Organization: Fairy, RootData
According to incomplete statistics from RootData, from July 1 to July 7, 2024, there were 30 public investment and financing events in the blockchain and encryption industry, with a total financing of approximately US$623 million.
From the perspective of track distribution, the projects that received financing are mainly distributed in the infrastructure, Defi and game tracks. Popular projects include blockchain ZK solution Pi Squared, Bitcoin DeFi protocol Lombard, distributed cloud computing company Prodia, modular data layer CARV for games and AI, and open source artificial intelligence development platform Sentient.
In addition, Australian crypto mining company Iris Energy announced that it has raised $413.4 million through a share offering. The financing was completed through the company's at-the-market (ATM) program between May 15 and June 28, with a total of 39.8 million shares sold. Together with the funds raised previously, Iris Energy has raised a total of approximately $714 million in the first half of this year.
(List of projects that raised more than $5 million last week, data source: Rootdata)
1. Infrastructure
UniSat announces completion of Pre-A round of financing, led by Binance
According to official news from UniSat, it completed its Pre-A round of financing in May this year, led by Binance. The specific amount of financing has not yet been disclosed.
The announcement stated that this strategic investment strengthens the existing technical and business partnership between the two parties and lays a solid foundation for further cooperation in the future. (Source link)
Bitcoin scaling protocol QED completes $6 million seed round, Blockchain Capita participates
According to The Block, the Bitcoin scaling protocol QED has completed a $6 million seed round of financing, with Blockchain Capital as the only investor, and the valuation has reached "nine figures", that is, at least $100 million. Previously, QED had received $3.25 million in Pre-seed round financing from institutions such as Arrington Capital, StarkWare, and Draper Dragon, and $1.35 million in angel round financing from institutions such as Sparkle Ventures supported by Animoca Brands.
It is reported that QED Protocol focuses on zero-knowledge proof verification technology and aims to realize decentralized exchanges, DeFi and other applications on Bitcoin through Taproot upgrades. Founder Carter Feldman said that QED Protocol can process more than 150,000 transactions per second and plans to launch a test network in the next 3-4 months. The main network will be launched after the community reaches a consensus, and native tokens will be launched to incentivize the operation of high-performance infrastructure. QED is headquartered in Hong Kong, has more than 30 full-time employees in the Greater Bay Area, and plans to open its first office in Texas, USA. (Source link)
Blockchain data management company SendBlocks completes $8.2 million seed round of financing, led by Castle Island Ventures
According to Chainwire, blockchain data management startup SendBlocks announced the completion of an $8.2 million seed round of financing, led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Pitango, Illuminate Financial, Laser Digital (Nomura), and Starkware.
It is reported that SendBlocks allows blockchain enterprises, ecosystems, protocols and applications to define the data that is important to them, and its platform supports customization. (Source link)
Blockchain ZK Solution Pi Squared Completes $12.5 Million Seed Round Leaded by Polychain Capital
According to CoinDesk, Pi Squared, a company that uses zero-knowledge technology to enable verifiable computing, announced that it has raised $12.5 million in a seed round led by Polychain Capital. Also participating in this round of financing are ABCDE, Bloccelerate, Generative Ventures, Robot Ventures and Samsung Next, as well as angel investors including Justin Drake of the Ethereum Foundation and Sreeram Kanaan, founder of EigenLayer.
Pi Squared is reportedly led by Grigore Rosu, a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The company plans to use the new funds to expand its products. Pi Squared's first product is a "universal settlement layer" that can settle blockchain transactions in any programming language. Rosu said the company is also developing "universal zero-knowledge circuits," which will enable "trustless remote computing, AI, and interoperable smart contracts for any blockchain or dApp" through zero-knowledge technology. The project is expected to enter the testnet stage by the end of 2024.
According to Web3 asset data platform RootData, Pi Squared uses zero-knowledge proof (ZK) technology to verify the correctness of the execution of any program without relying on a specific programming language (PL) or virtual machine (VM). It is based on the K framework and matching logic to provide a universal and efficient verification method that aims to achieve seamless interoperability of blockchains, languages, and applications. (Source link)
Blockchain oracle service RedStone completes $15 million Series A financing, led by Arrington Capital
According to The Block, blockchain oracle service RedStone has completed a $15 million Series A financing round, led by Arrington Capital, with participation from Kraken Ventures, White Star Capital, Spartan Group, Amber Group, SevenX Ventures and IOSG Ventures, as well as angel investors such as Smokey the Bera and Homme Bera of Berachain, Mike Silagadze, Jozef Vogel and Rok Kopp of Ether.Fi, and Amir Forouzani, Jason Vranek and Christina Chen of Puffer Finance.
