Highlights of this Issue
According to PANews incomplete statistics, there were 29 blockchain investment and financing events globally last week (4.29-5.5), with a total funding scale exceeding $150 million, both of which decreased compared to the previous week. An overview is as follows:
- DeFi: There were 9 investment and financing events announced in the DeFi sector. RWA market Ironlight completed a $12 million financing, with most of it coming from individual investors with a Wall Street background.
- Web3 Games: There were 6 investment and financing events announced in the Web3 Games track, with Swedish game studio Patriots Division raising $5 million for its Web3 game Shadow War.
- AI: There was 1 investment and financing event announced in the AI-related field. Web3 developer platform Airstack completed a $4 million seed round of financing, led by Red Beard Ventures.
- Infrastructure and Tools: There were 5 financing events announced in the Infrastructure and Tools track, with modular liquidity protocol Mitosis announcing a $7 million financing, led by Amber Group and Foresight Ventures.
- Other Blockchain/Crypto Applications: There were 7 financing events announced in the Other Blockchain/Crypto Applications sector, with Web3 content publishing platform Paragraph completing a $5 million financing, with participation from USV and Coinbase Ventures.
- Centralized Finance: There was 1 financing event announced in the Centralized Finance sector, with LazyBear announcing the completion of a $4 million USDT strategic financing, with participating investors and strategic partners including Gogeko Labs and DWF Labs.
DeFi
Tokenization company Securitize completes $47 million financing, led by BlackRock
Tokenization company Securitize announced the successful completion of a $47 million strategic financing, led by BlackRock, with participation from Hamilton Lane, ParaFi Capital, Tradeweb Markets, Aptos Labs, Circle, and Paxos. As part of this round of financing, Joseph Chalom, Global Head of Strategic Ecosystems at BlackRock, has been appointed to the board of directors of Securitize. Securitize is pioneering the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), expanding opportunities for investors to enter traditionally proprietary private market areas.
RWA market Ironlight completes $12 million financing, plans to initiate SEC registration process
RWA market Ironlight completed a $12 million financing, with most of it coming from individual investors with a Wall Street background. Ironlight, founded by the former Global Head of Trading at Schroders and the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADIA, with the former CEO of TD Bank serving as an advisor, aims to tokenize private securities such as real estate, natural resources, art, public infrastructure, and private equity that typically lack liquidity. Its goal is to become a regulated market for tokenized real-world assets (RWA) under the supervision of the SEC. The development of the exchange has entered the later stages, and Ironlight has applied to become a regulated broker-dealer with the financial industry regulatory authority, with approval expected in the coming months, followed by the initiation of the SEC registration process.
Tokenized asset issuer Backed completes $9.5 million new round of financing
Tokenized asset issuer Backed completed a $9.5 million new round of financing, led by Gnosis, with participation from Exor Seeds, Cyber Fund, Mindset Ventures, Stake Capital Ventures, Blockchain Founders Fund, Blue Bay Capital, and Nonce Classic. With this investment, the company aims to accelerate the entry of its private tokenized issuance and asset management company into the blockchain channel. According to the company's website, Backed is supported by and based in Switzerland, and is regulated by Switzerland, providing tokenization services and has issued RWA assets worth over $50 million, including ERC-20 compatible exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and token versions of individual stocks (such as Coinbase (COIN) and Tesla (TSLA)).
Cross-chain DeFi protocol EYWA completes $7 million seed round of financing, led by Curve founder
Cross-chain DeFi protocol EYWA completed a $7 million seed round of financing, led by Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov, with participation from Fenbushi Capital, GBV Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Marshland Capital, and Mulana Capital. EYWA and Curve are collaborating to develop a trustless bridge that relies on a reliable messaging protocol consensus, eliminating the reliance on individual bridges in moving large liquidity positions.
