Highlights of this issue
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 26 blockchain investment and financing events around the world last week (May 13-19), with a total funding of over US$170 million. An overview is as follows:
DeFi announced 9 investment and financing events, among which the cryptocurrency trading platform Arbelos Markets completed a $28 million financing led by Dragonfly Capital;
The Web3 game track announced 7 investment and financing events, among which Web3 game developer Seeds Labs completed a $12 million seed round of financing, with Blizzard Fund and others participating in the investment;
The AI track announced one investment and financing event. ChainML, an AI platform supporting Web3, completed a $6.2 million seed round of expansion financing, led by Hack VC;
The Infrastructure and Tools track announced four financings, including Humanity Protocol, which announced a new round of financing of $30 million at a valuation of $1 billion, led by Kingsway Capital;
Other blockchain/crypto applications announced 4 financings, among which the crypto prediction market Polymarket has raised $70 million through two rounds of financing, the most recent round led by Founders Fund;
The centralized financial sector announced one financing. Raven, a crypto trading company founded by former Wintermute employees, completed a $2.7 million seed round of financing, led by Hack VC
DeFi
RWA platform Re completes $7 million in new round of financing and re-launches tokenized reinsurance fund on Avalanche
Re, a platform focused on providing tokenized reinsurance, announced on Tuesday that it has opened the first open reinsurance fund on the Avalanche (AVAX) network. The fund’s first investors include crypto insurance alternative provider Nexus Mutual, which has a $15 million allocation, and Ava Labs’ RWA-focused Vista Fund, which has a smaller deposit. Re has also raised $7 million in its latest venture round led by Electric Capital, following a $14 million seed round in late 2022. Regulated in the Cayman Islands, Re is committed to bringing blockchain technology to a traditionally opaque, conservative industry and aims to become a decentralized version of Lloyd’s of London, a top marketplace in the insurance market. Reinsurance companies provide coverage to insurance companies, collecting premiums to cover certain types of risks, and are at the heart of today’s financial markets and commerce.
DeFi protocol Shogun completes $6.9 million seed round of financing, token valuation reaches $69 million
Intensity Labs, the developer of the DeFi protocol Shogun, has completed a $6.9 million seed round of financing, led by Polychain Capital and DAO5, with participation from Arrington Capital, Arthur Hayes' family office Maelstrom and Build-a-Bera. In addition, angel investors such as Cobie, Ansem, Ser Shokunin and Meltem Demirors also participated in this round of financing. Co-founder Rahul Patel said that this round of financing brought Shogun's fully diluted token valuation to $69 million. It is reported that Shogun was incubated by Binance Labs. In March of this year, Binance Labs invested in a total of 7 startups including Shogun in the sixth incubation program.
Solana Ecosystem DEX Zeta Markets Completes $5 Million Strategic Financing, Led by Electric Capital
Zeta Markets, a decentralized exchange based on Solana, has raised $5 million in a strategic funding round led by Electric Capital. Other investors include Digital Asset Capital Management (DACM), Selini Capital, and Airtree Ventures. Angel investors participating in the round include Anatoly Yakovenko of Solana, Mert Mumtaz of Helius, Richard Wu of Tensor, Genia Mikhalchenko of Pyth, JMR Luna of Wintermute, and Nom of Bonk. Last month, Zeta Markets announced plans to launch its token, conduct an airdrop, and release its Solana Layer 2 rollup later this year. The funding will accelerate the development of the Layer 2 network. Zeta claims that its Solana Layer 2 rollup will be the first DeFi Layer 2 rollup built on Solana, using Solana for settlement and data availability, making it a "fully native rollup."
Bitcoin lending protocol Zest Protocol completes $3.5 million seed round of financing, with Binance Labs and others participating
Bitcoin lending protocol Zest Protocol has completed a $3.5 million seed round of financing, led by billionaire investor Tim Draper, with participation from Binance Labs, Flow Traders, Trust Machines, etc. According to reports, Zest Protocol uses the Nakamoto upgrade of Bitcoin Layer2 stack and the bridge asset sBTC to create a lending experience that is completely native to the Bitcoin blockchain network. Users will rely on sBTC to send Bitcoin to fund their balance on Zest Protocol on the Stacks mainnet, and then they can engage in lending or other income-generating activities.
Egypt's RWA fintech startup Mnzl completes $3.5 million seed round led by Localglobe
Egypt’s RWA fintech startup Mnzl has announced a $3.5 million seed round led by P1 Ventures, Localglobe and Ingressive Capital, with participation from 500 Global, Flat6Labs, First Circle Capital, Enza Capital, Beenok and a group of unnamed angel investors. Mnzl allows users to convert illiquid assets such as cars and real estate into liquid assets and upload assets to digital wallets for management.
