Highlights of this Issue
According to PANews incomplete statistics, there were 31 blockchain investment and financing events globally last week (5.27-6.3), with a total funding scale exceeding $192 million. The funding scale decreased compared to the previous week. An overview is as follows:
- DeFi: There were 7 investment and financing events, including AI-driven DeFi platform Aperture Finance completing Series A financing, with a total financing amount of $12 million.
- Web3 Games: There were 5 investment and financing events, with Web3 game platform TRALA raising $5 million through multiple rounds of financing, with participation from Matter Labs and others.
- AI: There was 1 investment and financing event, with AI infrastructure project GaiaNet completing a $10 million seed round financing.
- DePIN: There was 1 investment and financing event, with DePIN infrastructure Parasail completing a $4 million seed round financing, led by Protocol Labs.
- Infrastructure and Tools: There were 11 financing events, including Bitcoin collateral project Babylon raising $70 million in a new round of financing, led by Paradigm.
- Other Blockchain/Crypto Applications: There were 4 financing events, including decentralized social networking tool provider Neynar completing a $11 million Series A financing, led by Haun Ventures.
- Centralized Finance: There were 2 financing events, including crypto asset financial service provider SCRYPT completing a $5 million strategic financing, led by Braza Bank.
DeFi
DeFi Platform Aperture Finance Raises $12 Million
AI-driven DeFi platform Aperture Finance announced the completion of Series A financing, bringing the total financing amount for all rounds to $12 million, with a project valuation of $250 million. This round of financing was led by Skyland Ventures, Blockchain Founders Fund, and Krypital Group, with participation from Alchemy, SNZ, Stratified Capital, Tide, Cipholio, ViaBTC, CatcherVC, and Double Peak, among other well-known investors. Aperture Finance simplifies DeFi operations through innovative intent-driven methods, allowing users to specify desired outcomes. The new funds will be used to support the development of Aperture's Intents infrastructure, expand its solver network, and enhance user experience through the upcoming LLM integration.
RWA Tokenization Platform Fortunafi Raises $9.51 Million, to Launch Stablecoin Protocol Reservoir
Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform Fortunafi announced the completion of $9.51 million in strategic and seed round financing, with investors including Shima Capital, Manifold, Jordan Fish (aka Cobie), Ari Litan from LayerZero Labs, Austin Green from Llama, Evanss6, and Scott Lewis. The latest strategic round financing valued at $3.16 million concluded in December last year, while the seed round financing valued at $6.35 million concluded in October 2021. The latest financing round has brought Fortunafi's valuation to $48.165 million. Additionally, Fortunafi announced plans to launch a new stablecoin protocol called Reservoir next month. Founded in 2020, Fortunafi has tokenized over $15 million in private debts and institutional loans through collaborations with MakerDAO, Aave, and other companies.
RWA Stablecoin Issuer Anzen Finance Completes $4 Million Seed Round Financing
RWA stablecoin issuer Anzen Finance completed a $4 million seed round financing, with participation from Mechanism Capital, Circle Ventures, Frax, Arca, Infinity Ventures, Cherubic Ventures, Palm Drive Ventures, M31 Capital, and Kraynos Capital, among others. Anzen allows users to mint USDz, which is backed by a "diversified portfolio of private credit assets." These cash flow RWAs provide collateral for USDz, which can be staked in other DeFi protocols. Anzen is already live on the Ethereum Layer1 and Layer2 networks. The company aims to use the new financing to expand USDz support for blockchain and protocols, and broaden ways for users to earn rewards through tokens.
E Money Network Completes $3.3 Million Bridge Round Financing, Led by Animoca Brands
According to E Money Network on the X platform, the project has completed $3.3 million in bridge round financing, led by Animoca Brands and Kelsier Ventures, with participation from GBV Capital, Momentum 6, Blockchain Founders Fund, Morningstar Ventures, Kucoin, Black Edge Capital, and Banter Capital. E Money Network is a regulated RWA blockchain network that provides compliant and flexible asset trading infrastructure for individuals and institutions through integration with DeFi ecosystems and on-chain identity verification. E Money Network claims to comply with global regulations, including MiCA.
