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 deals, totaling over $350 million.
Highlights of this month include Zero Gravity Labs' $290 million financing for building a decentralized artificial intelligence operating system (dAIOS), and Superscrypt's plan to establish a new $100 million investment fund for blockchain-based startups. Additionally, the crypto ecosystem welcomed a new crowdfunding platform focused on Bitcoin projects.
Investor sentiment in the industry may be influenced by the prospect of a more favorable regulatory approach in the U.S. following Donald Trump's recent re-election, potentially leading to increased capital investment in cryptocurrency businesses under new regulatory conditions.
Several cryptocurrency startups secured funding in November. Source: RootData
In a more positive environment, founders are also seeking alternative funding avenues. Legion co-founder Fabrizio Giabardo stated that cryptocurrency projects are fundamentally rethinking how to raise funds and engage community participation. He noted, "Providing the energy for people to build again, creating ecosystems that make the community feel like real stakeholders." "This is a return to the roots of cryptocurrency ICOs."
This issue's 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 funding round brings Talus Network's total funding to $9 million, with a valuation of $150 million. This capital will support the development of Talus infrastructure solutions, Protochain, and Nexus framework.
The framework provides developers with tools to create autonomous agents capable of managing smart contracts and executing tasks in areas such as 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 division 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 a variety of 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 dedicated to maximizing the actual yield of crypto assets. The company focuses on maximizing 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 claims on-chain transaction volume has reached $3.5 billion, competing with major industry players such as 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 transactions. Barter's co-founder Nikita Ovchinnik is the former Chief Business Development Officer of 1inch Network.
Rarimo raised $2.5 million for ZK authentication.
Rarimo is a startup focused on zero-knowledge authentication, which has raised $2.5 million in funding, supported by blockchain founders such as Vitalik Buterin from Ethereum, Nick White from Celestia, Daniel Lubarov from Polygon Zero, and Stefan George from Gnosis.
This round of financing is limited to the founders and will facilitate Rarimo as a zero-knowledge aggregator on Ethereum, slated to launch in the first quarter of 2025. Starting with passport-based identity, Rarimo allows users to create and store proof of identity on their devices without intermediaries.
According to the startup, its system has been used for anonymous voting and airdrops in multiple countries. Rarimo plans to expand its technology to support private social networks and reputation-based systems using zero-knowledge proofs.
