Aussie entrepreneur Marcus Lim’s Zipmex exchange has raised $3m in funding and received the backing of early Cardano and NEO investors.

Zipmex exchange, which opened in Australia in August, has secured $3 million in pre-Series A Funding.

Six investors were involved in the funding round, with half a million coming from Infinity Blockchain Holdings, one of the earliest investors in Cardano and NEO.

Zipmex said the funding brings the exchange’s total valuation to $18 million.

Who is Zipmex then?

Zipmex was co-founded by Singapore born, Australia raised Marcus Lim and is headquartered in Singapore.

Lim co-founded Oneflare, which secured $20 million in funding before he sold more than a third to Fairfax media (now Nine).

Zipmex aggregates volume from some of the largest exchanges and OTC desks, in an attempt to provide higher liquidity and competitive prices.

The exchange has opened country specific platforms in Indonesia and Australia – with expansion plans afoot to move into the Thai market.

“With backing from such an established group within the blockchain industry, we will accelerate our Asia-Pacific expansion plans, with a license-application underway for a Thailand-centric exchange,” said CEO Lim.

And Infinity Blockchain?

Infinity Blockchain Holdings comprises Infinity Blockchain Ventures, a blockchain consulting and development firm, as well as Infinity Blockchain Labs, which specialises in blockchain technology applications.

Co-founded by Japanese author Yuji Akaba, IBH has technical partnerships with some of the blockchain players including Cardano, NEO and Ontology, through its own project “Infinito”.

“With our investment in digital currency exchanges like Zipmex, which is expanding its business and network across Asia, we hope to shape the industry standard and develop a compliant and safe environment for investors. This is our goal,” said Infinity Blockchain Ventures’s Regional Head Cris D. Tran.