Hybrid crypto exchange X10, founded by former Revolut employees, completes $6.5 million financing
The UK-based hybrid crypto exchange X10 announced the completion of a $6.5 million financing, with investments from Tioga Capital, Semantic Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Starkware, and Cyber Fund. In addition, there were some well-known angel investors participating, such as executives from Revolut and Konstantin Lomashuk, the founder of Lido. X10 will use this new funding to establish a new type of cryptocurrency exchange that combines the user experience of Revolut with self-custody of funds. X10 was founded by Revolut alumni and former cryptocurrency operations director Ruslan Fakhrutdinov. X10 operates as a hybrid central limit order book (CLOB) exchange. Order processing, matching, position risk assessment, and trade sequencing are all handled off-chain. Stellar's latency and throughput work in favor of market makers, allowing them to update the order book more quickly. In addition to security and superior performance, it aims to provide a user experience similar to CeFi exchanges and traditional web platforms in the DeFi space.
Celestia Ecosystem
The liquidity staking protocol MilkyWay of the Celestia ecosystem has completed a $5 million seed round of financing, jointly led by Binance Labs and Polychain Capital, with participation from Hack VC, Crypto.com Capital, and LongHash Ventures. MilkyWay is the first liquidity staking protocol launched in December last year within the Celestia ecosystem, and its only competitor at the moment is Stride. MilkyWay is also "tailored for a modular ecosystem," although it currently focuses only on liquidity staking of the Celestia (TIA) token. Data shows that MilkyWay's Total Value Locked (TVL) is approximately $24 million. MilkyWay also plans to launch its own token and conduct an airdrop in the coming months. MilkyWay is currently running a points program called mPoints.
DeFi Protocol Amphor Completes $4 Million Seed Round of Financing
DeFi protocol Amphor, incubated by hedge fund MEV Capital, has announced the completion of a $4 million seed round of financing, with participation from over 80 angel investors in the crypto industry. The project aims to simplify ordinary investors' participation in DeFi through algorithms and on-chain technological solutions. Specific valuation data has not been disclosed, and the new funds will be used for team expansion, building its technical stack, and expanding to other blockchain networks. The project has pointed out to potential investors that only 1.4% of crypto users are involved in DeFi.
The U.S.-based blockchain infrastructure company Balcony has announced the completion of a pre-seed round of financing, with participation from Avalanche Blizzard Fund. Specific amount and valuation information has not been disclosed. The new financing will be used to expand operations and development work. Balcony is dedicated to building an RWA blockchain platform for institutions and government agencies, providing on-chain transactions and asset settlement services, primarily applied in the real estate sector.
Multi-Chain Liquidity Restaking Protocol BedRock Completes Financing, Led by OKX Ventures
The multi-chain liquidity restaking protocol Bedrock has completed a financing round, led by OKX Ventures, LongHash Ventures, and Comma3 Ventures, with participation from Waterdrip Capital, Lbank Labs, Amber Group, ArcheFund, Whale Ground, and angel investors including Fisher Yu, co-founder of Babylon. The Total Value Locked (TVL) on Ethereum (uniETH) and IoTeX (uniIOTX) has exceeded $200 million. It has launched a native cross-chain restaking service and deployed it on multiple chains including Arbitrum, Linea, Scroll, and Manta, with plans to expand to more chains in the future. Additionally, Bedrock will soon release the first liquidity staking service for Bitcoin (uniBTC) based on the Babylon protocol. Bedrock aims to achieve the next stage of growth through its liquidity staking for Bitcoin (uniBTC) and expects to introduce this service before the launch of the Babylon mainnet to break through the limitations of staking innovation.
Web3 Games
Web3 Game Shadow War Completes $5 Million Financing, Led by Momentum 6
Swedish game studio Patriots Division has raised $5 million for its Web3 game Shadow War in seed and Series A financing rounds, with Series A financing led by Momentum 6, and participation from iAngels, Cointelligence Fund, Xborg, Andromeda VC, Cogitent Ventures, and Cluster Capital, among others. Shadow War is a sci-fi 5v5 third-person action game inspired by popular games like "Overwatch" and "League of Legends," emphasizing a fusion of futurism, fantasy, action, and competition. Shadow War emphasizes melee combat and tactical strategy, aiming to reward skill-based players while avoiding pay-to-win elements that hinder competitive integrity.
