This issue highlights
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 11 investment and financing events in the global blockchain sector last week (3.16-3.22), with a total funding scale exceeding $1.086 billion. The overview is as follows:
- DeFi sector reported 1 investment and financing event, with Ironlight Group announcing the completion of $21 million in Series A funding;
- AI+Web3 reported 3 investment and financing events, with Gency AI completing $20 million in a new round of financing, with investors including TikTok and others;
- Infrastructure & Tools sector reported 1 investment and financing event, with Web3 API platform Uniblock completing $5.2 million in financing, with participation from SBI and others;
- Centralized Finance sector reported 2 investment and financing events, among which the stablecoin cross-border payment platform TransFi completed $19.2 million in financing;
- Prediction Market sector reported 2 investment and financing events, including the prediction market platform Kalshi completing a new round of financing exceeding $1 billion, with a valuation of $22 billion;
- Other Web3+AI reported 2 financing events, among which Republic received new financing from Hamilton Lane, with total financing reaching $202 million
DeFi
Ironlight raises $21 million to expand compliant tokenized securities infrastructure
The fintech company Ironlight Group, focusing on tokenized securities infrastructure, announced the completion of $21 million in Series A financing. This round of financing was participated in by several Wall Street and financial services executives, including former TD Bank President and CEO Greg Braca, as well as institutional investors such as Sei Development Foundation and Laidlaw Private Equity. The funds will be used to expand its alternative trading system (ATS) Ironlight Markets, which is regulated by SEC Regulation ATS and FINRA, as well as to provide tokenized securities issuance, distribution, and settlement platform Ironlight Technologies. Ironlight currently supports the tokenization and on-chain atomic settlement of assets such as private equity, structured products, fixed income, private credit, and real estate.
AI
Gency AI completes $20 million financing to establish decentralized advertising network
The AI and blockchain infrastructure company Gency AI announced the completion of a $20 million new round of financing, with investors including TikTok, HF0, XYZ, Streamlined Ventures, Hat-Trick Capital, Arksteam, MH Ventures, ViaBTC, and Basics Capital. The company will use the funds to expand its decentralized advertising execution and settlement network, strengthen its privacy computing technology stack, and accelerate product landing and ecological cooperation in North America, Asia, and Europe. Gency AI achieves automatic settlement and transparency of advertising exposure, conversion results, and revenue distribution through on-chain verifiable credentials and smart contracts, focusing on solving issues such as long advertising settlement cycles, attribution, and data ownership opacity.
Derivio completes $6 million financing to promote smart agency trading platform
The AI-native trading platform Derivio announced the completion of $6 million in financing, with investors including YZiLabs, CMT Digital, Big Brain VC, Signum Capital, UOB Venture Management, Everstake Capital, Proximity, and others. Derivio stated that it will build infrastructure around "agentic trading," utilizing AI agents to handle high-speed, large-scale market and on-chain data to achieve more automated strategy execution and trading decision-making.
Web3 smart asset OS platform OptiView completes strategic financing
The Web3 smart asset OS platform OptiView announced the completion of a new round of financing, jointly participated in by Honey Capital, LandScape Capital, and Super Labs. The project centers around a self-developed sovereign AI Agent and has served over 100,000 users, with daily active users of 5-7K. CEO Sammy stated that the AI engine will soon be fully implemented, helping users transition from passive holding to autonomous intelligent wealth management.
Infrastructure & Tools
Web3 API platform Uniblock completes $5.2 million financing, with participation from SBI and others
The Web3 API platform Uniblock has completed $5.2 million in financing, with participation from SBI, AllianceDAO, BFF, NGC, and others. It is reported that Uniblock completed $2.3 million in financing in November 2023, with participation from Cadenza among others.
Capital B, TOBAM, and UTXO Management jointly completed a €3 million financing
French listed company Capital B, TOBAM, and UTXO Management jointly completed a €3 million financing and adjusted the conversion price of the A-03, A-04, and A-05 convertible bonds subscribed by TOBAM to accelerate the implementation of its Bitcoin treasury company strategy. This transaction is expected to enable the company to gain an additional approximately 36 BTC.