RWA Project Plural Raises $2.3 Million, Led by CompoundVC and Necessary Ventures
RWA project Plural Energy completed a $2.3 million pre-seed round financing, led by CompoundVC and Necessary Ventures, with participation from Volt Capital and Maven 11. The new funds will be used to connect solar and wind energy developers with investors through blockchain. Plural Energy allows people to invest in solar power plants, wind farms, and battery storage projects for as little as $10, while the typical minimum investment amount is $50,000.
Stablecoin Project defi.money Completes Strategic Round Financing
GBV Capital, LayerZero Labs, and a group of angel investors including Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov participated in the funding, but the specific amount has not been disclosed. It is reported that defi.money is an EVM-agnostic CDP protocol that combines Curve Finance's innovative liquidation mechanism LLAMMA, aiming to build a capital-efficient, scalable, and truly interoperable USD stablecoin for anyone, anywhere.
Decentralized Finance Platform UniTap, Targeting BRC-20, Rune, and TAP Tokens, Completes Private Round Financing Led by X Ventures
Decentralized finance platform UniTap, targeting BRC-20, Rune, and TAP tokens, announced the completion of private round financing led by X Ventures, with participation from Unidentified, MeowCapital, Primony, and Altier Capital. The specific amount and valuation data have not been disclosed. UniTap provides trustless on-chain token exchange tools and aims to become the central hub for TAP DeFi, offering efficient and decentralized token transfers and bridging, including token exchange, TAP-based token bridging, and integration with the TAP protocol.
Web3 Games
Web3 Game Platform TRALA Raises $5 Million, with Participation from Animoca Brands
Web3 game platform TRALA raised $5 million through multiple rounds of financing, with participation from Matter Labs, Animoca Brands, Gate Labs, and 14 other global investment institutions.
Blockchain game developer Supervillain Labs announced the completion of a $4.5 million seed round financing. This round was co-led by Aptos Labs and Intella X, with participation from Spartan Group, KIP-CRIT Interactive Contents Fund, Presto Labs, and Planetarium Labs. Supervillain Labs plans to launch the games "Supervillain: Idle RPG" and "Project ARK." The financing will be used to leverage Aptos blockchain technology and the global market expertise of partners to enhance user experience and set new standards for Web3 games.
Web3 AI and Gaming Company PlayAI Completes $4.3 Million Seed Round Financing
Web3 AI and gaming company PlayAI completed a $4.3 million seed round financing, with a total valuation of $70 million. P2 Ventures, Jump Crypto, Alphawave, Zentry, MH Ventures, Tykhe Block Ventures, and angel investors have previously supported PlayAI. The company intends to use the new financing to expand its team and introduce streaming earning activities for gamers, as well as move towards launching the platform's incentive testnet. PlayAI is a Web3 platform that rewards gamers for sharing game data, which the company uses to train AI models. PlayAI has launched a platform called Collective, where users can share their game data and profit from it. Holders of the Play Collective NFT launched today will receive exclusive rewards.
Arbitrum ecosystem game Kuroro Beasts announced the completion of $2.5 million in strategic financing, led by Animoca Brands and Sanctor Capital, with participation from Axie co-founder Jihoz, Pixels founder Luke Barwikowski, Pixelmon CEO Giulio Xiloyannis, Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu, Zen Academy founder Zeneca, YGG co-founder Gabby Dizon, GGG co-founder Wilsen Tiomajaya, Moralis CEO Ivan on Tech, Al Arena co-founder Wei Xie, Valeria co-founder Hilal, Hytopia co-founder ArkDev, Forgotten Runes co-founder Dotta, PGojira co-founder Shan Kumar, Blocklords co-founder David Johansson. Kuroro Beasts positions itself as a biological collection game ecosystem and is building two games, Kuroro Wilds and Kuroro Brawl. The main purpose of this round of financing is to introduce partners and individuals who can bring significant value and provide support as Kuroro Beasts launches its ecosystem.
