According to Foresight News, there were 33 investment and financing events in the crypto market from January 14 to January 20, including 9 in tools and infrastructure, 5 in DeFi, 4 in asset management, 7 in blockchain games and NFT, and 8 in Web3. The total amount of investment and financing disclosed was approximately US$217 million.
There were seven financings worth tens of millions of dollars this week, including ZK technology developer Nil Foundation's $22 million financing, led by Polychain Capital; Web3 and social game publisher Carry1st's $27 million financing, led by BITKRAFT Ventures; Web3 and AI social platform PLAI Labs' $32 million financing, invested by a16z, etc.
The popularity of investment and financing sub-sectors rebounded significantly this week.
This week, several crypto funds with a value of over 100 million US dollars were established, including HashKey Capital's third fund, which completed a fundraising of 500 million US dollars and will focus on Web3 infrastructure, tools and other projects; Steven Bartlett, founder of Web3 developer platform Thirdweb, launched a 100 million US dollar fund to invest in blockchain and other fields; Courtside Ventures launched a 100 million US dollar venture capital fund to invest in blockchain games and other fields.
Institutionally, the most active institutions this week include HashKey, Polychain Capital, IOSG Ventures, Blockchange Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, etc.
Focus on areas such as tools and infrastructure, NFT and blockchain games.
Note: Fundraising from investment funds is not included in project financing.
Tools and Infrastructure
DApp development infrastructure FilSwan completes $3 million in financing
DApp development infrastructure FilSwan has completed a $3 million financing in the form of SAFT (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens), led by Binance Labs and SNZ holdings, with participation from Waterdrip Capital, FBG Capital, Protocol Labs, Unicorn Hunter Ventures, Chain Capital, LD Capital, Cabin VC, Betterverse Dao and DAO Kondr VC. This round of financing will be used for product development and user acquisition. FilSwan aims to integrate data, computing, bandwidth and payment into a suite to provide a comprehensive solution for Web3 projects. It has currently launched its first product, multichain.storage, which supports payment of IPFS/Filecoin storage via stablecoins on Polygon.
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Web3 security infrastructure Trusta Labs completes over $3 million in seed round financing, led by SevenX Ventures and Yuanjing Capital
Web3 security infrastructure Trusta Labs has completed a seed round of financing of over $3 million, led by SevenX Ventures and Yuanjing Capital, followed by HashKey, Redpoint China, GGV and SNZ. The funds raised will be used for new product development, promoting the absorption and conversion of new users, and retaining and operating valuable users. Trusta Labs aims to bring more valuable real users to the Web3 world. Its first product TrustScan is now online and can be used to detect Sybil attack risks and user behavior analysis. The team has won the Gitcoin Open Data Hackathon championship.
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Web3 infrastructure provider Parfin completes $15 million seed round led by Framework Ventures
Web3 infrastructure provider Parfin has raised $15 million in seed funding led by Framework Ventures, with participation from Alexia Ventures, Valor Capital Group, and L4 Venture Builder, the investment fund of the Brazilian Stock Exchange. L4's investment is yet to be confirmed. Parfin is currently developing Parchain, a permissioned EVM-compatible blockchain that will enable regulated entities to participate in DeFi and asset tokenization. Founded in 2019, Parfin started as a company that planned to develop a regulated stablecoin and has now grown into an infrastructure provider that provides digital asset custody, trading, tokenization, and management tools to financial institutions in Latin America.
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ZK oracle network Hyper Oracle completes $3 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by dao5 and Sequoia China Seed Fund
ZK oracle network Hyper Oracle announced the completion of a $3 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by dao5 and Sequoia China Seed Fund, with participation from Foresight Ventures, FutureMoney Group and others. The funds will be used for the development of the ZK middleware protocol and ZK oracle network, as well as cutting-edge research in zero-knowledge proof technology. Hyper Oracle is building middleware protocols for the ZK indexing protocol and the ZK automation protocol to provide end-to-end fully decentralized infrastructure for Web3 applications. Hyper Oracle recently released research on ZK-based Ethereum consensus and open-sourced the implementation of the relevant cryptographic curve pairing library based on Halo2.
