Compiled by: Luan Peng, RootData
According to incomplete statistics from RootData, from July 8 to July 14, 2024, there were 19 public investment and financing events in the blockchain and encryption industry, with a total financing of approximately US$132 million.
From the perspective of track distribution, the projects that received financing are mainly distributed in the infrastructure, Defi and artificial intelligence tracks. Popular projects include blockchain payment and settlement technology company Partior, Solana shared sequencer Rome, crypto payment startup Kulipa, Telegram crypto game ecosystem Pixelverse, and Blast-based token distribution protocol ZAP.
In addition, the full-chain AI aggregator Aidatify completed its first round of financing of US$8.3 million with a valuation of US$150 million, with STIX and others participating in the investment.
(List of projects that raised more than $5 million last week, data source: Rootdata)
1. Infrastructure
Web3 infrastructure ThirdFi completes $2 million in financing, Techstars and others participate
Web3 infrastructure ThirdFi completed a $2 million token investment, with Techstars, Chainlink, Outlier Ventures, Alphabit Capital and others participating. Currently, ThirdFi's fully diluted valuation (FDV) has reached $20 million.
It is reported that ThirdFi is a middleware solution focusing on multi-chain interoperability and all-in-1 API, with API application program interface solutions, multi-chain relays and cross-chain infrastructure. ThirdFi said that its V2 version is a modular AI that can be used for DeFi, which can capture the growth of developers and users in AI applications such as AI agents, models and signals. In the past two years, ThirdFi has accumulated more than 170,000 users and more than 46 million US dollars in mainnet and L2 transactions through cooperation with more than 50 Web3 communities and protocols. (Source link)
Crypto payment startup Kulipa completes $3 million seed round
According to The Block, crypto payment startup Kulipa announced earlier this month that it had completed a $3 million seed round of financing, led by Fabric Ventures and White Star Capital.
According to reports, the Paris-based startup was founded in 2023 to provide a platform for issuing crypto payment cards for non-custodial wallets. Kulipa can settle stablecoin transactions on multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, multiple Ethereum Layer2s, and Solana. Kulipa is one of the five blockchain startups in Mastercard's latest Start Path incubator program. (Source link)
Hybrid second-layer project BOB completes $1.6 million financing, led by Ledger Ventures
According to The Block, BOB (Build on Bitcoin), a hybrid second-layer project driven by Bitcoin and Ethereum, has completed a $1.6 million financing. Ledger Ventures led the investment, and angel round investors include well-known people from BlackRock, Rarible, Ordinals, Aave, Curve, Threshold, Magic Eden, Mechanism, Injective, Vessel Capital, Babylon and Centrifuge.
Of the funds raised, $1 million will be allocated to the BOB incubator to support new startups focused on Bitcoin infrastructure and BOB dapps. BOB aims to connect Bitcoin's mass adoption potential with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) functionality and its ecosystem by using Bitcoin to ensure security and give users access to aggregate solutions for dapps, DeFi, and stablecoins. (Source link)
Solana shared sequencer Rome completes $9 million financing, Hack VC participates
Solana shared sequencer Rome has completed $9 million in financing. The financing was participated by Hack VC, Polygon Ventures, HashKey, Portal Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Robot VC, LBank, Anagram, TRGC, Perridon Ventures and well-known angel investors including Anatoly Yakovenko, Nick White, Santiago Santos, Comfy Capital, Austin Federa, and Jason Yanowitz.
Rome was founded by Anil Kumar and Sattvik Kansal with the goal of making Solana the foundational network for shared sequencers and data availability (DA).
According to RootData, Rome Protocol is using Solana to build a shared sequencer network. Solana's throughput enables Rome to provide high-performance shared sequencers. Rollups do not have to worry about outsourcing their block production affecting user experience. (Source link)
Web3 identity layer idOS completes $4.5 million financing, led by Fabric Ventures
Web3 identity layer idOS has completed a $4.5 million financing round led by Fabric Ventures. idOS has formed an alliance with Arbitrum, Circle Ventures, RippleX, GnosisDAO, NEAR Protocol, etc. The alliance aims to develop the Web3 identity layer and promote the adoption of decentralized identity throughout the Web3 space.
