Highlights of this issue
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 22 blockchain investment and financing events around the world last week (September 4-10), with a total funding of over US$150 million, a significant increase compared to the previous week. An overview is as follows:
DeFi announced 5 investment and financing events, among which the decentralized exchange Brine Fi has raised $16.5 million in a round of financing led by Pantera Capital, with a valuation of $100 million;
Three investment and financing events were announced in the NFT and Metaverse fields, among which the Web3 platform Medallion raised $21.5 million;
The blockchain gaming sector announced three investment and financing deals, among which the Web3 gaming information platform Polkastarter Gaming changed its name to GAM3S.GG and completed a $2 million seed round of financing, led by Mechanism Capital;
The Infrastructure and Tools track announced 6 financings, among which the interoperability protocol Socket completed a $5 million financing, led by Coinbase Ventures and Framework Ventures;
Other Web3/crypto-related projects announced 4 financings, among which the on-chain invoice settlement platform Zeebu raised $25 million in a pre-sale round of financing, with participation from several strategic investors including Bankai Ventures;
The centralized finance sector announced 1 funding round: Swiss fintech platform GenTwo raised $15 million in a Series A round led by hedge fund celebrity Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures.
DeFi
Cross-chain DEX Brine Fi completes $16.5 million financing with a valuation of $100 million, led by Pantera Capital
Decentralized exchange (DEX) Brine Fi has raised $16.5 million in a round led by Pantera Capital at a valuation of $100 million. Elevation Capital, StarkWare Ltd, Spartan Group, Goodwater Capital, Upsparks Ventures, Protofund Ventures also participated in the round. Powered by Ethereum scaling system StarkWare, Brine Fi is a non-custodial, decentralized order book that enables privacy of trading positions through so-called zero-knowledge proofs.
Crypto lending platform Trident Digital Group completes $8 million seed round of financing
Trident Digital Group, a crypto lending platform founded by former Coinbase executives, has completed a $8 million seed round of financing, led by White Star Capital and New Form, with participation from CMT Digital, Joint Effects and Permit Ventures. Trident will launch a yield product that links yield to the risk-free rate while ensuring that any deposits are physically backed by government bonds.
Trident CEO DeMartino previously worked at UBS, Barclays and HSBC. In 2021, he joined Coinbase as head of risk strategy, focusing on DeFi and derivatives trading. He then served as CEO of Matrixport's US business for a year and resigned in July. Trident Chief Business Officer Toby Norfolk-Thompson previously served as Chief Investment Officer of Coinbase Risk Strategy at Coinbase and Chief Investment Officer of the United States and the United Kingdom at Matrixport.
LeverFi Announces $5 Million in Strategic Financing from Unicorn Web3
LeverFi, a permissionless on-chain leveraged trading platform, announced that it has received $5 million in strategic financing from Unicorn Web3. Through this financing, LeverFi will expand its in-depth cooperation with Unicorn-Verse, and the investment will be used to upgrade LeverFi and help the LeverFi ecosystem land to achieve growth.
Decentralized insurance distributor OpenCover completes $4 million seed round led by NFX and Jump Crypto
Insurance alternative and insurance aggregator OpenCover has completed a $4 million seed round of financing, led by NFX and Jump Crypto. OpenCover has received more than $200 million in underwriting funds from DeFi insurance provider Nexus Mutual, and can now use these funds directly on Layer 2. Nexus allows investors to collectively manage capital pools and provide insurance-like insurance with the support of a UK discretionary mutual fund. OpenCover, a decentralized insurance distributor for cryptocurrencies and Web3 platforms, has been launched on Base, and OpenCover has also received $200,000 in Base ecosystem funding support from Coinbase.
RWA Credit Agreement Helix Completes $2 Million Pre-Seed Round and Plans to Launch in Q4
RWA protocol Helix has completed a $2 million Pre-Seed round of financing, with an undisclosed valuation. Saison Capital and Superscrypt led the investment, with Emurgo Ventures, Comma3 Ventures, Outlier Ventures, Emoote and others participating. The Helix protocol is scheduled to be launched on Ethereum in the fourth quarter of this year, and may then be expanded to other chains. The new funds will be used to prepare for the launch and to hire more business development and engineering staff.