Web3 Game Startup GFAL Completes $3.2 Million Seed Round of Financing
Web3 game startup GFAL has completed a $3.2 million seed round of financing, with investments from Supercell, Mitch Lasky, former Co-CEO of ESL Heinrich Zetlmayer, Bonduc Bioscience SL, BCNBCNLVC, and David Fernandez, CEO of Sandsoft. GFAL launched the GFAL token in the first quarter of 2023, raising $4.4 million. The GFAL team is led by Manel Sort, with team members having held positions at King Entertainment, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Netflix Digital Chocolate, among others. The company applies blockchain technology to video game ownership in a GaaS model called Web3 GaaS. GFAL believes the Web3 GaaS model can replace previous models by providing players with a more comprehensive and enjoyable experience.
Metaverse 3D Asset Platform Style Protocol Completes $2.5 Million Seed Round of Financing
The platform Style Protocol, which converts NFTs into 3D assets usable in any game or metaverse, has announced the completion of a $2.5 million seed round of financing, with specific investment institutions not disclosed.
According to the project's whitepaper: "Style Protocol aims to be built on top of Polkadot to increase interoperability with all blockchains and make NFTs available on every blockchain. However, to build a protocol that is flexible and usable on all blockchains, two steps are needed. First, create bridging logic using smart contracts on Solidity and gain compatibility with all blockchains compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Second, create logic on a Parachain on Polkadot to be compatible with all other blockchains."
NFT Protocol Holograph Completes $3 Million Financing, Aims to Expand into the Chain Game Market
LayerZero Ecosystem
The full-chain NFT protocol Holograph has announced the completion of a $3 million strategic financing round, led by Mechanism Capital and Selini Capital, with participation from Northrock Capital under Hal Press, Arca, Courtside Ventures, and Hartmann Capital. As of now, Holograph's total financing amounts to $11 million. Holograph's full-chain technology allows the creation of NFT assets that can be used on multiple Ethereum-compatible chains. The new funds aim to accelerate its expansion into the growing chain game market, with a focus on supporting Ethereum-compatible network tokens, including Optimism, Arbitrum, Avalanche, BNB Chain, Base, Mantle, Zora, and Linea.
Blockchain Game Engine Manufacturer Blade Games Completes $2.4 Million Seed Round of Financing
Blockchain game studio and infrastructure provider Blade Games has completed a $2.4 million seed round of financing, with PTC Crypto and IOSG Ventures co-leading the round, and participation from Bonfire Union Ventures, Animoca Ventures, Mantle, ForesightX, Formless Capital, Public Works, Puzzle Ventures, and K300 Ventures, among others. The new funds will be used to drive the development and adoption of trustless on-chain games based on the WebAssembly and zkVM technology stack. Blade Games' in-house game Dune Factory will commence internal testing on May 1 and is scheduled for public testing by the end of May. Games built using Blade Game's in-house zk game engine can run game logic in zkVM and push state differences as zkSNARK proofs to the chain for verification on L2. The zk game engine can currently process up to 12-15 frames per second and is set to update with batch proof functionality. The engine currently supports all game studios in developing survival, tower defense, RPG, and roguelike card-building games.
TRALA LAB Completes Strategic Round of Financing, with Investment from Animoca Brands
TRALA LAB has announced the completion of a new strategic round of financing, with participation from Animoca Brands. Specific financing amount and valuation data have not been disclosed. TRALA LAB is a subsidiary of the Korean listed game company Joycity, and following the investment from Animoca Brands, the two parties will collaborate in the global Web3 GameFi field. TRALA LAB plans to focus on building a long-term sustainable game platform and intends to integrate a series of AAA-level global game IPs on zkSync.