On-chain order book development project Spark completes $1.5 million Pre-Seed round of financing
Spark, an on-chain order book development project based on Fuel Network, announced on the X platform that it has completed a $1.5 million Pre-Seed round of financing, with participation from P2 Ventures, Curiosity Capital, Unicorn Ventures, Fuel Network, etc. According to reports, Spark integrates a series of DeFi financial services such as perpetual contracts, order books, and lending functions, and also introduces a multi-collateral full-position margin system, supports diversified asset deposits and complex risk management liquidation protocols, while using order books and tools to promote non-custodial interactions. Spark officials said that it is raising seed round financing.
Decentralized trading platform Multipool completes new round of financing of US$600,000, led by NxGen
Decentralized trading platform Multipool announced the completion of a new round of financing of US$600,000, led by NxGen. The project has planned to launch Fjord Foundry LBP on May 21-23. Multipool currently focuses on cryptocurrencies related to real-world assets, aiming to provide traders with a fair and equal trading environment with compliance and innovative functions.
TON Ecosystem Decentralized AMM STON.fi Completes New Round of Financing, CoinFund Participates
TON ecosystem decentralized automatic market maker STON.fi announced the completion of a new round of financing, with CoinFund participating. The specific amount of financing and valuation data have not been disclosed yet. The new funds will be used to further strengthen its operations, thereby expanding financial services to Telegram users, allowing users to trade encrypted assets across multiple blockchains without bridging or packaging.
Perpetual contract trading platform nftperp completes angel round financing
NFTperp, a perpetual contract trading platform for NFT, has completed a new angel round of financing. Angel investors such as Zeneca, Dingaling, Sergito, @BaoLeKV, @BlurCrypto, and @Bribe participated in the investment. The specific amount and valuation information have not been disclosed. In addition, nftperp also announced that it will launch more new features. After the recent launch of Blast Gold, nftperp received 108,199 Gold in the latest batch of allocations. In addition to the approximately 25,000 Gold previously held, nftperp will increase incentives for users, but users need to provide real trading volume and liquidity to obtain allocation rewards. The reward rules for AMM depositors have not changed for the time being, and liquidity providers will receive reward income based on the fees generated by their positions.
Web3 Games
Web3 gaming infrastructure developer Param Labs raises $7 million in funding led by Animoca Brands
Web3 gaming infrastructure developer Param Labs has raised $7 million worth of funding in a “significantly oversubscribed” investment round led by Animoca Brands, with participation from Delphi Ventures, Cypher Capital, P2 Ventures (formerly Polygon Ventures), Mechanism Capital, Merit Circle, TRGC Capital, Double Peak Group, and MH Ventures. Animoca Labs co-founder Yat Siu and Face Clan founder Banks also made strategic investments in the protocol.
Blockchain game CROSS THE AGES completes $3.5 million equity financing, led by Animoca Brands
CROSS THE AGES (CTA), a multimedia game ecosystem based on science fiction fantasy IP, announced the completion of a $3.5 million equity financing led by Animoca Brands. With additional investments from Sebastien Borget of The Sandbox and Nicolas Jeuffrain of Tenergie, the total financing of this round has risen to $15 million. As of now, the total financing, including community financing, is $23.5 million. In addition, CTA's native token will be listed on trading platforms such as Bybit, KuCoin, GATE and MEXC.
Web3 football fantasy game GOALAI completes $3 million financing, led by IDG capital
Web3 football fantasy game GOALAI has completed a $3 million financing at a valuation of $25 million, led by IDG Capital, with participation from KuCoin Ventures, Chain Capital, and OptaJoe. Previously, GOALAI also received a $400,000 sponsorship from Sportsbetio. GOALAI is committed to closely integrating the football world with Web3, using blockchain NFTs to integrate with real-world football communities, clubs, fans, and competitions, and applying AI artificial intelligence to bring potential and commercial value to web3 football enthusiasts.
Anime game metaverse Sekuya announces it has raised $1.6 million in early-stage funding
Sekuya announced on X Platform that it has raised $1.6 million in early-stage financing to build an anime and game metaverse and lifestyle loyalty platform with brands. SingularityDAO led the investment, with OIG Capital, GAINS Associates, NewTribe Capital, SEED THRIFT VENTURES, Bigger Than Race VC, and angel investors Casiraghi Mario A., SingularityNET, R1n, and W3GG participating. According to reports, Sekuya is an anime and game metaverse platform incubated by SingularityDAO and supported by Immutable. The first round of Sekuya TGE will be launched at 20:00 Beijing time today for reserved allocation holders. The first round will be open for 48 hours and end at 20:00 Beijing time on May 16.
