“We need to get significant funding into the business,” said Aurox CEO and co-founder Giorgi Khazaradze. barrons. “Now it’s about going from a small business to a big business.”

Founded in 2017, Aurox provides software that allows users to trade cryptocurrencies. The company also provides data on more than 60 exchanges, Khazaradze said. In 2020, the Dallas startup had a few hundred users, which grew to nearly 60,000, Khazaradze said. The company employs 16 people and he hopes that number will increase to 20 in the coming months.

Aurox is self-funded from Khazaradze, and co-founders Ziga Naglic and Taraz Andreyevich, launched it in 2017. The three co-founders met through an online marketing forum when they were in ninth grade, a- he declared. (Aurox refers to “Aurochs,” an extinct breed of oxen that are considered the biggest bulls that ever lived.) Aurox is self-funded and turned down offers from venture capitalists because they were “too aggressive. for us,” Khazaradze said.

Aurox plans to list its shares in 2022 on Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange, Khazaradze said. By going public, the startup would raise the necessary capital which it could then invest in its platform, he said.

“We would be one of the world’s first DeFi’d-centric crypto companies on a national exchange,” Khazaradze said.

Aurox has not yet hired an investment bank but plans to do so later this year, he said. Khazaradze would also not disclose a valuation for Aurox or which path to public procurement the company favors. “The [are] two main options. One is more important and that is the one we are pursuing,” he said.

If it goes through with its plans, Aurox would be the last crypto firm to go public.

Coinbase global

(ticker: COIN), the largest US cryptocurrency exchange, opened in April using a direct listing.

Bakkt Holdings

(BKKT), a digital asset marketplace, merged with SPAC VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings and began publicly trading in October.

Stronghold Digital Mining

(SDIG), a Bitcoin miner, was up 52% ​​on its October debut. All three stocks declined. Coinbase shares are down 48% from their opening price of $381 in April, while Bakkt shares have plunged 89% since hitting a high of $42.52 in October. Stronghold shares fell 68%.

Write to Luisa Beltran at [email protected]