New Delhi, May 30 (IANS): Crypto investing platform CoinSwitch on Tuesday said it has facilitated nearly $25 million in funding in 12 promising startups via its Web3 Discovery Fund.

The fund, launched under CoinSwitch Ventures last year, empowers early-stage startups developing Blockchain-based solutions for the Web3 landscape.

In less than nine months, the fund has expanded its VC investor network from six to over 70 participants, the company said in a statement.

"Our fund's philosophy was born out of the challenges we faced while setting up CoinSwitch. The roadblock then led us to establish a fund that not only provides funds but also expertise and networking opportunities," said Ashish Singhal, Co-founder and CEO, CoinSwitch.

The 12 funded startups include PYOR, Silence Labs, AirStack, Mohash, Shield, PolyTrade, BitsCrunch and PlayZap.

The Web3 Discovery fund has acted as a catalyst, connecting over 100 startups with global investors, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures and Sequoia Capital.

"We are identifying and enabling entrepreneurs and early-stage startups to leverage the potential of crypto to solve real-world problems. Even in the bear market, we have seen a huge influx of innovative startup ideas," said Parth Chaturvedi, Investments Lead, CoinSwitch Ventures.

A Polytrade spokesperson said that CoinSwitch Ventures has been a great value addition in terms of how to build a global protocol that is compliant, user-friendly, and forward-looking.

Founded in 2017 by Singhal, Govind Soni and Vimal Sagar Tiwari, CoinSwitch currently has over 19 million registered users.

It is backed by investors including a16z, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, Paradigm and Coinbase Ventures.