Highlights
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 16 investment and financing events in the global blockchain sector last week (11.18-11.24), with a total funding scale exceeding $120 million, showing a decrease compared to the previous week. The overview is as follows:
- DeFi announced 4 investment and financing events, including stablecoin company Noble completing a $15 million Series A financing, led by Paradigm;
- Web3 gaming announced 3 investment and financing events, including decentralized gaming player network KGeN announcing a $10 million financing, led by Aptos Labs;
- AI announced 2 investment and financing events, including crypto and AI company OpenLayer completing a $5 million seed round financing;
- Infrastructure and tools announced 4 financing events, including Bitfinity Network launching a Bitcoin L2 network and announcing a $12 million financing;
- Other blockchain/crypto applications announced 1 financing event, with blockchain-based iGaming platform BoxBet completing financing led by CMCC Global;
- Centralized finance announced 2 investment and financing events, with hybrid payment platform Rise Labs completing a $6.3 million Series A financing, led by Draper Associates.
DeFi
Stablecoin company Noble completes $15 million Series A financing, led by Paradigm
Stablecoin company Noble has completed a $15 million Series A financing, led by Paradigm, with other investors not yet disclosed. They will use the funds from this round to accelerate the adoption of stablecoins by developing new user-oriented products and expanding their workforce. This new financing brings Noble's total funding amount to $18.3 million. Noble aims to bridge the gap between stablecoin issuers like Circle and application chain builders by developing a platform that offers higher liquidity. Noble acts as an intermediary, collaborating with stablecoin issuers to efficiently distribute their products across 50 different blockchains and providing developers with a seamless user interface to ensure their application chains are compatible with Noble. The company has already established partnerships with several stablecoin issuers, including Circle, Ondo Finance, Hashnote Labs, and Monerium. The company has attracted over $458 million in assets.
Modular trading protocol Valantis announced the completion of a $7.5 million Pre-Seed + Seed round financing, led by SevenX Ventures, Cyber Fund, and Kraken Ventures, with participation from Semantic Ventures, Figment Capital, Monoceros, Robot Ventures, and Credibly Neutral. Angel investors include Anthony Sassano, Sandeep Nailwal, DeWhales Capital, and Nathan Worsley (DeFi Cartel). Valantis innovatively introduces a modular architecture in DEX, with customizable and reusable "modules" that can solve the problem of fragmented DEX liquidity, reduce development costs, and improve composability.
DeFi liquidity solution system Barter completes $3 million seed round financing, led by Maven 11
Decentralized finance liquidity solution system Barter announced the completion of a $3 million seed round financing, led by Maven 11, with participation from Lattice, Anagram, Heartcore, DCG, and Daedalus Angels. Barter, founded in 2023, primarily engages in on-chain trade matching and settlement. The company intends to use the funds to expand its team, accelerate research, and continue developing AppChain, a DeFi tool that connects liquidity and order flow. Barter currently facilitates up to $20 million in transactions daily across numerous Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible blockchains.
DeFi project Exponent announced the completion of a $2.1 million first round of financing, led by RockawayX, with participation from Solana Ventures, Cherry Ventures Crypto, Mechanism Capital, and Robot Ventures, while attracting several angel investors from the Solana ecosystem. Exponent aims to create Solana's first fixed income market, with its flagship product "yield tokens" already launched on the mainnet, providing predictable fixed income solutions and supporting yield trading and liquidity management through AMM. The team plans to use this round of funding to continue optimizing its core product and drive innovation in the Solana DeFi ecosystem.
Web3 Gaming
Crypto entertainment platform Monkey Tilt announced the completion of a $30 million Series A financing, which concluded this summer, led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Polychain Capital, PokerGo, Hack VC, Dream Ventures, Accomplice, Mirana, and Josh Hannah. This latest financing brings the total funding amount to over $50 million. Monkey Tilt is set to launch in early 2024, merging prediction games, sports, poker, and cryptocurrency on one platform. Monkey Tilt plans to launch a new gamified cryptocurrency trading product in the first quarter of next year. In February this year, Monkey Tilt completed $21 million in financing, with participation from Polychain Capital, Hack VC, and others.
