5ire raises $100 mn in Series A

Level-1 blockchain network, 5ire, has raised $100 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion in a Series A round of funding from UK-based conglomerate SRAM & MRAM Group, becoming India’s 105th unicorn and 20th in this calendar year.

Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum, for example, are level-1 blockchains.

5ire, which is still pre-revenue, expects to start generating revenue from November, and hit a billion-dollar revenue mark in three years.

The startup, which was founded by Indian-origin entrepreneurs, Pratik Gauri and Prateek Dwivedi, along with web3 financier Vilma Mattila, in August 2021, has become one of the fastest Indian startups to reach $1 billion valuation.

5ire claims to be a sustainable blockchain and has built its own blockchain validating mechanism called ‘'proof of benefit’, which works along the lines of 17 UN Sustainability Development Goals and various ESG parameters.

In an interview, Pratik Gauri, co-founder and chief executive officer, 5ire, didn’t disclose the size of the stake that was diluted in the Series A round, but said that the three co-founders were holding a majority stake in the company.

5ire’s latest fundraise follows a $21 million funding in its seed round at a valuation of $110 million last October with participation from both private and institutional investors such as Alphabit, Marshland Capital, Launchpool Labs and Moonrock Capital.

The last funding round was mostly deployed on talent acquisition, building technologies, filing patents as well as sales and marketing.

“A big part of the funding went to that, but we are still left with 49% of the money raise from the last round,” said Gauri.

The company also has a standing commitment for a $100 million investment from GEM Global Yield LLC SCS (GGY), which is based on filing for a public listing.

According to 5ire, the fresh capital will be used for business expansion and extending its footprint across three continents, including Asia, North America and Europe, with India as the hub of operations and core area of focus. The startup’s 70% employees are based out of India.

Apart from this, 5ire plans to boost its headcount to 150 from 105, at present.

“On one part, we’re going to hire more developers from top universities, and on other senior executives from Fortune 500 companies, who can to get help our blockchain adopted in different countries,” said Gauri.

According to Gauri, SRAM & MRAM Group would be also be adopting the 5ire’s blockchain.

“They own about 800 hospitals and are pretty deep into real estate. So, all of that is now going to come on our blockchain. We wanted access to not only financial capital but also relationship capital, so that we can get our technology adopted,” said Gauri.

5ire already has tie-ups with INTEX and VFS Global for the adoption of blockchain. Further, on the government side, the startup is working with the Muzaffarnagar Police in India, the city of Alliance, Nebraska, US and the government of Nigeria.

With Muzaffarnagar Police, 5ire is working to get all the FIRs and employee records on the blockchain, along with building a smart predictive police system.

According to Gauri, they will be launching a test net in the 30 days and the main net starting November.