Layer3 network developer Anomaly completes $1.45 million Pre-Seed round of financing
Anomaly, an AI zero-gas Layer3 network developer focused on games and Telegram users, has raised $1.45 million in an oversubscribed Pre-Seed round of funding, with participation from Decasonic, Shima Capital, BreakOrbit, and Round13 Capital. In addition, Zeneca, the founder of Web3 luminary and The 333 Club, also made a strategic investment to support Anomaly's vision. Anomaly is an AI game studio and Layer 3 blockchain that integrates small games built with a custom AI engine on a widely used social platform. The company is preparing for a node sale and ecosystem token issuance later this year, promising to further consolidate its position in the Web3 gaming ecosystem.
Baby Shark Universe Completes Seed Round Financing, Animoca Brands and Other Investors
The metaverse project Baby Shark Universe announced that it has completed a seed round of financing with a valuation of US$34 million. Animoca Brands, CREDIT SCEND, Sui Foundation, Comma3 Ventures, Creditcoin, GM Ventures, Neuler, Notch Ventures, X+ and Planetarium participated in the investment. The specific amount has not been disclosed. The new funds will be used for development and global market marketing. It is reported that Baby Shark Universe is an open world role-playing game in which players can create their own game content (items, maps), enjoy content created by other players, and expand the narrative of the game according to their own choices and actions. Baby Shark Universe is developed by senior developers with more than ten years of experience at the Korean game company Nexon. Baby Shark Universe will provide a variety of metaverse-based gameplay, including combat, collection and production, as well as NFT transactions between users. It will also eventually support user-generated content (UGC) functions, in which users can create and contribute their own content.
Telegram-based iGaming platform Boxbet completes strategic round of financing
Boxbet, an iGaming platform based on Telegram, announced that it has completed a strategic round of financing, but the specific amount has not been disclosed. Boxbet said that investors include crypto funds that support Solana and a global top iGaming operator. The names of these investors will be made public in the coming weeks. Boxbet said that it will enhance the online gaming experience through a series of unique features and launch a user reward mechanism. According to information disclosed on its website, 30% of its revenue will be used to purchase and destroy native tokens on the Ethereum chain, and eventually destroy 75% of the token supply.
AI
ChainML, an AI platform supporting Web3, completes $6.2 million in seed round extension financing, led by Hack VC
ChainML, a Web3-enabled AI platform, has raised $6.2 million in an extended seed round and launched an agent base layer called Theoriq. The round was led by Hack VC, with participation from Foresight Ventures, Inception Capital, HTX Ventures, Figment Capital, Hypersphere Ventures, and Alumni Ventures. ChainML co-founder and CEO Ron Bodkin (former technical director of Google Applied AI) said the round was made at the end of last year and was structured as equity and token warrants, and is now announced with Theoriq. Bodkin declined to comment on valuation. It is reported that ChainML is a Web3-enabled AI research and development company that aims to decentralize AI access. Today, the company launched an agent base layer called Theoriq, a framework for autonomous AI agents to complete complex tasks.
Infrastructure & Tools
Humanity Protocol Completes $30 Million New Round of Financing with $1 Billion Valuation, Animoca Brands and Others Participate
Humanity Protocol announced that it has completed a new round of financing of $30 million at a valuation of $1 billion, led by Kingsway Capital, with participation from Animoca Brands, Blockchain.com and Shima Capital. Founder Terence Kwok said the company has also raised about $1.5 million from influential crypto figures in "KOL". Kwok said the startup plans to launch its test network in the second quarter, and the current waiting list is about 500,000 people. When launching its technology, it plans to first release an application that can use a mobile phone camera to scan people's palm prints to determine their identity.
It is reported that Humanity Protocol uses palmprint recognition technology and zero-knowledge proof to ensure user privacy and security, aiming to provide an easily accessible and non-intrusive method for establishing human proof in Web3 applications.
Web3 infrastructure company Chainstack completes $6 million in financing, with SBI Ven Capital and others participating
Chainstack, a Web3 infrastructure company headquartered in Singapore, has completed a $6 million financing round, with investors including SBI Ven Capital, Sygnum, Azimut Group, Unicorn Factory Ventures, etc. Chainstack provides tools and services to help developers create, deploy and scale blockchain applications without having to manage the underlying infrastructure. The company works with more than 25 public chains, serves more than 100,000 Web3 developers, processes more than 100 billion requests per month, and has an uptime of more than 99.99%.
Blockchain SaaS solution AfriDex completes $5 million Pre-Seed round of financing
AfriDex, a blockchain software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, announced the completion of a $5 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Endeavor Ventures, with participation from African Crops Limited, Oldenburg Vineyards and Hank Oberoi. It is reported that AfriDex is headquartered in London, UK, and currently focuses on the agricultural market, providing support and protection for supply chain participants through comprehensive on-chain solutions, using blockchain technology to achieve traceability, frictionless payments, anti-fraud transactions, verified certification, and simplified tax and subsidy management.
