Coinbase buys customer support platform Agara in first Indian acquisition

Coinbase, one of world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced its first startup acquisition in India. The US-based firm is acquiring Agara, an AI-powered support platform with operations in India and the United States, for an undisclosed amount.

Coinbase said this deal would bring Agara’s deep expertise in machine learning and natural language processing to the company’s engineering team.

“We plan to leverage Agara’s powerful Deep Learning and Conversational AI technology to automate and enhance our customer experience (CX) tools. Improving our CX remains a top priority for Coinbase — in the past few months we have increased our support staff headcount by 5x and announced that we’ll deliver 24/7 phone support and live messaging by end of year. Through this acquisition, we’ll be able to provide our customers with new personalized, intelligent, and real-time support options” said Manish Gupta, EVP – Engineering at Coinbase, in a blogpost.

The crypto exchange firm began hiring in India this year and expanding to build a high-quality tech hub. The company had hired former Google Pay executive Pankaj Gupta to head its India development centre.

At the time, Gupta said that they would explore startup acquisitions and acquihires to accelerate their growth plans in the country.

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“To support our ambitious growth plans in India, we are also exploring startup acquisitions and acquihires. Founders who might be interested in joining Coinbase’s journey and mission, please contact me,” he had said.