Author: Ana Paula Pereira, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Tao Zhu, Jinse Finance
Data from RootData shows that in November, cryptocurrency startups completed 99 venture capital and merger and acquisition transactions, totaling over $350 million.
Highlights of the month include a $290 million financing for Zero Gravity Labs to build a decentralized AI operating system (dAIOS), and Superscrypt's plan to establish a new $100 million investment fund for blockchain-based startups. In addition, the crypto ecosystem welcomed a new crowdfunding platform focused on Bitcoin projects.
Investor sentiment in the industry may be influenced by the prospect of Donald Trump taking a more favorable regulatory approach in the U.S. following his re-election earlier this month, which could lead to increased capital investment in cryptocurrency businesses under new regulatory conditions.
Several cryptocurrency startups received funding in November. Source: RootData
In a more proactive environment, founders are also looking for other funding avenues. Legion co-founder Fabrizio Giabardo stated that cryptocurrency projects are fundamentally rethinking how to raise funds and attract community participation. He noted, 'Once again providing people with the energy to build, creating an ecosystem that makes the community feel like true stakeholders.' 'This is a return to the roots of cryptocurrency ICOs.'
This issue of venture capital overview highlights some projects that attracted capital at the end of November.
Talus Network raised $6 million for decentralized AI agents.
The AI agent blockchain protocol Talus Network raised $6 million in a recent funding round led by Polychain Capital, which included angel investors from Foresight Ventures, Animoca, Geek Cartel, Echo, as well as institutions like Polygon, Sentient, Allora, and 0G Labs.
This round of financing brings the total funding for Talus Network to $9 million, with a valuation of $150 million. The funds will support the development of Talus infrastructure solutions, Protochain, and the Nexus framework.
The framework provides developers with the tools to create autonomous agents capable of managing smart contracts and executing tasks in areas like decentralized finance, decentralized autonomous organizations, and gaming. According to Talus, these agents can facilitate portfolio optimization, fund management, and automated game testing.
Binance Labs invests in Kernel, Astherus
Binance Labs disclosed new investments in November. The exchange's venture capital arm invested in Kernel, a platform developing re-staking infrastructure for the BNB chain.
According to Binance, Kernel's technology will make BNB's security features programmable and verifiable, supporting various crypto applications and services. The initial deployment will leverage BNB liquid staking tokens and re-staked BNB to enhance DeFi projects on the BNB chain.
Another startup that received funding from Binance Labs is Astherus, a multi-asset liquidity hub focused on maximizing the real yield of crypto assets. The company aims to maximize asset returns through high-yield strategies across multiple blockchains and protocols. Binance did not disclose how much was invested in these two transactions.
Barter secured $3 million in seed funding to optimize trading.
The swap startup Barter has completed a $3 million seed round led by Maven11, with participation from Lattice, Anagram, Heartcore, DCG, and Daedalus Angels. Founded in 2023, the company reportedly has on-chain transaction volumes reaching $3.5 billion, competing with major industry players like Wintermute and 0x.
The new funds will be used to develop Barter's AppChain, aimed at addressing common challenges in the DeFi space, such as maximum extractable value (MEV) development and decentralized liquidity pools.
According to Barter, its AppChain aims to centralize liquidity pools and streamline order flow for faster and more cost-effective trading. Barter's co-founder Nikita Ovchinnik was formerly the Chief Business Development Officer at 1inch Network.
Rarimo raised $2.5 million for ZK authentication.
Rarimo is a startup focused on zero-knowledge authentication that has completed $2.5 million in funding, supported by blockchain founders such as Vitalik Buterin of Ethereum, Nick White of Celestia, Daniel Lubarov of Polygon Zero, and Stefan George of Gnosis.
This round of financing is limited to founders and will promote Rarimo as a zero-knowledge aggregator on Ethereum, planned for launch in the first quarter of 2025. Starting with passport-based identity, Rarimo allows users to create and store identification proof on their devices without intermediaries.
According to the startup, its system has been used in several countries for anonymous voting and airdrops. Rarimo plans to expand its technology to support private social networks and reputation-based systems using zero-knowledge proofs.
