Highlights
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 21 investment and financing events in the global blockchain sector last week (10.7-10.13), with a total funding scale exceeding $120 million. Both the funding scale and the number of transactions saw significant increases, as summarized below:
- DeFi reported 2 investment and financing events, including stablecoin developer Yala, which completed an $8 million seed round led by Polychain Capital;
- Web3 gaming announced 4 investment and financing events, with Web3 game studio Dragonz Lab securing a $9 million round of financing, led by LPF;
- AI saw 2 investment and financing events, including decentralized AI infrastructure platform OpenGradient, which completed an $8.5 million seed round with participation from a16z;
- Infrastructure and tools reported 7 financing events, including Layer2 blockchain development company Ithaca, which received a $20 million investment from Paradigm;
- Other blockchain/crypto applications announced 3 financing events, including social media platform MeWe, which completed a $6 million Series B financing round with investment from McCourt Global;
- Centralized finance reported 2 financing events, including French fintech company Kriptown, which completed a €4.2 million Series A financing round aimed at establishing the first European blockchain stock exchange focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
DeFi
Stablecoin developer Yala completes $8 million seed round financing, led by Polychain Capital
Yala is a cryptocurrency startup focused on developing a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin. The company raised $8 million in a seed round led by Polychain Capital and Ethereal Ventures. Other investors include Galaxy, Anagram, ABCDE, Amber Group, HashKey Capital, Satoshi Lab, and UTXO Management. Yala was founded in January this year, with founders including former Binance Labs employee Chang, Alchemy Pay co-founder Bin Liu, and former Circle engineering director Vicky Fu. The trio aims to promote the development and expansion of decentralized finance (DeFi) using Bitcoin. Yala is developing a yield-earning stablecoin backed by Bitcoin, named YU. Users will soon be able to mint YU by depositing Bitcoin into any target blockchain via MetaMint. Yala claims that investors have already committed over 2,000 BTC as collateral for its protocol. While Yala currently accepts BTC as collateral, the protocol plans to accept Bitcoin liquid staking tokens in the future. The Yala protocol is currently under development, with a testnet expected to launch this month and a mainnet anticipated in the first quarter of next year. The governance token YALA is also expected to launch alongside the mainnet.
On-chain venture capital platform Fission Labs completes $1.6 million Pre-Seed round financing
On-chain venture capital platform Fission Labs announced the completion of a $1.6 million Pre-Seed round financing, led by SALT Fund and Kraynos Capital, with participation from Anthony Scaramucci (Skybridge). Fission Labs aims to bring venture capital into decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and has launched a testnet on Ethereum. The platform supports crypto-native users and traditional financial participants in investing and trading private equity-backed tokens through tokenization, decentralized trading, lending, and automated liquidity provision infrastructure. Currently, Fission Labs' first product is the venture capital secondary market token TECH.
Web3 Gaming
Web3 gaming and edtech ecosystem PiP World completes $10 million seed round financing
Web3 gaming and edtech ecosystem PiP World announced it has completed a $10 million seed round financing from fintech company Exinity, aimed at creating a "Duolingo for the cryptocurrency space." PiP World combines gameplay with personalized learning, and its gaming ecosystem includes: a AAA strategy management simulator game PiP Trader for building trading portfolios, a Telegram click-to-earn game PiP World's Gold Rush, a gamified application PiP Academy that simplifies financial concepts, and a stock simulator StockRise.
Web3 game studio Dragonz Lab announces $9 million financing round
UK-based Web3 game studio Dragonz Lab announced it has secured a $9 million financing round, led by Syndicate Capital Limited Partnership Fund (LPF). Dragonz Lab plans to use these funds to further develop the Dragonz Land ecosystem, which already has over 5.3 million monthly active users, and aims to enhance game features such as PvP tournaments, strategic guild collaborations, and customer loyalty programs. Dragonz Land is a collectible card game where players can buy, collect, merge, and evolve NFT cards to increase their power, rarity, and value. This Web3 MTG-style collectible card game uses a click-to-earn model, featuring game card and NFT acquisition, KOL/hero guilds, and more.
Blockchain MOBA game Infinitar announced it has completed a $9 million Series A financing round, co-led by Lam Group and AccelByte, which fully subscribed to the remaining financing amount, bringing Infinitar's valuation to $150 million. This new financing round brings its total funding to $11.9 million, with other investors including Waterdrip Capital, AC Capital, DEX Ventures, and Mason Labs. Infinitar introduces a P2E economic model, allowing players to earn tokens and NFTs through in-game achievements and competition. Infinitar is set to launch several updates, including a public beta release, experience center, global guilds, community, studio node program, gold mining system, and token TGE announcement.
