilma Mattila, formed the business in 2021.

“We are on a mission to embed sustainability into blockchain and shift the current paradigm from ‘for-profit’ to ‘for-benefit’. Becoming the world’s first and only sustainable unicorn born out of India in just 11 months, is testimony that we are on the right path. We are moving towards the fifth industrial revolution,” said Pratik Gauri, CEO and Founder of 5ire.

With India serving as the base of operations, the cash generated will be used for business growth and to spread 5ire's presence across three continents: Asia, North America, and Europe. Additionally, it will hire the top personnel available in fields like product development, engineering, marketing, etc.