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Web3 Credentials Protocol Gateway Completes $4.2 Million Seed Round, Led by Reciprocal Ventures
Web3 credential protocol Gateway has completed a $4.2 million seed round of financing, led by Reciprocal Ventures, with participation from 6th Man Ventures, Spartan Group, Figment, and angel investors including Polygon's Sandeep Nailwal and Messari's Ryan Selkis. The round closed in the second quarter of last year and was achieved through an equity plus token warrant arrangement. The funds will be used to continue developing its protocol and expand team members. Gateway was founded by Rahman and Sanket Jain in 2021 for decentralized certificate issuance and maintenance. Its credentials are stored on Arweave, a blockchain-based data storage protocol. It currently supports credentials on the Ethereum blockchain and plans to integrate Solana in the near future.
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Nil Foundation, a developer of ZK technology, completes $22 million in financing, led by Polychain Capital
Nil Foundation, a developer of ZK technology, has raised $22 million at a valuation of $220 million. The round closed at the end of last year, led by Polychain Capital, with participation from IOSG Ventures, Blockchain Capital, StarkWare, and Mina Protocol. The new funds will be used to further roll out the Proof Market Protocol and build solutions that improve the speed, security, and reliability of blockchain data. Founded in 2018, Nil Foundation is the developer of the Proof Market Protocol, which enables Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains and protocols to generate zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs on demand.
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KYC and AML solutions startup Blue completes $3.2 million in funding
Blue, a startup that provides KYC and AML solutions for DeFi protocol traders, has completed a $3.2 million seed round of financing, led by Blockchange Ventures and Fenbushi Capital, with participation from DoraHacks, Knollwood Investment Advisory, and Gate.io. This round of financing will be used to complete security audits by Halborn and Verilog Solutions and expand Blue's core team. Blue plans to bring the company's licensed DeFi solution to market in the first quarter of 2023. Blue is a finalist in the ETHDenver 2022 hackathon. After that, the company participated in Outlier Venture's DeFi Base Camp Accelerator, Binance MVB program, and Startup with Chainlink's incubator, among others.
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Decentralized database WeaveDB completes $900,000 seed round of financing Permanent Ventures WeaveDB, a decentralized database based on smart contracts, announced the completion of a $900,000 seed round of financing, led by Permanent Ventures, with participation from IOSG Ventures, Mask Network, Arweave, Hansa, Next Web Capital, CMTD, Formless Capital and Gitcoin co-founder Scott Moore. WeaveDB brings a Web2-like user experience to Web3 users and developers through a NoSQL DB similar to the document database Firestore on smart contracts. Users do not need to log in with a crypto wallet or pay gas fees. Developers can use WeaveDB to build decentralized Twitter and a new GitHub.
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Obol Labs, a distributed validator technology provider, completes $12.5 million in financing, led by Pantera and Archetype
Obol Labs, a provider of distributed validator technology (DVT), has completed a $12.5 million financing round, led by Pantera Capital and Archetype. Obol Labs' cumulative financing has reached $19 million. Obol Labs will build decentralized validator technology. Obol Labs said it has been working with Lido and StakeWise to use DVT to distribute user funds between operators more safely and efficiently.
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DeFi
One-stop DeFi application Autofarm receives $5 million in private strategic investment
One-stop DeFi application Autofarm has received $5 million in private strategic investment. The specific information has not been disclosed. The funds raised will be used to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies to develop new products and new features, such as automated investment strategies driven by AI/ML algorithms to help users maximize their returns in the DeFi world. Autofarm's products can dynamically analyze real-world data, identify profitable opportunities, and make autonomous decisions to achieve optimal asset allocation across multiple blockchain networks.