Moonveil completes $2 million financing, led by Polygon Labs
Layer2 gaming ecosystem Moonveil announced it has completed $2 million in financing, led by Polygon Labs. It is reported that $1 million of the financing is intended to promote the development of the AggLayer integration project within the Moonveil ecosystem. Additionally, Moonveil announced an upcoming node sale, with a whitelist round scheduled for October 22 and a public round launching on October 24. The node activation plan is set for the first quarter of 2025, with 25% of the tokens unlocking after the token generation event (TGE) and 70% vesting over three years. The remaining 5% will be allocated to community rewards after the TGE.
AI
Decentralized AI infrastructure platform OpenGradient completes $8.5 million seed round financing
Decentralized AI infrastructure platform OpenGradient announced it has completed $8.5 million in seed round financing, with investors including a16z Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, SV Angel, SALT Fund, and Symbolic Capital, along with angel investors such as former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, NEAR founder Illia Polosukhin, and Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal. OpenGradient aims to build a decentralized AI platform to accelerate the development of open-source AI and plans to launch a developer testnet in the fourth quarter of 2024.
AI startup Kiva AI completes $7 million seed round financing, led by Coinfund
Startup Kiva AI, focused on developing domain-specific AI applications, announced it has completed $7 million in seed round financing, led by cryptocurrency venture capital firm Coinfund. Protagonist, Hashkey, and Peer VC also participated in the follow-on investment. Kiva AI aims to provide specialized AI solutions for industries such as healthcare, finance, and law. Kiva AI employs a "human-in-the-loop" approach, hiring experts from around the world for data annotation to ensure the accuracy and reliability of AI models, especially in high-risk areas like medical diagnosis and legal document analysis. Kiva AI creates additional income opportunities for highly skilled talent globally. The company plans to use cryptocurrency to pay overseas experts, which not only provides higher value for the experts but also reduces costs for the company.
DePIN
DePIN solution PinGo Lab completes seed round financing, with participation from TFund and others
AI and DePIN solution provider PinGo Lab, based on the TON network, announced it has completed seed round financing, with participation from TFund, CGVFOF, K24Ventures, CatcherVC, and LandScape Capital, though the specific amount has not been disclosed.
Infrastructure & Tools
Layer 2 blockchain development company Ithaca receives $20 million investment from Paradigm
Cryptocurrency venture capital firm Paradigm announced that it has invested $20 million in a spin-off company building a new Layer 2 blockchain called "Odyssey," hoping to accelerate the development of the blockchain. According to Paradigm, Paradigm's Chief Technology Officer and General Partner Georgios Konstantopoulos will serve as the CEO of Ithaca. The Layer 2, built using Reth and OP Stack, is now live on the testnet. Both companies stated that while Konstantopoulos will remain the Chief Technology Officer at Paradigm, the new company should be viewed as a portfolio company of Paradigm. They also mentioned that Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang will serve as the chairman of Ithaca.
Decentralized network project delta announces completion of $11 million financing
Blockchain network interoperability project delta announced the completion of $11 million in financing. This financing is divided into two phases, including a pre-seed round led by Figment Capital and Maven 11, and a seed round led by Variant and DBA. Other participants include Reverie, Castle Island Ventures, Credibly Neutral, Ambush Capital, Robot Ventures, Delphi Ventures, Public Works, and Komorebi Collective. Delta aims to create a network system with global state sharing, providing developers with a balanced solution for sovereignty and interoperability by separating execution and data availability. The system also introduces zero-knowledge proof settlement methods to achieve seamless multi-domain interoperability.
Bitcoin Layer 2 network Bitlayer raised $9 million in an extension of its Series A financing just three months after its initial $11 million Series A round. The new financing round was led by Polychain Capital, with Franklin Templeton co-leading, along with SCB Limited, Selini Capital, G-20.Group, and other investors. Bitlayer is the first Layer 2 based on BitVM that aims to become the computational layer for Bitcoin. Bitlayer seeks to introduce super scalability for Bitcoin while inheriting its security, providing users with a high-throughput, low-cost transaction experience. According to DeFiLlama, Bitlayer is currently the top Bitcoin scaling project by total value locked, exceeding $500 million. Bitlayer is preparing to launch its V2 mainnet in the fourth quarter, which will utilize its OpVM technology, a verification tool that combines validity proofs and fraud proofs.
Multi-chain Layer-1 network Apex Fusion completes $6 million initial private token sale
Apex Fusion completed a $6 million initial private token sale. Apex Fusion is a federated multi-chain Layer-1 network designed to provide a seamless experience for future blockchain developers by combining UTXO and EVM transaction execution methods. The network consists of Prime, Nexus, and Vector chains, offering native cross-chain bridges, interoperability protocols, and developer tools. Apex Fusion is valued at $180 million, and the team stated that the funds raised will be used for marketing and further development of the network.
Bitcoin ecosystem oracle project APRO Oracle announced the completion of $3 million in seed round financing, led by Polychain Capital, Franklin Templeton, and ABCDE Capital, with participation from CMS Holdings, Comma3 Ventures, UTXO Ventures, Oak Grove Ventures, Presto Labs, and others. APRO Oracle has expanded to over 15 blockchains and provides price information for more than 140 assets, aiming to drive liquidity injection potential into the Bitcoin ecosystem. APRO Oracle has launched a variety of oracle product matrices, including support for Bitcoin L1, Bitcoin L2, Ordinals, Runes protocol, LST/LRT, Lightning Network, RGB/RGB++, EVM-compatible chains, Ton, and more.