According to reports, idOS is a decentralized data storage and access management protocol. It enables the ecosystem to provide an identity layer for dApps to solve compliant user onboarding issues and significantly reduce friction. For users, idOS provides control over their data and the ability to decide with whom to share the data. (Source link)
Decentralized AI agent workflow network Questflow Labs completes $1.5 million angel round of financing, led by MiraclePlus
According to the official blog, the decentralized AI agent workflow network Questflow Labs announced the completion of a $1.5 million angel round of financing, led by MiraclePlus, and participated by the founders of PAKA, AgentLayer, TypoX, Dmail Network, Chasm, and Litentry. This financing also includes the support of the Cohere incubator founded by Transformer author Aidan Gomez, the Web3+AI incubator initiated by Wanxiang and HashKey Capital, and ecological support such as Near, Aptos, and Tezos.
According to reports, Questflow Labs is pioneering a new direction for decentralized AI agent workflows, aiming to provide users with an integrated solution for user intent perception and distribution, AI agent workflow automation, and human-machine collaboration. Its innovative technology is based on two pillars: the multi-AI agent orchestration (MAO) engine and the decentralized AI agent network. Its self-developed multi-AI agent orchestration framework and model use natural language processing to schedule multiple AI agents, which can autonomously complete tasks by orchestrating multiple AI agents. (Source link)
2. Games
Telegram's encrypted game ecosystem Pixelverse has completed another $2 million in financing, with Galaxy Interactive and others participating
According to The Block, the Telegram-based encrypted game ecosystem Pixelverse has completed another $2 million in financing. Galaxy Interactive, Crit Ventures and Arc Community participated in this financing together with well-known individual investors in the cryptocurrency field Alex Kruger, Luke Belmar, and Mike Dudas. After this round of financing, its total financing amount has reached $7.5 million. (Source link)
Soccerverse completes $3.1 million funding round led by gaming giant Square Enix
According to Soccerverse’s official Twitter account, gaming giant Square Enix has joined the Soccerverse team and led its $3.1 million funding round. This investment will help Soccerverse revolutionize football management games through blockchain technology, allowing players to build fantasy teams, trade player influence, and experience the future of football games.
According to RootData, a Web3 asset data platform, Square Enix is one of the most influential video game providers in the world. Its famous game series include: Final Fantasy®, Dragon Quest®, Tomb Raider®, and the legendary Space Invaders®. (Source link)
3. Defi
Full-chain AI aggregator Aidatify completes $8.3 million first round of financing with a valuation of $150 million, with STIX and others participating
According to official news, the full-chain AI aggregator Aidatify completed its first round of financing with a total of US$8.3 million at a valuation of US$150 million. STIX, oilinvest, Alter Global, Spencer and others participated in the investment.
It is reported that Aidatif is built by the full-chain and DeFi infrastructure VGESS team, and the funds raised will be used to expand investment in the Aidatify ecosystem and products. (Source link)
On-chain credit and income platform Idle completes $1.1 million financing, led by RockawayX
Idle, an on-chain credit and yield platform, has completed a $1.1 million strategic financing led by RockawayX and participated by Fasanara Digital. This round of financing brings Idle's total financing to $2.4 million. The company plans to use the funds to further develop on-chain credit infrastructure, etc.
Idle is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that provides yield automation and hedging tools for the decentralized finance (DeFi) market. The platform has accumulated $300 million in liquidity and a trading volume of over $2 billion. (Source link)
Fixed-rate lending agreement Term Finance completes $5.5 million strategic financing, led by Electric Capital
Fixed-rate lending protocol Term Finance has completed a $5.5 million strategic financing led by Electric Capital, with participation from Arete Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund, Inception Capital, Blizzard Fund, Maelstrom, etc. The funds raised will be used to develop the protocol and accelerate Term's roadmap to simplify lending through features such as looping, passive lending, automation, and real-time alerts.
It is reported that Term is the first on-chain fixed-rate lending protocol that operates effectively at an institutional scale, providing more than US$100 million in loans through the protocol and continuously performing seven-figure liquidations every week.