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Liquidity staking protocol Diva completes $3.5 million seed round led by A&T Capital
The decentralized liquidity staking protocol Diva has completed a $3.5 million seed round of financing, led by A&T Capital, with participation from Gnosis, Bankless, OKX Blockdream Ventures, Metaweb, DCV Capital, Alphemy Capital, Very Early Ventures and Stake.vc as well as some angel investors. Diva will be launched in late January 2023. Diva CEO Pablo Villalba said, "Diva is an ultra-light client that connects to existing Ethereum execution and consensus clients through a standard API. Diva will allow stakers to stake any amount of ETH, with no minimum limit, and without running any nodes. In addition, only 1 ETH participant can set up a node."
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Lending protocol Acumen receives strategic investment from Avalanche ecosystem fund Blizzard and will open a $20 million deposit pool
Lending protocol Acumen Network announced that it has received strategic investment from Blizzard, the Avalanche ecosystem fund. Previously, Acumen has provided more than $250,000 in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises in El Salvador through pilot projects. Acumen plans to open a deposit pool of up to $20 million, starting with the Avalanche platform. In addition, Acumen plans to expand globally and deploy on various EVM-compatible networks including NEAR and FUEL.
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DeFi protocol Davos completes $500,000 Pre-Seed round of financing
Polygon's DeFi protocol Davos has completed a $500,000 Pre-Seed round of financing, with participation from Polygon Ventures and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal. Davos aims to launch ankrMATIC, a MATIC liquidity staking product, which also allows users to borrow stablecoin DAVOS with MATIC as collateral.
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DeFi protocol Elixir completes $2.1 million seed round
DeFi protocol Elixir has completed a $2.1 million seed round of financing, with investors including FalconX, Commonwealth, OP Crypto, ChapterOne, and BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes. Elixir aims to allow anyone to participate in market making on centralized and decentralized exchanges through a decentralized protocol. Elixir will launch a public testnet.
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Asset Management
Digital asset investment bank BitOoda completes first round of Series A financing, led by RWE Energy Transition Investments
Digital asset investment bank BitOoda has completed its first phase of Series A financing. The specific amount was not disclosed. RWE Energy Transition Investments led the investment. The funds raised will be used to enable BitOoda to accelerate the expansion of innovative and compliant capital market solutions for institutional clients, including investment banking, customized structured products, spot and derivatives brokerage, research and consulting services. It also plans to further expand its industry-leading regulatory posture and expand its team to seek opportunities around high-performance computing, tokenization and zero-knowledge infrastructure commercialization.
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Crypto payment platform SphereOne completes $2.5 million financing led by Distributed Global
Crypto payment platform SphereOne has raised $2.5 million in funding led by Distributed Global, with participation from Newark Venture Partners, Zero Knowledge, Leore Avidar of Alt.xyz and Lob.com, and Eric Feldman of Bolt.com as angel investors. SphereOne allows users to make purchases with any cryptocurrency on any blockchain, prioritizing the immediacy of transactions and functionality, including one-click checkout and the ability to simplify fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchanges.
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Web3 investment firm DWF Labs strategically invests $5 million in Mask Network by purchasing tokens
Web3 investment firm DWF Labs announced a strategic investment and collaboration with Mask Network by purchasing $5 million worth of MASK tokens. The investment will be used to support the continued construction of the decentralized social network and the entire Mask Network ecosystem, making Web3 more accessible.
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Obligate, a blockchain-based debt securities startup, completes $4 million in seed round extension financing, with Circle Ventures and others participating
Obligate, a blockchain-based regulated debt securities startup, has completed a $4 million seed round extension financing, with Blockchange Ventures and Circle Ventures participating. Currently, Obligate's total seed round financing has exceeded $8.5 million and will be launched on the Polygon network next month. Obligate allows companies to issue on-chain bonds and commercial paper, or debt securities that define loan terms, to obtain funds from investors in a regulated DeFi environment. Issuers must pass KYC to create a bond program that suits their liquidity needs, and liquidity will be denominated in stablecoins such as USDC. Investors will be able to access Obligate through a crypto wallet and hold the corresponding eNote (ERC20 token), which has the right to receive payment at maturity or collateral in the event of default.