Blockchain game project Zentry (formerly known as GuildFi) announced strategic funding from Spartan, LongHash, Synergis, and DWF Labs to enhance the Metagame Layer. Zentry stated that its funding exceeds $150 million. Earlier in April, GuildFi planned to rebrand as Zentry and create a unified Superlayer to reward all types of gamers across multiple blockchains.
AI
Decentralized AI Project GaiaNet Completes $10 Million Seed Round Financing
The AI infrastructure project GaiaNet completed a $10 million seed round financing for a network that generates decentralized AI tools. Participants in the seed round financing include EVM Capital, Mirana Ventures, and Mantle EcoFund. The newly raised funds will support GaiaNet in developing educational tools for STEM students and utilizing distributed ledger technology to seed the AI network. GaiaNet's testnet and software development kit (SDK) are planned to launch in early Q3 2024, with alpha testing already underway in Q2 2024.
DePIN
DePIN Infrastructure Parasail Completes $4 Million Seed Round Financing
Infrastructure & Tools
DePIN Infrastructure Parasail Completes $4 Million Seed Round Financing
Parasail, the infrastructure of DePIN, announced the completion of a $4 million seed round financing, with a valuation of $50 million. Protocol Labs (the development lab for Filecoin) led the investment, with participation from D11 Labs, MH Ventures, BitRise Capital, EV3, Fenbushi Capital, Modular Capital, Faculty Group, DWF Ventures, Foresight Ventures, AGE Crypto, Waterdrip Capital, and others. The new funds will be used to accelerate the implementation of various product features in the Parasail Master Plan, which involves aggregating assets and hardware on DePIN to provide service level guarantees to users and dynamically coordinate hardware resources based on demand. Parasail focuses on enhancing the security of DePIN hardware services, and Parasail TVL has exceeded $50 million.
Bitcoin Staking Project Babylon Completes $70 Million New Round of Financing Led by Paradigm
The Bitcoin staking project Babylon raised $70 million in its latest round of financing, led by Paradigm, with participation from Polychain Capital and Bullish Capital. Other institutional investors include HashKey Capital, Hack VC, Galaxy, IOSG Ventures, Breyer Capital, Amber Group, Mantle, HTX Ventures, ViaBTC Capital, LD Capital, imToken, and numerous well-known validators such as P2P.org, Allnodes, Everstake, and InfStones Global. Babylon introduces the native concept of Bitcoin staking, allowing users to stake Bitcoin for PoS blockchains and earn rewards without the need for third-party custody, bridging solutions, or wrapping services. It provides a verifiable economic security guarantee for PoS chains while ensuring efficient staking and unstaking, enhancing the liquidity of Bitcoin holders. Babylon is built on the Cosmos SDK, providing Bitcoin timestamp services for PoS chains and synchronizing the Bitcoin network with PoS chains as the control plane.
Oracle Protocol Switchboard Completes $7.5 Million Series A Financing, Led by Tribe Capital
The oracle protocol Switchboard announced the completion of a $7.5 million Series A financing, led by Tribe Capital and RockawayX, with participation from Solana Foundation, Aptos, StarkWare, Mysten Labs, InfStones Global, OtterSec, Bixin Ventures, and various angel investors. Switchboard aims to provide a fast, permissionless, and customizable oracle solution, with its total secured value now reaching approximately $1.75 billion.
The decentralized computing protocol Arpa Network announced the completion of a $6 million strategic financing, led by Laser Digital under Nomura Securities and DeFiance Capital, with participation from Animoca Ventures, Metrics Ventures, ArkStream Capital, and Trinito. The new funds will support the expansion of products for fully on-chain games, Autonomous Worlds (AW), and encrypted AI. Arpa Network (ARPA) is a decentralized secure computing network aimed at improving the fairness, security, and privacy of blockchain. The ARPA Threshold BLS Signature Network is an infrastructure for verifiable random number generation (RNG), secure wallets, cross-chain bridges, and decentralized custody across multiple blockchains. ARPA, formerly known as ARPA Chain, is a privacy-preserving multi-party computation (MPC) network founded in 2018.