It is reported that RedStone is a blockchain oracle, similar to popular oracles such as Chainlink and Pyth Network, but based on a modular design. (Source link)
Blockchain company OpenLedger completes $8 million seed round of financing, led by Polychain Capital and Borderless Capital
According to The Block, blockchain company OpenLedger has raised $8 million in a seed round led by Polychain Capital and Borderless Capital. Other participants include HashKey Capital, Finality Capital, Hash3, STIX, MH Ventures, Sreeram Kannan of EigenLayer, Sandeep Nailwal of Polygon, and Kenny Li of Manta.
It is reported that OpenLedger focuses on building decentralized and data-driven artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company plans to use the funds to expand the team and strengthen its data pipeline infrastructure, and is expected to launch the mainnet next quarter. The OpenLedger team said that with the increasing popularity of artificial intelligence, the importance of data continues to increase, and they are committed to filling the gap between data and decentralization to promote the development of better AI models. (Source link)
Open source AI platform Sentient completes $85 million seed round of financing, led by Founders Fund and others
According to The Block, the open source AI platform Sentient announced the completion of a $85 million seed round of financing, led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Pantera Capital and Framework Ventures, with participation from Ethereal Ventures, Robot Ventures, LD Capital, Symbolic Capital, Delphi Ventures, Hack VC, Arrington Capital, HashKey Capital, Canonical Crypto and Foresight Ventures.
It is reported that Sentient is using community contributions to build open source AI models, with the goal of competing with OpenAI. (Source link)
Distributed cloud computing company Prodia completes $15 million financing, led by Dragonfly Capital
According to The Block, distributed cloud computing company Prodia has raised $15 million in a seed round led by Dragonfly Capital. Other participating investors include HashKey Capital, Web3.com, Index Ventures, Symbolic Capital, OKX Ventures, EV3, Artichoke, TRGC, Folius, Tangent Capital, Southern Equity, and individual investors such as Polygon founders Sandeep Nailwal and Balaji Srinivasan.
It is reported that Prodia is committed to building a distributed GPU network and providing more efficient and low-cost cloud computing services by using web3 infrastructure. The company plans to use the funds to expand its business, add support for generating videos and large language models (LLM), and expand its GPU hardware types. Prodia co-founder Mikhail Avady said that Prodia's services allow customers to easily integrate AI into any application without having to understand GPU knowledge, which makes it stand out from traditional cloud services such as AWS. (Source link)
Solana Ecosystem Re-staking Protocol Solayer Completes New Round of Financing, with Solana Labs and Other Co-founders Participating
Solana Ecosystem Re-staking Protocol Solayer announced the completion of the Builder Round of Funding, and the specific investment amount was not disclosed. Investors include Solana Labs co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, Marinade core contributor Michael Repetny, Solend founder Rooter, Tensor co-founder Richard Wu, crypto KOL Ansem, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, etc. (Source link)
CARV announces completion of $10 million Series A financing, with OKX Ventures participating
CARV announced the completion of a $10 million Series A financing round, led by Tribe Capital and IOSG Ventures, with participation from Consensys, OKX Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, No Limit Holdings, Draper Dragon, Arweave, ARPA, MARBLEX, etc. The round aims to build the largest modular data layer for gaming and artificial intelligence, and to maximize data innovation while ensuring that individual users can gain value from sharing on the Internet.
Shared sorter network Astria completes $12.5 million financing, led by dba and Placeholder VC
According to CoinDesk, the shared sorter network Astria announced the completion of a $12.5 million financing, led by dba and Placeholder VC, with participation from RockawayX, Maven11, 1kx, Bankless Ventures, Figment Capital and Batu, as well as angel investors such as Yuki, DCBuilder, Hasu, Will Price and Jason Yanowitz. The new funds will be used to continue building the Astria sorting layer and Astria Stack. (Source link)
ESG data oracle project Nubila has raised $2.5 million in financing, led by IoTeX and VeChain
Nubila, an oracle project that specializes in providing ESG data for the decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) ecosystem, has launched a new round of financing, led by IoTeX and VeChain + Boston Consulting Group, and has raised $2.5 million so far. OrangeDAO, MH Ventures, Future Money Group, SNZ Capital, DePINsurf, Kronos Research, Taisu Ventures, Bytetrade, WaterDrip, Deepin Lab, Assembly Partners, Cyber, Radiance Ventures and Genopets participated in the investment.
