**New York's Asylum Ventures Launches $55M Fund for Early-Stage Startups**

A new venture capital firm, Asylum Ventures, has launched in New York City with a $55 million fund aimed at inception-stage startups. Led by Nick Chirls of Notation Capital and Jonathan Wu, formerly of Aztec Networks, Asylum plans to invest $1-2 million in pre-seed and seed-stage firms.

**Key Points:**

- Asylum Ventures targets startups in overlooked markets.

- Focus on founders seen as "artists" rather than traditional entrepreneurs.

- Aims to support projects struggling to raise capital due to current market trends.

**Other Notable Funding Rounds:**

- **Puffpaw**: Raised $6M for a vape-to-quit smoking model.

- **Permissionless Labs**: Secured $10M to develop a decentralized CDN on Solana.

- **Infinit**: Raised $6M for DeFi infrastructure.

- **DRiP**: Secured $8M for a creator engagement app on Solana.

- **IN1**: Raised $6M for integrating fiat and crypto management.

- **DeFi.Gold**: Secured $2.22M for a Bitcoin DeFi hub.

Stay tuned for more updates on these innovative ventures!