Centralized Finance
Singapore stablecoin payment infrastructure company Dtcpay completes $10 million Series A financing
Singapore-based stablecoin payment infrastructure company Dtcpay announced the completion of $10 million in Series A financing, led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. The company has obtained a license from the Luxembourg electronic money institution to expand regulated payment services in the European Economic Area. Dtcpay builds stablecoin payment infrastructure for businesses and consumers and has partnered with Visa to launch a card that connects digital finance and traditional finance. Its platform supports real-time settlement between stablecoins and fiat currencies.
Stablecoin cross-border payment platform TransFi completes $19.2 million financing
The stablecoin cross-border payment platform TransFi completed $19.2 million in financing, including $14.2 million in Series A equity financing and $5 million in committed liquidity financing. This round was led by strategic investors in digital payments and financial infrastructure, Turing Financial Group. It is reported that TransFi uses stablecoins as a settlement rail, providing an alternative to traditional correspondent banking and SWIFT systems for emerging markets, supporting over 40 fiat currencies and more than 100 digital assets, integrating over 250 local payment methods, and covering operations in more than 70 countries, serving over 100 clients and 2 million end users globally. The new funds will be used to expand into Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa, deepen regulatory license layout and expand liquidity networks.
Prediction Market
The prediction market platform Kalshi completed a new round of financing exceeding $1 billion, with a valuation of $22 billion, doubling from last December's valuation of $11 billion. According to informed sources, this round of financing was led by Coatue Management, and Kalshi's current annual revenue is $1.5 billion.
Kalshi, founded in 2018, saw its popularity surge after the court allowed it to offer trading on elections in 2024. The company operates as a financial exchange regulated by the CFTC and can conduct business nationwide under federal rules. In February, its trading volume exceeded $10 billion, a 12-fold increase from six months ago. Despite recent criminal lawsuits and regulatory controversies raised in states like Arizona, investors remain enthusiastic about the rapidly growing market.
The prediction market platform Myriad announced the completion of seed round financing, with specific amounts undisclosed. Participating institutions in this round include MoonPay Ventures, Auros, EVG, Verda Ventures, Side Door Ventures, Wave Financial, Walrus, and OFR, with individual investors including Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, NFT collector Blondish, and Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz.
This financing news closely follows the launch of Myriad Season 3. In Season 3, the platform will migrate event contracts to the BNB Chain. Meanwhile, the platform's liquidity model has been upgraded from an automated market maker to a centralized limit order book, adding features such as slippage control, limit orders, and dynamic rates.
Others
Republic receives new financing from Hamilton Lane, with total financing reaching $202 million
According to Republic's official announcement, Hamilton Lane announced a strategic investment in the on-chain investment platform Republic, strengthening cooperation between the two parties in "on-chain" private market initiatives and access for retail investors. Republic's total financing has reached approximately $202 million. Notably, it completed $150 million in Series B financing in October 2021, with investors including CoinFund, Tribe Capital, Galaxy Interactive, and others; it raised about $11 million through an ICO public sale from July to August 2020, with a token price of $0.12, locked until the end of the third quarter of 2020.
Robinhood fund invests approximately $14.6 million in Stripe
According to The Block, Robinhood's publicly traded Robinhood Ventures Fund I announced an investment of approximately $14.6 million in subscribing to Stripe Class B common stock and invested $20 million in AI audio company ElevenLabs, purchasing its Series D preferred shares. The fund aims to provide retail investors with exposure to private company investments, with current holdings including crypto trading service provider Revolut as well as Airwallex, Boom, Databricks, Ramp, and others. Reports noted that Stripe owns the stablecoin platform Bridge, and Robinhood's management stated that they will continue to focus on frontier financial technology and artificial intelligence companies.
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