It is reported that Nubila focuses on providing accurate ESG data for the DePIN ecosystem, aiming to use AI and tokenization to promote sustainable development. The funds will be used to expand its ESG data network, enhance data accuracy and user engagement. Nubila plans to capture key environmental data through advanced weather stations and sensor networks to improve the accuracy of ESG assessments. (Source link)
2. Games
Web3 game points protocol XOOB completes $1.6 million in financing, with Chromia and others participating
Web3 game points protocol XOOB (formerly LaunchJoy) has completed $1.6 million in financing, including $1.4 million in incubation round financing and $200,000 in Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from Chromia, Mines of Dalarnia, and My Neighbor Alice. (Source link)
Blockchain game Swords & Dungeons completes $5 million in financing, with Mirana Ventures and others participating
Web3 multi-chain MMORPG Swords & Dungeons announced that it has completed a US$5 million financing round. This round of financing was jointly invested by many well-known investment institutions including Mirana Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, OKX Ventures, Y2Z Ventures, Matrix Partners, Folius Ventures, Mask Network, SNZ Capital, Arkstream Capital, Yunjiu Capital, Primal Capital, Welight Capital and Bas1s Ventures.
According to RootData, a Web3 asset data platform, Swords & Dungeons is a highly playable P2E DeFi MMORPG. It combines the PvE, PvP, and GvG systems of traditional games with the P2E game mode and advanced DAO governance concepts of the Web3.0 era. Players will enter the complex and dangerous metaverse as heroes, with the task of killing evil creatures to become stronger and master the powerful void power. Join forces with other players to integrate the floating island and the land below to bring peace to the broken void world. (Source link)
MMO game Cambria completes $2.5 million seed round of financing, led by 1kx and BITKRAFT Ventures
MMO game Cambria announced the completion of a $2.5 million seed round of financing, led by 1kx and BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Delphi Ventures co-founder Piers Kicks, Hype Investments founder hype, Delphi Ventures co-founder Tommy, BACKED co-founder Alex Brunicki and others.
The funds raised will build an “MMO” online game inspired by Runescape with large-scale on-chain stakes.
According to Web3 asset data platform RootData, Cambria is a Runescape-inspired, risk-oriented MMO game with huge on-chain stakes. In the first iteration of the game, Gold Rush, players must simultaneously engage in economic and real-time PvP to obtain Blast Gold and ETH, competing for game dominance in a brutal battle. (Source link)
On-chain social gaming platform MonkeyBit completes $2 million seed round of financing
According to Coinspeaker, the on-chain social gaming platform MonkeyBit announced the completion of a $2 million seed round of financing, led by Middle East Web3 fund 3KBTC Capital and participated by Hongyi Labs and other funds.
It is reported that MonkeyBit is committed to providing innovative interactive experiences for GameFi players and creating a new on-chain social entertainment ecosystem. The new funds will be used to further develop decentralized social gaming platforms and game creator tools. MonkeyBit has launched a global ambassador recruitment program. (Source link)
3. Defi
Programmable derivatives protocol Plaza completes Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Anagram
Plaza Finance, a programmable derivatives protocol, announced the completion of its Pre-Seed round of financing. The specific amount of financing was not disclosed. Anagram led the investment, and Interop Ventures, Cosmostation and others participated in the investment. (Source link)
Token and NFT startup platform Monad Pad announced the completion of $945,000 in seed round financing, with Sneaky Ventures and others participating
Monad Pad, a token and NFT startup platform, announced on X platform that it has completed a $945,000 seed round of financing, with participation from CMS, CSPDAO, CapitalZephyrus, vvvdotnet, FOMO, exnetworkcap, Sneaky Ventures, Legion Ventures and other institutions.
According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Monad Pad is a token and NFT launch platform built on Monad, empowering creators, investors, and collectors. (Source link)
Bitcoin re-staking protocol Lombard completes $16 million seed round of financing, led by Polychain Capital
According to The Block, Bitcoin re-staking protocol Lombard completed a $16 million seed round of financing, led by Polychain Capital.
Lombard will use the funds to expand its Bitcoin re-staking ecosystem and develop with the Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon. Lombard releases liquidity by issuing liquid and profitable staking Bitcoin tokens LBTC.
According to RootData, a Web3 asset data platform, Lombard was founded in April 2024 and is committed to unlocking the potential of Bitcoin as a dynamic financial instrument by connecting Bitcoin to DeFi. Lombard enables yield-generating BTC to move across chains without dispersing liquidity, paving the way for becoming the biggest catalyst for bringing net new capital into DeFi. Its flagship product, LBTC, is a yield-generating, cross-chain, liquid Bitcoin backed by BTC at a 1:1 ratio. (Source link)
Sun Protocol announces completion of first seed round of financing, with Moore Foundation and DFG participating
Sun Protocol announced the completion of its first round of seed financing, with Moore Foundation and DFG participating in the investment. This round of financing will be used to increase market capitalization and for developers to build the Sun Protocol ecosystem.
Sun Protocol brings together the main technical architecture of Web3 and dapps on the same network, allowing users to fully experience all Web3 behaviors under the Sun Protocol framework. (Source link)
4
Blockchain fintech company FreeBnk completes $3 million in financing, led by Founderheads
Blockchain fintech company FreeBnk announced that it has completed a $3 million financing round, led by Founderheads, with participation from ChaiTech Ventures, LVT Capital, Lavender Capital and others.