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NFT and blockchain games
Web3 entertainment technology developer Sortium completes $7.75 million in financing
Web3 entertainment technology developer Sortium has completed a $7.75 million seed round of financing, with investors including cryptocurrency hedge fund Arca. According to documents Sortium submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the target amount of this round of financing is $14 million, but Sortium said that the seed round of financing will accept a maximum of $2 million in investment, and it is not necessary to reach the target financing amount. Sortium aims to develop games independently or with the help of partners through artificial intelligence technology.
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Web3 and social game publisher Carry1st completes $27 million financing, led by BITKRAFT Ventures
Carry1st, an African Web3 and social game publisher, has completed a $27 million financing round, led by BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), TTV Capital, Alumni Ventures, Lateral Capital, Kepple Ventures, and Konvoy. Carry1st is developing a test platform called Play1st, which allows gamers interested in Web3 games to discover games on the platform, comment within the community, and display achievements and rewards. In January 2022, Carry1st completed a $20 million Series A financing round, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Avenir, Google's parent company Alphabet, Riot Games, Konvoy Ventures, Raine Ventures, and TTV Capital. The funds raised will be used to further expand product development in Africa.
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Neopets Metaverse, a metaverse game, completes $4 million in financing, with Polygon Ventures and others participating
Neopets Metaverse, a metaverse game launched by online game Neopets, has completed a $4 million financing round, with participation from Polygon Ventures, Blizzard Avalanche Ecosystem Fund, Hashkey Capital, IDG Capital and NetDragon Websoft. The funds raised will be used to further achieve growth and provide immersive gaming experiences, while working with investors and the wider GameFi community. Neopets Metaverse is a P2E, community-driven virtual pet game based on the original Neopets classic game.
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Metaverse land trading project Metahood completes $3 million seed round of financing, led by 1confirmation
Metahood, a metaverse land trading project, was officially launched and announced the completion of a $3 million seed round of financing, led by 1confirmation, with participation from Volt Capital, Flamingo DAO, Neon DAO, Sébastien Borget, co-founder of The Sandbox, John Crain, co-founder of SuperRare, Brian O'Hagan, and other investors. The funds raised will be used to expand the number of employees and enhance the platform's functionality. Currently, it can realize land transactions in Otherside, The Sandbox, Decentraland, etc. The goal is to provide the best digital land trading experience through 3D interactive maps applicable to each metaverse world, the background of a given land (neighbors, prices, etc.), and the aggregated liquidity of major markets.
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Creator Metaverse Project Createra Completes $10 Million Series A Funding, Led by a16z
Createra, a metaverse project for creators, has completed a $10 million Series A financing round led by a16z. The funds raised will be used to continue building a metaverse platform centered on Generation Z. Createra is a UGC metaverse engine that enables creators to create, distribute and MetaFi games. Createra provides users with a unique crypto-native autonomous world with features including cross-platform games and instant accessibility. In addition, everything built on land within the platform is tradable, including models, games, APIs, etc. Any creation can be monetized.
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Metaverse development company Virtualtech Frontier completes seed round of financing
Virtualtech Frontier, a metaverse development company, has completed a seed round of financing, with participation from Blockchain Founders Fund, with an undisclosed amount. This round of financing will be used to grow the team, support marketing activities and further develop their platform Mitoworld.io. Mitoworld.io is designed to allow the community to easily create and share their own metaverse.
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Web3 gaming platform Intella X completes $12 million in financing, with Polygon and others participating
Web3 gaming platform Intella X announced the completion of a $12 million financing round, with participation from Polygon, Animoca Brands, Magic Eden, Planetarium, Big Brain Holdings, Crit Ventures, JoyCity, Pearl Abyss, XL Games, Wemix and Global Coin Research. The platform is scheduled to go live later in the first quarter, and the products launched will also include Intella X's proprietary Web3 wallet, decentralized exchange, NFT market, Launchpad and some games. Intella X is a Web3 gaming platform developed by Korean gaming company Neowiz in collaboration with Polygon. The platform will reward contributors to its ecosystem, including game developers and users, through its native tokens, and redistribute its revenue share back to contributors through its decentralized revenue distribution protocol.