NFT & Metaverse
Web3 music platform Medallion has raised $21.5 million in funding
Medallion, a Web3 platform that allows music artists to connect with fans, has raised $21.5 million in funding. Documents show that the total amount of the offering is $24.2 million, with 51 investors so far. Medallion was founded in 2020 by Stephen Vallimarescu, Matt Jones and Derek Davies, and has raised a total of $30.5 million in equity financing, including the previous $9 million seed round.
NFT art platform TRLab completes $5 million seed round of financing, led by Hivemind Capital and OKX Ventures
NFT art platform TRLab announced the completion of a $5 million seed round of financing, led by Hivemind Capital Partners and OKX Ventures, and participated by HashKey Capital, the investment arm of HashKey Group. Hivemind and OKX Ventures will provide strategic support to TRLab in the US and Asian markets respectively. This round of funds will be used to introduce more artists, foundations and cultural institutions to cooperate with TRLab, expand the company's international market share, and integrate new technologies to enhance the digital art collection experience. In the next six months, TRLab will launch several digital art experiences with famous artists and foundations, and will hold TRLab's first offline art exhibition in November this year.
Metaverse developer Crucible completes new round of financing, led by Born Ready
Crucible, a metaverse development company, announced that it has completed a new round of financing, led by Born Ready, a Web3 technology fund under AI metaverse company Futureverse, but the specific amount has not been disclosed. In addition, Crucible also announced a partnership with Futureverse.
Chain Games
Web3 game information platform GAM3S.GG completes $2 million seed round of financing
Web3 game information platform Polkastarter Gaming announced that it has officially changed its name to GAM3S.GG and completed a $2 million seed round of financing, led by Mechanism Capital, with participation from Polygon, Double Peak, ArkStream Capital, LD Capital, ROK Capital, Hyperithm, Snackclub and Emurgo Ventures. GAM3S.GG is responsible for planning and creating content, focusing on top games, and displaying reviews, guides, news, tasks, annual awards, etc., aiming to become a one-stop shop for Web3 games.
BulletChain completes $2 million in private round of financing and will start internal testing on September 11
The blockchain game BulletChain announced that it has completed a $2 million private round of financing. The specific investors have not been disclosed. The new funds will be used to expand operations. In addition, BulletChain will launch a Beta test from September 11 to 18, and players can apply for the internal test through the application form.
BlockGames, a blockchain game project, completes Series A financing and is selected into Google Cloud Web3 startup program
BlockGames, a blockchain game project, has been selected into the Google Cloud Web3 Startup Program and completed its Series A financing. The investors and the specific amount of financing have not yet been disclosed. After joining the Google Web3 Startup Program, BlockGames will automatically obtain access to Google Cloud Scale Tier products and can use Google Cloud Web3 services, including extensive Google Cloud and Firebase usage credits and Google Cloud enhanced support.
Infrastructure & Tools
Interoperability protocol Socket completes $5 million financing, led by Coinbase Ventures and Framework Ventures
Interoperability protocol Socket has completed a $5 million financing round, led by Coinbase Ventures and Framework Ventures. The new funds will be used to expand Socket's cooperation with Coinbase, including providing bridge services for developers and users of Coinbase wallets and Base. It is reported that Socket has facilitated more than 2.5 million cross-chain transactions since its launch, with a transaction volume of more than $3.5 billion.
Web3 domain startup D3 Global completes $5 million seed round led by Shima Capital
Web3 domain startup D3 Global has completed a $5 million seed round of financing, led by Shima Capital, with participation from Arthur Hayes' Maelstrom, Lightshift, Dispersion Capital, VentureSouq and Infinite Capital, and Identity Digital founder Paul Stahura. D3 Global is a startup dedicated to integrating the practicality of Web3 with existing Internet infrastructure, which can bring more interoperability to the Web2 and Web3 versions of the Internet while creating more practicality and security. D3 also stated that it plans to apply for and obtain new top-level domains during ICANN's upcoming application window to provide secure identities that are natively supported by all browsers and devices.