The decentralized transaction execution protocol Smart Transaction announced the completion of a $5.5 million seed round financing, with participation from Hack VC, Backed, Shima Capital, Signum Capital, Antalpha, Gate.io, Breed VC, Chorus One, Tane, and others. Specific valuation information has not been disclosed. Smart Transaction is a decentralized transaction creation and execution framework run by solvers, allowing users to set specific conditions for transaction timing and execution based on precise conditions and time.
Blockchain Node Management Platform NodeOps Completes $5 Million Seed Round Financing
The blockchain node management platform NodeOps completed a $5 million seed round financing, led by L1D, with participation from Blockchain Founders Fund, Finality Capital, Oakgrave Ventures, Double Peak Group, Momentum6, and Bitscale Capital. NodeOps has built a solution that simplifies the process of node deployment and management, seamlessly integrating with multiple blockchain networks through innovative tools and support mechanisms. NodeOps is one of the first companies to utilize AI as the infrastructure for Web3 protocols. NodeOps supports digital and physical infrastructure with its active validation service (AVS) on the EigenLayer, providing users with permissionless value capture and making the Ethereum ecosystem more secure and transparent.
Mint Blockchain, an Ethereum L2 network focused on the NFT space, has completed a $5 million seed round financing. Investors include Jsquare, SNZ Capital, Antalpha Ventures, Mask Network, BlockAI Ventures, Predator Capital, GoPlus, Whitelist Ventures, PANONY Group, as well as individual investors Victor, founder of Smart Token Labs, and Mike, founder of GoPlus. This round of financing will be used for global market branding and NFT infrastructure development for Mint Blockchain.
In addition to successfully completing the seed round financing, the Mint mainnet was launched in May 2024. Currently, the Mint mainnet has over 400,000 active users and supports over 80 applications. The Mint blockchain is an Ethereum L2 network jointly launched by NFTScan Labs and the MintCore development team. The Mint blockchain is built on the open-source development stack OP Stack developed and maintained by the Optimism Collective. As an EVM-compatible network and a true Ethereum L2, developers in the Ethereum ecosystem can seamlessly extend their projects to the Mint blockchain network.
Colombian cryptocurrency wallet El Dorado raised $3 million in a seed round financing led by Coinbase Ventures and Multicoin Capital. This financing follows El Dorado's participation in the Skydeck accelerator program at the University of California, Berkeley. El Dorado operates a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency wallet that allows users to make cross-border payments and earn additional income through stablecoin transactions. Founded in 2020, El Dorado operates in Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, and Panama, facilitating the exchange of stablecoins.
Danish Decentralized Wallet Infrastructure ZTLment Completes €2.4 Million Pre-Seed Financing, with Participation from PreSeed Ventures
Danish decentralized compliant wallet infrastructure ZTLment announced the completion of a €2.4 million pre-seed round financing, with participation from PreSeed Ventures, Upfin, Giant Ventures, and a group of angel investors. ZTLment claims to be the first compliant wallet infrastructure project in Europe to conduct fiat currency transfers on a decentralized track, addressing long-term challenges faced by ordering and booking platforms, including automated fund flows, increased payment transparency, and regulatory compliance.
Web3 instant settlement payment provider Coinflow Labs announced the completion of a $2.25 million seed round financing, led by CMT Digital, with participation from Reciprocal Ventures, Jump Crypto, Draper Dragon, Digital Money Group, and others. Coinflow is a blockchain-based payment processor that enables instant settlement of payment acceptance and payments, providing additional value-added payment-related services such as refund protection, analysis, and KYC/KYB.
CARV Receives Strategic Investment from Animoca Brands
CARV, which provides modular data layers for the gaming and AI industries, announced a strategic investment from Animoca Brands. The collaboration aims to promote deep integration and long-term synergies between the two in the gaming and open metaverse ecosystems. Animoca Brands' investment is allocated to the 6th layer node, and the CARV node whitelist sale will begin on June 3, 2024, and will be open to the public on June 5 at 18:00 UTC+8.