Decentralized gaming player network KGeN completes $10 million financing, led by Aptos Labs
Decentralized gaming player network KGeN announced the completion of a $10 million financing, led by Aptos Labs, with participation from Game7 DAO and Polygon. KGeN aims to provide more accurate user profiles for gaming projects based on its data collection on gamers, reducing customer acquisition costs. So far, KGeN has mapped over 197 million gaming player attributes based on 10.8 million players, providing insights into gaming behavior.
Community co-created AIGC chain game Gabby World announced the completion of a $2 million financing at a valuation of $20 million, with participation from 13 institutions including SevenX Ventures, OnePiece Labs, Everest Ventures Group, Huofeng Capital, and Zonff Partners, as well as 8 angel investors including former partners from Republic and Hashed, and partners from Gam3Girl Ventures. Gabby World is a community co-created AIGC Dungeons and Dragons game, and its token GABBY was issued on Solana's DEX at the end of October.
AI
Crypto and AI company OpenLayer completes $5 million seed round financing
Founded by three former Robinhood employees, crypto and AI startup OpenLayer raised $5 million in seed round financing. This financing was participated in by a16z CSX, Geometry, IOSG Ventures, Spartan Group, LongHash Ventures, and other angel investors, with some investors coming from projects like EigenLayer and AltLayer.
OpenLayer focuses on developing an AI data layer, allowing users to contribute and verify data through a Chrome extension while protecting privacy and earning rewards. Developers can access data based on user permissions for AI model training, user targeting, and feature enhancement. The project has launched as an Active Validation Service (AVS) on EigenLayer, attracting over 48,575 participants and staking Ethereum worth over $10 billion. OpenLayer plans to launch a token in the future, currently has a team of seven, and is planning to hire two engineers.
Decentralized AI cloud service Heurist raises $2 million, with participation from Amber Group and others.
Decentralized AI cloud service Heurist recently announced the completion of $2 million in financing, with participation from Amber Group, Contango Digital, Manifold Trading, Selini Capital, X Ventures, Sharding Capital, Blue7 Capital, Mozaik Capital, Zephyrus Capital, Origin Capital, Steroids Capital, and DCF God. According to reports, Heurist is addressing critical AI infrastructure challenges based on a ZK stack, making it as accessible as the internet.
Infrastructure & Tools
According to documents submitted to the UK Companies House this month, crypto wallet Deblock, created by former Revolut and Ledger executives, has completed an additional £13.3 million (approximately $16.8 million) in seed round financing. Another document from October shows that Headline, Hoxton, 20VC, and Chalfen are the main investors in this round. Sifted previously reported that the startup quietly raised €12 million last year. Deblock was co-founded in August 2022 by former Revolut cryptocurrency head Jean Meyer, payment head Aaron Beck, and former Ledger engineering head Mario Eguiliuz. According to its website, the Deblock app is currently only available in France, where it is regulated by electronic money institutions and digital asset service providers.
Bitfinity Network launches Bitcoin L2 network and announces $12 million financing
Bitcoin Layer 2 solution Bitfinity Network has launched and completed $12 million in financing, aiming to create decentralized finance (DeFi) capabilities compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) for Bitcoin. This round of financing includes $7 million from well-known supporters, including Polychain Beacon Fund, ParaFi, Draft Ventures, and Warburg Serres, while an additional $5 million comes from an over-the-counter token sale. Bitfinity Network will utilize Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) chain integration technology to enable Bitcoin native assets to "operate within an Ethereum-compatible ecosystem." Additionally, the security of its L2 network is enhanced by "leveraging a robust proof-of-stake protocol using Chain-Key technology."
Move chain developer platform Shinami completes $5.645 million seed round financing
Move chain developer platform Shinami announced the completion of $5.645 million in seed round financing. This round was led by Race Capital, with participation from 6th Man Ventures, Coinbase, Circle, Mysten Labs, and the Aptos Foundation. Shinami aims to become the "Consensys" of the Move ecosystem, providing developers with a one-stop tool platform to simplify application building on Move blockchains such as Aptos, Sui, and Movement. Shinami's Node service has supported billions of on-chain reads, the Gas Station feature has sponsored over 100 million transactions, and its Wallet service has over 2 million monthly active users.