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Web3
Digital fashion platform House of Blueberry completes $6 million in financing
Digital fashion platform House of Blueberry has completed a $6 million financing round, led by Makers Fund and participated by Everblue Management. This round of financing will be used to expand partnerships with games and other virtual worlds. House of Blueberry was founded by Mishi McDuff in 2012 and has sold more than 20 million digital assets under its own brand on platforms such as Roblox, The Sims and Second Life. According to the latest Form D filing disclosed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, House of Blueberry has completed a new round of financing of $600, with two investors participating, but the relevant investor information has not been disclosed yet.
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Web3 fashion community Syky completes $9 million Series A financing, led by Seven Seven Six
Web3 luxury fashion community Syky has completed a $9 million Series A financing round, led by Seven Seven Six, with participation from Brevan Howard Digital, Leadout Capital, First Light Capital Group, and Polygon Ventures. Syky will also issue an NFT membership pass, The Keystone, on January 20, which will give holders exclusive access to connect and collaborate with other creators on the platform, and to participate in online and offline fashion events. Syky intends to use the financing funds to build the Syky team, integrate designers into the community, and develop products and technologies. Syky founder and CEO Alice Delahunt said Syky will become an incubator, market, and social community for a new generation of fashion designers and consumers.
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Crated, a membership-based wine community using blockchain technology, completes $7.2 million in financing
Crated, a membership-based wine community using blockchain technology, announced the completion of a $7.2 million financing to further innovate the blockchain-based wine community and expand the market. Launched in 2021, Crurated is a membership-based wine community that aims to connect connoisseurs with world-class producers and prove transactions through blockchain and NFTs.
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Web3 sleep monitoring and Sleep-to-Earn mobile app Sleepagotchi completes $3.5 million in financing
Web3 sleep monitoring and Sleep-to-Earn mobile app Sleepagotchi has completed $3.5 million in financing from 6th Man Ventures, Collab+Currency, Shima Capital, 1kx, DeFi Alliance, Sfermion, Emoote, and LCA Game Guild. Angel investors include Duolingo Vice President of Product Cem Kansu, Santiago R. Santos and Mona founder Justin Melillo. 6th Man Ventures partner and Staytuned CEO Serge Kassardjian will join the Sleepagotchi board as a director, and Collab+Currency managing partner Derek Schloss will join as an observer. This round of financing will be used for product development and initial scaling. The seed round was completed in September 2022. Sleepagotchi rewards users who reach consistent sleep goals with digital collectibles, aiming to help users improve their sleep habits through game-like interactions and social elements. Sleepagotchi launched in closed beta in November 2022 and is now available on the iOS App Store, with Android development underway. Registration requires an access code, which can be obtained from current users, the email waitlist on the website, or Discord participation.
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Crypto content platform Collective Shift completes $1.5 million financing at a valuation of $15 million, with RNR Capital and others participating
Crypto content platform Collective Shift has completed a $1.5 million financing at a valuation of $15 million. JPMorgan Chase-backed fund RNR Capital and others participated in the investment. The new funds are specifically used to establish more partnerships with traditional companies exploring NFT projects and educate their customers. Collective Shift's CEO acquired the company from Saunders in 2021. Saunders faces allegations that he misappropriated $9 million of investor funds.
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Web3 ownership sharing platform pieFi completes $4.6 million seed round
Web3 ownership sharing platform pieFi announced the completion of a $4.6 million seed round of financing, led by Kickstart Seed Fund and participated by Origin Ventures. At the same time, pieFi announced the launch of the Upside.coop ownership sharing platform to help companies establish ownership-based loyalty and retention programs with customers and fans.