According to RootData, Term is a non-custodial, scalable fixed-rate lending protocol that uses a novel on-chain auction double auction mechanism to determine the fixed interest rates for borrowers and lenders trading on the platform. It brings borrowers and lenders together in a fair and transparent auction process to determine a single market clearing rate that all participants will pay or receive, regardless of size. (Source link)
Satoshi Protocol, a full-chain stablecoin protocol, completes $2 million seed round financing and will actively expand the Bitcoin ecosystem
Satoshi Protocol, a stablecoin in the Bitcoin ecosystem, announced the completion of its seed round of financing. The total amount of this round of financing is US$2 million, led by CMS Holdings and RockTree Capital, and participated by Cypher Capital, Side Door Ventures, Optic Capital, Metalpha (NASDAQ: MATH, a subsidiary of Bitmain), Outliers Fund, Comma3, and angel investors Paul Taylor (ex-BlackRock) and Yenwen Feng (Perpetual Protocol).
Satoshi Protocol is the first over-collateralized stablecoin protocol in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Users can deposit BTC and interest-bearing assets based on BTC such as LST, mint the US dollar stablecoin $SAT at a collateral rate of 110%, and participate in transactions, liquidity pools, lending and other scenarios to earn income. Three months after its release, the protocol has been officially deployed on the BEVM and Bitlayer mainnets, and has also been connected to testnets such as BOB, Botanix, B², Anduro (incubated by MARA), and Omni Network for closed testing.
The team is working to expand the use of SAT stablecoins and has reduced the interest on minting stablecoins to 0%, aiming to encourage users and projects to build the BTC ecosystem. The latest announcement stated that Satoshi Protocol is developing Runes stablecoins based on the Bitcoin mainnet. In addition, through cooperation with projects such as Omini Network, it will connect the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems to realize the vision of "full-chain stablecoins". (Source link)
Tools
Blast-based token distribution protocol ZAP completes $15.1 million in financing
According to The Block, ZAP, a token distribution protocol based on Blast, completed $15.1 million in financing, reaching a valuation of $100 million.
The funds were raised in three recent rounds of funding, a $900,000 seed round in December, a $2.1 million private placement last month, and $12.1 million in the ongoing "treasury sale." The "treasury sale" is similar to a node sale, offering buyers daily managers of the yet-to-be-launched ZAP token, and is expected to eventually raise a total of $50 million when it sells out. (Source link)
Multi-chain search engine Dora completes $5.5 million in financing, Dragonfly and Lemniscap jointly lead the investment
According to official news, multi-chain search engine Dora announced the completion of US$5.5 million in financing, led by Dragonfly and Lemniscap, with participation from Robot Ventures, Maven 11, Arche Capital and others.
It is reported that Dora has created the Dora block browser and Dora discovery engine to promote on-chain adoption and will enhance all interoperability solutions integrated into Dora. (Source link)
V. Others
SocialFi platform RECRD completes $4 million financing, Sui Foundation leads the investment
According to Alexablockchain, SocialFi platform RECRD announced the completion of a $4 million financing round, led by Sui Foundation, with participation from angel investors such as DNA Fund, Alphabit Fund, and former Netflix co-founder Mitch Lowe and former NBA player Mitch Richmon.
ECRD allows creators and users to convert their content into NFTs and gain instant monetization through dynamic video interactions. (Source link)
DeFi Technologies signs letter of intent to acquire market maker Stillman Digital
Canadian listed company DeFi Technologies signed a letter of intent to acquire digital asset liquidity provider Stillman Digital, whose core businesses include electronic trade execution, over-the-counter block trading and market making. According to the letter of intent, DeFi Technologies will acquire all issued and outstanding securities of Stillman Digital in exchange for 2.5 million shares of DeFi Technologies common stock, of which 1 million payment shares are subject to a lock-up plan and released quarterly within one year.
The two parties intend to reach a definitive agreement on the acquisition by July 31, 2024. (Source link)
Blockchain payment and settlement technology company Partior completes $60 million financing, led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India)
According to Bloomberg, Singapore's cross-border payment and settlement company Partior has completed a $60 million Series B financing round, led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India), with other investors including Jump Trading, Valor Capital and its existing shareholder Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, JPMorgan Chase and Standard Chartered Bank. (Source link)