MEV infrastructure developer Semantic Layer has raised $3 million in seed round financing, marking the company's total funding to date. Figment Capital led this round, with participation from Hack VC, Robot Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, Anagram, and Perridon Ventures. Semantic Layer aims to enhance transaction execution infrastructure through its tools, Verifiable Aggregation Rules (VAR), and Verifiable Sorting Rules (VSR). These tools will enable dApps to better control multi-blockchain transaction ordering and bundling. The primary goal of this round of financing is to develop Semantic Layer's core products and enhance ASS's market visibility, including sponsoring research and developer discussion events.
Decentralized storage solution Botanika completes $1.5 million financing
Decentralized storage solution Botanika has completed $1.5 million in angel round financing, funded by 30 angel investors. This funding will be used to launch Botanika's go-to-market (GTM) strategy, enabling the company to drive user acquisition and market promotion of its groundbreaking decentralized storage technology. Inspired by the fundamental principles of blockchain, Botanika leverages the concept of a decentralized ledger for online events (essentially data), which has been overshadowed by the technology's crypto-financial aspects. Botanika recognizes the potential of blockchain as a vast storage network and aims to be the next evolution in decentralized technology. The rise of decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) and artificial intelligence, combined with the expertise of the founding team, allows Botanika to create a unique decentralized storage network powered by plug-and-play hardware nodes.
Others
Social media platform MeWe completes $6 million financing, with investment from McCourt Global
Privacy-focused social media platform MeWe announced the completion of a $6 million Series B financing round, with investment from McCourt Global. This round of financing will accelerate its Web3 integration and promote the development of AI features and Web3 products. MeWe is currently migrating users to the Web3 platform via the Frequency blockchain, with over 1 million users successfully on-chain. The financing target for this round is $12 million, which will further drive platform expansion and the release of a native token to enhance user growth and platform interaction.
Base ecosystem token launch platform Trendies completes $1.75 million Pre-Seed round financing
Base ecosystem token launch platform Trendies announced the completion of $1.75 million in Pre-Seed round financing, led by Archetype, with participation from the Base Ecosystem Fund and several angel investors. Trendies is designed for token holders, allowing them to earn rewards by creating emojis, liking popular content, and staking tokens. The platform allocates 75% of the token supply to a rewards treasury, gradually distributing it to token holders to encourage long-term community participation and offer up to 3x rewards through staking. Trendies was co-founded by the former product head of dYdX and a senior cryptocurrency engineer.
Decentralized real estate exchange Coded Estate completes angel round financing, with participation from Hyperion Ventures and others
On-chain real estate transaction service Coded Estate has completed angel round financing, with participation from Mozaik Capital, Hyperion Ventures, Black Dragon, Dutch Crypto Investors, and others. Specific financing amounts and valuation information have not been disclosed. Coded Estate plans to use the new funds to optimize real estate transactions through on-chain sales and rentals, employing hybrid smart contracts and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) to enhance market transparency.
Centralized Finance
French fintech company Kriptown completes €4.2 million Series A financing
French fintech company Kriptown has completed €4.2 million in Series A financing, aiming to establish the first European blockchain stock exchange focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The platform is created based on the European DLT Pilot Regime, allowing the construction of financial markets on blockchain technology, filling the gap in financing solutions for European SMEs. Kriptown will provide SME stocks to asset management companies and individual investors, offering liquidity through a 24/7 secondary market. BNP Paribas, Bpifrance, and Centilux Family Office led this round of financing. Kriptown has submitted an application for a DLT TSS license to the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority.
German cryptocurrency market maker Tradias completes Series A financing and obtains a securities trading bank license
German cryptocurrency market maker Tradias has completed Series A financing and obtained a securities trading bank license issued by regulatory authorities. The company has not disclosed specific financing amounts or investor information, only stating that several small to medium-sized family offices participated in this round of financing. Tradias had previously been using the license of its parent company, Bankhaus Scheich. The new funds will be used to support higher expected trading volumes and expansion into the European market. Earlier this year, Tradias achieved the tokenization of the Allianz Securicash SRI Fund on the Polygon blockchain.
Investment Institutions
German investment firm Lennertz raises $165 million for its third blockchain-focused fund
German investment firm Lennertz & Co. is raising $165 million for its third blockchain-focused fund. Lennertz & Co. is a multi-family office established in 2015, which recently completed its first round of financing, although the specific amount has not been disclosed. The company has been involved in the blockchain space since 2016 and has launched funds of $35 million and $65 million. Lennertz adopts a "fund of funds" model, investing in other well-known crypto venture capital funds such as Multicoin and Polychain.
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