ZK project Hylé completes $2.6 million in new round of financing, led by Framework Ventures
Zero-knowledge project Hylé has raised $2.6 million in a new round of financing led by venture capital firm Framework Ventures. Other companies participating in the investment include Cherry Crypto, Fabric Ventures, First Capital and Heartcore Capital. Hylé co-founder Sylve Chevet said that as of now, Hylé's total initial financing has reached $3.4 million, and its NFT project briqNFT has also brought in $1.5 million in revenue. Hylé's board members will remain unchanged. Hylé is building the Hylé network that uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) to achieve scalability and privacy. According to a statement released by Hylé, the network hopes to become the core layer of the modular ZK technology stack. The Hylé network runs its unique consensus mechanism, designed for ZKP verification, providing developers and users with options that suit their systems.
other
social media
Web3 social application Focus Tree completes $2 million seed round of financing
Web3 social application Focus Tree announced the completion of a $2 million seed round of financing, led by Sfermion, with participation from Volt Capital, Psalion VC, StarkWare, Typhon Ventures, Foresight Ventures, etc. In addition, the first phase of Focus Tree's community airdrop will begin in three days.
Gamic, a social dApp once supported by Binance Labs, has raised $1.8 million
Web3 community application Gamic announced that it has successfully raised $1.8 million through multiple rounds of financing. This round of financing was incubated by Binance Labs and developed by Fundamental Labs, and also received funding support from multiple institutions such as Polygon Ventures, Gate.io, Mapleblock, Mulana, Double Peak Group, Momentum6, DWeb3 Capital, and LD Capital. In addition, well-known angel investors such as Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, Krypto’s Fund, Onega Ventures, Xend Finance co-founder Ugo Aronu, and bitsCrunch founder Vijay Pravin also participated in this round of financing. Gamic’s community application aims to provide a new interactive platform for the Web3 field.
UXLINK Completes New Round of Financing, Led by SevenX Ventures, INCE Capital and HashKey Capital
Social infrastructure project UXLINK announced that it has received a new round of financing led by SevenX Ventures, INCE Capital and HashKey Capital, and introduced multiple investors. This round of financing totaled over US$5 million, and UXLINK has raised a total of over US$15 million to date, covering many first-line institutions and well-known individuals from Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East.
Encryption Applications
Crypto prediction market Polymarket has raised $70 million in two rounds of funding, with the latest round led by Founders Fund
Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm Founders Fund is betting big on one of the largest cryptocurrency prediction markets, Polymarket, even as key U.S. regulators step up efforts to limit activity on such platforms. Polymarket has raised $70 million in two rounds of funding, the latest led by Founders Fund, a Polymarket spokesman said, and the company’s backers also include Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. The platform attracts users to predict the outcomes of various events, with bets on the 2024 U.S. presidential election becoming the most popular contract.
Polymarket's $45 million Series B round was led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and existing investors 1confirmation and ParaFi, with participation from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Dragonfly and Eventbrite co-founder Kevin Hartz. General Catalyst earlier helped the company raise $25 million in its Series A round, with participation from Airbnb's Joe Gebbia and Polychain. The new funds value the company at a lower level than previously discussed. Bloomberg previously reported that the company was valued at nearly $1 billion before the CFTC took action.
Centralized Finance
Raven, a crypto trading company founded by former Wintermute employees, completes $2.7 million seed round led by Hack VC
Raven, a cryptocurrency proprietary trading company, announced the completion of a $2.7 million seed round of financing, led by Hack VC, with participation from Wintermute Ventures and several undisclosed angel investors. The company began raising this round of financing in November last year and closed it last month. This is a round of equity financing, with no token plan, and this round of financing brings Raven's valuation to $25 million. It is reported that Raven was co-founded by three former Wintermute employees and is a proprietary high-frequency algorithmic trading company and market maker active in centralized and decentralized exchanges. Raven also recently partnered with crypto index provider Global Markets Crypto Intelligence (co-founded by Wintermute and The Block) to support its flagship index GMCI 30. With the new funds in place, Raven plans to expand to more centralized and decentralized exchanges.
Venture Capital
TrueBridge Blockchain I, a blockchain fund under TrueBridge, has raised $62 million
TrueBridge Capital Partners announced that its five funds have raised $1.6 billion, including: TrueBridge Capital Partners Fund VIII raised $884 million; TrueBridge Direct Fund III raised $253 million, which will focus on mid- and late-stage technology companies; TrueBridge Secondaries I raised $230 million, focusing on mixed investment portfolios; TrueBridge Seed & Micro-VC II raised $189 million, focusing on seed stage and micro-venture capital; blockchain fund TrueBridge Blockchain I raised $62 million, focusing on seeking high-potential blockchain project investment portfolios. It is reported that TrueBridge Capital Partners launched a blockchain fund for the first time. Mel Williams, general partner of the fund, said that the fund recognized the potential of blockchain technology very early, and the launch of this exclusive fund emphasized its continued commitment to this field.