CARV is the largest modular data layer in the gaming and AI fields, revolutionizing the way data is used and shared, creating a future where data can create value for everyone. As the sole author of ERC7231, CARV has built the CARV Protocol, integrated with over 40 chains, Google Cloud, and other identity, storage, infrastructure, and AI ecosystems. CARV Play is a game super app with over 2.5 million registered users and over 700 game partners. CARV is supported by top funds and ecosystems, including Vertex Ventures under Temasek, ConsenSys, Tribe Capital, IOSG Ventures, HashKey Capital, Infinity Ventures Crypto, MARBLEX, and others.
Modular Computing Power Layer and ZK-RaaS Platform Lumoz Completes New Round of Strategic Financing
Modular computing power layer and ZK-RaaS platform Lumoz announced the completion of a new round of strategic financing, with participation from IDG Blockchain, Blockchain Coinvestors, Gate Ventures, Summer Capital, EVG, 7upDAO, Sweep Ventures, and others. The specific amount has not been disclosed. The new funds will continue to be used for the expansion of the Lumoz team, the construction of the modular computing power layer and ZK-RaaS platform, and technological innovation. Lumoz's ZK-PoW algorithm combines miners' computing resources with various Rollups to provide distributed computing power for various ZK-Rollups and generate ZKP. Recently, Lumoz announced support for Op Stack + ZK Fraud Proof, followed by the launch of zkProver and zkVerifier based on EigenLayer. Its latest roadmap shows that Lumoz will release a new AI+PoW Chain, multiple ETH L2, Layer3, and BTC L2, and will also open decentralized node registration globally to ensure network security after the mainnet goes live.
The multi-chain SocialFi infrastructure protocol OpenSocial Protocol has announced the completion of a $5 million seed round financing, led by Portal Ventures and SNZ Capital, with participation from OKX Ventures, Orange DAO, Animoca Brands, Awesome People Ventures, Arche Fund, Decima Fund, Moonrock Capital, Panony, Summer Ventures, and others. OpenSocial Protocol is an open-source social infrastructure layer founded by Everest Ventures Group (EVG), which has allocated a $15 million ecosystem fund for developers to build on OpenSocial. EVG has also deployed 30 internal developers to work on OpenSocial and an additional 50 developers outside of EVG to build DApps on OpenSocial.
The Solana ecosystem SocialFi platform Zizle has completed a $3 million pre-seed round financing, with participation from Unity Ventures, Black Dragon, Node Kapital, Khaled Guerbouz, and a group of angel investors. The new financing will enable Zizle to complete the development of its application, which is now ready to transition from stealth mode to a public beta version. Zizle aims to revolutionize social media by integrating the Solana blockchain, focusing on enhancing data privacy, decentralized governance, and providing more effective monetization pathways for users and creators.
Web3 social platform beoble has announced an investment from Ripple on the X platform. The specific amount was not disclosed. With the new funding from Ripple, beoble will seek to launch its services on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). beoble is a Web3 messaging and social platform designed to provide secure and decentralized wallet-to-wallet communication.
Cryptocurrency asset financial service provider SCRYPT has announced the completion of a $5 million strategic financing, led by Braza Bank, with follow-on investments from Funfair Ventures, Cabrit Capital, Atlantic Labs, and other venture capital firms. SCRYPT is a top-tier financial service provider licensed in Switzerland, focusing on institutional-grade cryptocurrency services.
Marketnode, a digital market infrastructure operator founded by SGX and Temasek, has completed its Series A financing, led by HSBC Bank, with participation from existing shareholder Temasek. The specific amount was not disclosed. The funds from this round will be used to expand Marketnode's platform in key asset classes such as digital fixed income and structured products, participate in the upcoming Fundnode, and launch other tokenized asset products. As part of HSBC Bank's investment, John O'Neill, Global Head of Digital Assets Strategy at HSBC Bank, will join the board of Marketnode.
Figment Capital, an early-stage venture fund focused on blockchain infrastructure, has announced the completion of a strategic financing round with participation from HTX Ventures, the global investment arm of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi HTX. The specific amount was not disclosed. Figment Capital, established in 2021, is dedicated to investing in high-conviction early-stage blockchain infrastructure projects, with a portfolio including projects such as EigenLayer, Celestia, Initia, Wormhole, Movement, and zkSync.
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