The new funding will be used to enhance its user interface and application experience, especially for new users. The company focuses on tokenized RWA and crypto financial services, and its technology is based on its multi-party computing (MPC) security to ensure the protection of users' digital assets. (Source link)
AI+RWA project Compute Labs completes $3 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Protocol Labs
According to The Block, AI+RWA project Compute Labs announced the completion of a $3 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Protocol Labs, with participation from Blockchain Coinvestors, MH Ventures, OKX Ventures, HashKey Capital, CMS, P2 Ventures, ArkStream Capital, Symbolic Capital, Ambush Capital, Amber Group, Oak Grove Ventures, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, NEAR Protocol co-founder Illia Polosukhin and Solana Foundation strategy director Austin Federa.
Compute Labs will use the funds to expand its core team and advance the development of the AI computing power tokenization protocol Compute Tokenization Protocol (CTP) and the first round of H100 GNFT pre-sale in mid-July. It is reported that Compute Labs was incubated by NVIDIA Inception VC Alliance and provides investors with AI computing power returns by developing enterprise-level AI computing power tokenization protocol CTP and GPU Restaking solutions. The AI computing power tokenization protocol CTP is now available on the Solana test network, and the main network is expected to be launched in Q3, and TGE will be completed before the end of the year.
According to Web3 asset data platform RootData, Compute Labs is a computing tokenization protocol used to financialize AI, enable direct access to computing assets, and create computing derivatives, allowing investors to easily profit from computing (future currency). (Source link)
5. Mining Enterprises
Crypto mining company Iris Energy has raised $413.4 million through stock issuance
According to MinerMag, Australian crypto mining company Iris Energy announced that it has raised $413.4 million through stock issuance since mid-May. The funds will be used to fully support the company's 2024 expansion plan after the Bitcoin halving event, aiming to achieve the 2024 growth plan (including a hash rate of 30 EH/s and a data center capacity of 510MW). The financing was completed through the company's market offering (ATM) program between May 15 and June 28, with a total of 39.8 million shares sold.
Combined with previously raised funds, Iris Energy raised a total of approximately $714 million in the first half of this year, including $257 million in equity financing in the first quarter and an additional $44.8 million between March 31 and May 15. (Source link)
6. Others
Consensys acquires Wallet Guard for an undisclosed amount
According to The Block, Consensys has acquired the crypto security application Wallet Guard to help enhance the security of MetaMask. The specific amount has not been disclosed.
As part of the transaction, the entire Wallet Guard team will join Consensys, which intends to integrate Wallet Guard's browser extension and security engine capabilities to further protect MetaMask users' wallets, digital assets, and data from theft, scams, and fraud. (Source link)
Smart contract blockchain machine learning platform onaji completes $2.5 million pre-seed round of financing, led by Stratos
Onaji, a machine learning platform for smart contract blockchain, has completed a $2.5 million pre-seed round of financing, led by Stratos, with participation from Maven11, Uniswap Labs Ventures, IOSG Ventures and others.
It is reported that onaji has established a platform for training and deploying AI models, which can participate in DeFi autonomously on Ethereum and Layer 2. (Source link)
On-chain reputation scoring protocol Ethos Network completes $1.75 million Pre-Seed round of financing
The on-chain reputation scoring protocol Ethos Network announced the completion of a $1.75 million Pre-Seed round of financing, with 59 community investors participating in this round of financing, and no VC participation. Ethos will be released on Base soon. (Source link)
Web3 security company Mamori completes $5 million seed round led by Blockchain Capital
According to The Block, Web3 security company Mamori announced the completion of a $5 million seed round of financing. This round of financing was led by venture capital firm Blockchain Capital. Velocity Capital and Web3.com also participated in this round of financing. Other angel investors include Grigore Rosu, Daniel Lubarov, Alex Watts, Bo Du, Shujia Liang, Micheal Heinrich and Antonio Viggiano.
It is reported that Mamori is committed to enhancing Web3 security by developing an algorithm that can detect blockchain software problems. (Source link)
Sony acquires Amber Japan to enter cryptocurrency trading space
According to Wu, Sony Group has acquired Amber Japan and entered the field of crypto trading platforms. Sony's current businesses include games, music, cameras, etc., with a market value of more than 100 billion US dollars. Previously, Singapore market maker Amber Group acquired Japan's regulated crypto trading platform DeCurret in early 2022 and changed its name to Amber Japan.
According to Web3 asset data platform RootData, the crypto trading platform Amber Group completed a $200 million financing in February 2022 with a valuation of $3 billion, with Temasek, Sequoia China, Pantera Capital and Tiger Global Management participating. (Source link)