Officials of Unocoin Technologies Private Limited on Friday said that the Bangalore-based bitcoin firm has raised $1.5 million (Rs 9.97 crore), the highest funding for an Indian bitcoin startup, from investors in the country and United States. The company will use the money to expand its team, for marketing purposes and to reach out to international markets, reported Mint.

The major investors from India were ah! Ventures, Blume Ventures and Mumbai Angels and those from the US were Bank to the Future, Boost VC, Digital Currency Group and FundersClub – all based out of the US.

The firm, with employee strength of 30, is a trading and transaction portal for bitcoins and has 100,000 users. It has been in operation since December 2013. Asked what led to the foundation of the company, Unicoin’s President Sunny Ray told Reuters, “A few years ago when we wanted to buy bitcoin, there was nothing available in India. So if you wanted to buy bitcoin from an international exchange, one had to do a wire transfer from India to international exchanges and get the bitcoin.” According to him, this process often took three to five days’ time.

Bitcoin is a digital currency and is accepted all over the world. However, it does not have any regulatory body. Similar to any other currency, Bitcoin prices keep fluctuating depending on the demand, supply and a host of other factors. Bitcoin is currently trading at almost Rs 40,000, Mint reported.