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Japanese Web3 startup HashPort plans to raise 900 million yen
Japanese Web3 startup HashPort plans to raise 900 million yen (about 7 million U.S. dollars) through a third-party allotment. Underwriters include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and a fund operated by Edge Capital Partners of the University of Tokyo. The funds will be used to strengthen corporate consulting business and invest in NFT business using Japanese IP. HashPort Group has been committed to the research and development of blockchain technology since 2018. Its subsidiaries include HashPort, which is engaged in blockchain-related consulting and system solutions business, HashPalette, which is engaged in NFT-related business, and HashBank, which is engaged in financial infrastructure business.
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Web3 and AI social platform PLAI Labs completes $32 million in financing, a16z invests
Web3 and AI social platform PLAI Labs has completed a $32 million seed round led by a16z Games and a16z crypto. The lab was founded by technology veterans Chris DeWolfe and Aber Whitcomb, who were the founders of the social media platform MySpace and the game studio Jam City. PLAI Labs' first entertainment experience is the blockchain game Champions Ascension built on the platform. In addition, PLAI Labs is also building an AI protocol platform that will help handle everything from user-generated content (UGC) to matching to 2D to 3D asset rendering. Founded in 2003, MySpace was one of the first social networks to reach millions of users around the world. Jam City is known for mobile games such as Cookie Jam, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, and Disney Emoji Blitz. They have more than 30 million active users per month and billions of downloads.
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other
Courtside Ventures launches $100 million venture capital fund to invest in blockchain games and other fields
Courtside Ventures announced that its third early-stage venture capital fund Fund III has raised $100 million. The new fund will focus on sports, collectibles and games. Kai Bond, a partner of Courtside Ventures, also said that the new fund will also invest in blockchain games because Web3 will bring new distribution forms and monetization solutions to the game market. Fund III's investors include the Atlanta Hawks, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets, Monumental Sports (Washington Wizards, Capitals, Mystics), LAFC, Atletico Madrid and DC United's ownership groups. Minority shareholders of NBA, MLB, NHL, EPL and important industry figures Larry Fitzgerald and Shaquille O'Neal have also invested.
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SSV DAO launches $50 million ecosystem fund to advance Ethereum’s decentralization initiatives
SSV DAO, the decentralized organization behind Ethereum staking infrastructure ssv.network, has launched a $50 million fund led by SSV and Digital Currency Group DCG to help improve the decentralized validator technology (DVT) infrastructure, which refers to a technical development that allows Ethereum proof-of-stake validators to run on multiple nodes at the same time. SSV DAO allocated a $10 million grant to Ethereum staking projects in July 2022 to build DVT projects using the SSV protocol.
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Steven Bartlett, founder of Web3 developer platform Thirdweb, launches $100 million fund to invest in blockchain and other fields
Steven Bartlett, founder of Web3 developer platform Thirdweb, has raised $100 million for his new investment fund, Flight Story Fund, which is looking to invest in 20 companies, ranging from $1 million to $10 million. Flight Story’s focus will be on high-revenue growth businesses in six different sectors, including blockchain, biotech, health and well-being, commerce, technology, and space.
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HashKey Capital’s third fund raises $500 million, focusing on Web3 infrastructure, tools and other projects
HashKey Fintech Investment Fund III, the third fund of HashKey Capital, has completed fundraising with a scale of US$500 million. LPs include sovereign wealth funds, large enterprises and family offices. The fund will explore outstanding crypto and blockchain projects around the world, while focusing on growing emerging market opportunities. The main investment targets include infrastructure, tools and applications with large-scale popularization potential. HashKey Capital is an asset management institution under HashKey Group that focuses on blockchain technology and digital assets. It manages more than US$1 billion in customer assets and has invested in Web3 and crypto projects including Cosmos, Coinlist, Aztec, Blockdaemon, dYdX, imToken, Animoca Brands, Mask Network, Falcon X, Polkadot, Moonbeam, Space and Time, and Galxe. In addition, in September last year, HashKey Capital obtained regulatory approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and obtained a digital asset fund management license (Type 9); in November, HashKey Capital obtained a capital market services license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and can provide fund management services in Singapore.
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