AI
The AI-supported Web3 developer platform Airstack has completed a $4 million seed round of financing, led by Red Beard Ventures, with participation from SuperLayer, Polymorphic Capital, Superscrypt, Hashed Emergent, Delta Blockchain Fund, CSP DAO, Primal Capital, NGC, Kyber, Resolute Ventures, and Will Holt, among others. Last May, Airstack completed a $7 million financing round, led by Superscrypt, with participation from Polygon, Hashed Emergent, NGC, Primal Capital, UOB Ventures, and Signum Capital, among others. This is the second half of the pre-seed round of financing, with the first half completed in the third quarter of 2023, with participation from Polygon, among others. Airstack allows developers to access and utilize on-chain data through AI-supported natural language requests. Alongside the financing announcement, Airstack has launched an updated version of its Jam social application. Airstack currently offers its services for free, but the company plans to implement a pricing model in the future.
Infrastructure & Tools
The modular liquidity protocol Mitosis has announced the completion of a $7 million financing round, led by Amber Group and Foresight Ventures, with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Folius Ventures, Citizen X, GSR, Cogitent Ventures, No Limit Holdings, Digital Asset Capital Management, Pivot Global, Everstake, and a group of angel investors. Mitosis is an L1 blockchain that introduces a novel concept of Ecosystem-Owned Liquidity (EOL), suitable for the upcoming multi-chain DeFi.
Non-Custodial Platform Volta Completes $4.1 Million Seed Round of Financing
The multi-signature non-custodial platform Volta has completed a $4.1 million seed round of financing, with participation from Fika Ventures, Haven Ventures, Soma Capital, Dispersion Capital, and Uphonest Capital. The platform sets a new standard for smart wallet infrastructure and provides a fast and secure solution for self-custody.
Dynamic Modular Service Platform Crestal Completes $2 Million Pre-Seed Round of Financing, with Participation from MH Ventures and Others
The dynamic modular service platform Crestal has announced the completion of a $2 million pre-seed round of financing, with participation from MH Ventures, Cogitent Ventures, and NxGen, among others. The new funds will be used to accelerate the construction of modular services. Crestal is a dynamic modular service platform that allows developers to discover, deploy, and upgrade modular services by binding decentralized providers with verifiable Proof of Performance (PoP TM). Anyone can collaborate with service providers and be rewarded for maintaining high-quality modular infrastructure that supports all Web3 builders on-chain.
TNA Protocol has received investments from MH Ventures, Cogitent Ventures, and CSP DAO. The investors will deeply collaborate with TNA Protocol in the Bitcoin ecosystem to promote the rapid implementation of TNA Protocol's new narrative and ecosystem expansion. TNA Protocol is a Bitcoin asset and security protocol that integrates full-chain domain name asset issuance and DA solutions, with support from the Lightning Network and numerous layer-two solutions.
AILayer Announces Completion of New Financing Round with Participation from MH Ventures
The EVM-compatible Bitcoin L2 AILayer (formerly AINNLayer2) has announced the completion of a new financing round with participation from MH Ventures, although the specific amount has not been disclosed. The two parties will collaborate to build a Bitcoin Layer2 solution, providing a good experience for users and developers.
Other
Social Media
In addition to acquiring the Web3 content publishing platform Mirror, the Web3 content publishing platform Paragraph has announced the completion of a $5 million financing round, with participation from Union Square Ventures (USV) and Coinbase Ventures. Paragraph founder Colin Armstrong will serve as CEO, and Mirror founder Denis Nazarov will serve as an advisor. Previously, in October 2022, Paragraph announced the completion of a $1.7 million financing round, led by Lemniscap, with participation from FTX Ventures, Binance Labs, GCR, and Seed Club Ventures. According to previous reports, Mirror was acquired by Paragraph, and the Mirror team will continue to operate independently, focusing on the development of "Kiosk," a Web3 social application that integrates blockchain and e-commerce based on Farcaster. The founder of Paragraph stated that Mirror and Paragraph will eventually merge into a unified product suite.
SocialFi Startup Matera Raises $3.6 Million with Support from The Sandbox and Others
Web3 startup Matera has successfully raised $3.6 million, with support from Sidedoor Ventures, HighCass Crypto, Medusa Ventures, The Sandbox, and Saxon Partners, among others. Matera plans to develop blockchain infrastructure, including a DeFi platform, protocol layer, and L2 network. The funds raised will be used to build a creator platform that combines DeFi with social media to address the common monetization challenges in the creator economy. Matera currently supports creators on X, enabling them to raise funds and profit from their loyal fan base, and plans to integrate and expand to other social media platforms.