Alluvial completes $4.3 million strategic financing, led by Variant
Software development company Alluvial, which supports Liquid Collective, has completed a new round of strategic financing totaling $4.3 million, led by Variant, with participation from Ethereal Ventures, Brevan Howard Digital, F-Prime Capital (the venture capital arm of Fidelity Investments' parent company FMR, LLC), and Nascent, bringing the total financing amount to $22.5 million. This funding aims to promote the development of specialized, open, and configurable solutions to accelerate adoption in the institutional staking market. Alluvial is a software development company that provides a suite of enterprise-grade staking products and services, focusing on facilitating mainstream adoption and participation in proof-of-stake blockchains. Liquid Collective is a staking standard designed to meet enterprise needs. Previously, in July last year, Alluvial completed $12 million in Series A financing, co-led by Ethereal Ventures and Variant.
Others
Blockchain-based iGaming platform BoxBet completes financing led by CMCC Global
Blockchain-based iGaming platform BoxBet has completed financing led by CMCC Global, a $500 million venture capital firm supported by the Winklevoss twins and Li Ka-shing's Horizons Ventures, which has previously funded key blockchain projects including Solana. BoxBet is an online gambling platform that intends to use the new funds to expand its influence in regulated markets through licensing and operational expansion.
Centralized Finance
Hybrid payment platform Rise Labs announced the completion of $6.3 million in Series A financing, bringing its total funding to $10 million. The investment was led by Draper Associates, with co-lead from Polymorphic Capital, and participation from DCG, JAM Fund, Ryze Labs, and Paradigm Shift Capital. Rise is a hybrid payment infrastructure that integrates fiat currency, stablecoins, and cryptocurrencies. Currently, Rise has over 150 clients and more than 100,000 contractors. Its client base includes traditional businesses, Web3 companies, as well as DAOs, protocols, and platforms. Rise's comprehensive platform supports businesses in recruiting, hiring, and paying global contractors and employees in local currencies and stablecoins while ensuring compliance with international tax regulations and employment laws.
Crypto.com acquires global financial trading and brokerage services company Charterprime
Crypto.com has acquired global financial trading and brokerage services company Charterprime Ltd., which holds an investment dealer license and a global business license issued by the Mauritius Financial Services Commission. Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek stated that this acquisition is the latest step in its roadmap to "integrate traditional finance and crypto tools into a simple application with rewards."
Investment Institutions
Venture capital firm Theory Venture, focused on early software investments in data, artificial intelligence, and Web3, announced that its second fund has completed fundraising of $450 million, following the launch of its first $238 million fund in April 2023. The new fund will further expand support for innovators. The new fund will focus on three areas: data analytics, artificial intelligence as a new platform, and decentralized infrastructure as a database. Since launching its first fund, Theory has led investments in companies such as Context.ai, Initia, Superlinked, and Tobiko Data, and has opened a new office in San Francisco.
Accolade Partners completes fundraising for its third blockchain fund, totaling $202 million
Investment firm Accolade Partners, focused on venture capital, private equity growth, and blockchain strategy, announced that its third blockchain fund, Accolade Blockchain III, has completed fundraising with total commitments reaching $202 million. The fund focuses on seed and early-stage investments in blockchain while also looking at secondary market opportunities and GP equity investments. Accolade currently manages assets totaling $1.3 billion and is an early player and industry leader in the blockchain space. Since launching its first blockchain fund in 2019, the firm has invested in a diversified strategy across the blockchain ecosystem, including underlying protocols, infrastructure, decentralized finance, stablecoins, Web3 gaming, and decentralized AI.
DWF Labs launches a $20 million "Meme Fund" to support innovative Meme coin projects
DWF Labs announced the launch of a $20 million "Meme Fund" to support innovative Meme coin projects across multiple blockchains. The "Meme Fund" is now accepting proposals from Meme coin projects seeking investment and guidance.
ai16z and Ryze Labs collaborate to launch the AICombinator program and establish a $5 million fund
Artificial intelligence venture capital fund ai16z and crypto investment firm Ryze Labs announced the launch of the AICombinator program and a $5 million fund, aimed at supporting the development of the ai16z ecosystem. The two parties will work together to identify and fund developers working at the intersection of AI and cryptocurrency, and project founders joining the AICombinator program will also gain early access to newly launched features in the ai16z Eliza framework roadmap.
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