Web3 Content Distribution Protocol Metale Protocol Completes $2 Million Financing
The Web3 content distribution protocol Metale Protocol has recently announced an additional $2 million in financing, with participation from Waterdrip Capital, Aipollo Investment, and Ultiverse, among others. To date, its seed round financing has reached a total of $4 million. The new funds will be allocated to the content creation fund in its ecosystem to stimulate more content creation activities. Metale Protocol is a platform for the issuance and distribution of content assets on the chain, aiming to build decentralized content storage and rights confirmation protocols through blockchain and develop an application ecosystem on the network, providing decentralized paid playback, crowdfunding governance, traffic acquisition, data analysis, AI creation tools, and other services for the content industry. In September 2023, the Web3 decentralized reading application Read2N announced a brand upgrade and was renamed Metale Protocol.
On-Chain Social App Popset Completes $1 Million Pre-Seed Round of Financing with Lead Investment from Izun Partners
On-chain social app Popset has announced the completion of a $1 million pre-seed round of financing, with Izun Partners leading the investment, and participation from PunkDAO, Michael Shaulov of Fireblocks, and Patricio Worthalter of POAP, among other angel investors. Popset is set to launch on iOS and Android, and the new financing will be used to advance development work and accelerate the launch of the mobile application.
Cryptocurrency Applications
The cryptocurrency voting service platform Agora has completed a $5 million seed round of financing, with Haun Ventures leading the investment, and participation from Coinbase Ventures, Seed Club Ventures, and Consensys Ventures, among others. Agora aims to create a new governance software standard for protocols to help them organize their voting systems more efficiently. Uniswap, Optimism, and Nouns are among its early clients.
The Web3 wine market Baxus has completed a $5 million strategic round of financing, with Multicoin Capital leading the investment, and participation from Solana Ventures, Narwhal Ventures, FJ Labs, and a group of angel investors. BAXUS aims to connect buyers and sellers by integrating the market into one application, addressing market inefficiencies. The company states that using open Web3 payment infrastructure can reduce costs and increase transparency. Its Web3 market is built on the Solana blockchain, allowing buyers to transact using credit cards, ACH, wire transfers, or cryptocurrencies including USDC. It launched a test version last summer and has facilitated $8 million in transactions to date.
Web3 comprehensive network security service provider Resonance Security has completed a $1.5 million Pre-Seed round of financing, with joint lead investment from Arca, Fabric VC, and Blockchain Founders Fund. The new financing will be used to further accelerate expansion. It is reported that Resonance Security combines its expertise with a full range of security solutions, including smart contract, blockchain and code audits, penetration testing, CI/CD and cloud security, AI threat modeling, extensive network security product library, built-in network security applications, notification and guidance systems, comprehensive network security gateways, and network security education.
Centralized Finance
Cryptocurrency trading ecosystem LazyBear completes strategic financing of 4 million USDT
Cryptocurrency trading ecosystem LazyBear, targeting retail traders, has announced the completion of a strategic financing of 4 million USDT. Participating investors and strategic partners include Gogeko Labs, DWF Labs, Shadow Labs, Salad Labs, Bees Network, REI Network, IBIT, Crypto Bullish, SYNBO Protocol, Bazaars, Sypool, Bitcoin Gbox, GemX Crypto, Wikibit, and others. According to the announcement, LazyBear is a cryptocurrency trading ecosystem dedicated to providing users with industry-low fees, inclusive, and enjoyable trading experience.
Venture Capital Institutions
Cryptocurrency fund XYZ completes $5.1 million financing with participation from Gemini Co-founders
Cryptocurrency fund XYZ, founded by former Senior Cryptocurrency Transactions Executive at the New York Department of Financial Services, Matthew Homer, has completed a $5.1 million financing round, with participation from Compound founder Robert Leshner, Multicoin Managing Partner Kyle Samani, and Gemini co-founders the Winklevoss brothers.
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