Web3 domain name and TLD provider Freename completes $2.5 million seed round
Freename, a provider of Web3 domain names and TLDs, announced the completion of a $2.5 million seed round of financing, led by Sparkle Ventures, with participation from Blockchain Founders Fund, Golden Record Ventures, Abalone Asset Management, and His Highness Sheikh Mayed Al Qasimi. Freename allows users to create their own top-level domain names (TLDs) and second-level domain names (SLDs) on multiple blockchains. These Web3 domain names represent a digital identity that can be used for a variety of functions, such as sending and receiving encrypted payments, sending Web2 and Web3 emails, browsing traditional websites, and building decentralized websites. TLD owners can become true registrars through Freename, and new users can generate ongoing income by registering domain names on their TLDs.
Crypto payment startup Kotani completes $2 million Pre-Seed round of financing
Kotani, a crypto payment startup, has completed a $2 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by P1 Ventures, with participation from DCG/Luno, Flori Ventures, and others, and plans to further expand its business to Rwanda, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Tanzania, and Nigeria. It is reported that Nairobi-based Kotani Pay provides B2B solutions through a middleware that connects blockchain with local payment networks, aiming to help African users who have difficulty accessing banking services to make cross-border remittances more conveniently.
Crypto wallet Onboard developer Nestcoin raises $1.9 million, led by Hashed Emergent
Nestcoin, a Nigeria-based Web3 startup, announced that it has successfully raised $1.9 million in a strategic financing led by Hashed Emergent, with participation from Adaverse, Base Ecosystem Fund, Alter World, CMT Digital, Magic Fund, 4DX Ventures, and a group of angel investors. The new funds will be used to build a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet Onboard Wallet and expand its newly established cryptocurrency training platform Breach and cryptocurrency gaming association Metaverse Magna (MVM). Nestcoin previously suffered losses due to depositing investment funds in FTX, but has gradually recovered.
Algorand Foundation and DWF Labs jointly invest in Algorand ecosystem wallet Pera
The Algorand Foundation announced on the X platform that it has invested in the Algorand ecosystem open source self-hosted wallet Pera in conjunction with Borderless, Arrington Capital and DWF Labs to accelerate the development of the ecosystem. The specific amount of the investment was not disclosed. According to reports, Pera is an open source self-hosted wallet on the Algorand blockchain, and the number of new application downloads will exceed 1 million by 2023.
other
Story Protocol, an on-chain intellectual property agreement, completes $25 million Series A financing, led by a16z crypto
Story Protocol, an on-chain intellectual property agreement, announced the completion of a $25 million Series A financing led by a16z crypto. Since then, Story Protocol has raised more than $54 million in total. Official disclosures show that the investors in the two rounds of financing (plus the seed round in May this year) include: Hashed, Endeavor, Samsung Next, dao5, Insignia Venture Partners, Alliance DAO, Foresight Ventures, etc.
On-chain invoice settlement platform Zeebu completes $25 million pre-sale round of financing
Zeebu, an on-chain invoice settlement platform, raised $25 million in a pre-sale round of financing, with participation from several strategic investors including Bankai Ventures. It is reported that Zeebu uses blockchain technology to provide telecom operators with loyalty rewards, simplify invoice settlement and increase transparency. Zeebu has established strategic partnerships with telecom providers such as Hayo Telecom Inc., Axistel FZE, Qatar Ltd, BBT Voice Limited, Broadband Telecom Inc., BridgeVoice Inc. and Novatel doo, with the goal of working with more than 100 such telecom operators to facilitate cross-border settlement processes.
Pop Social Completes $4 Million Funding, with Chainlink and Others Joining
Pop Social, a Web3 AI social infrastructure platform, announced the completion of $4 million in seed and strategic rounds of financing, with participation from Fundamental Labs, Ceras Ventures, Chainlink, Cointelegraph, Fusion Labs, Promatrix Capital, and angel investors from former Binance and OKX executives. The Pop Social app is now available for download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Japanese crypto venture capital Skyland Ventures participates in a new round of financing for social content platform ReadON
Japanese crypto venture capital Skvland Ventures announced today that it participated in a new round of financing for ReadON DAO, a social content aggregation mobile application in the web3 field. The specific amount was not disclosed. ReadON is a "read to make money" social content platform that aggregates artificial intelligence, venture capital and Web3 news from all over the world into a mobile application for smartphone users. The content platform is based on token economics using blockchain technology and AI-based content matching services, linking token grants with Web2 content consumption. Application users can earn READ tokens by reading/viewing content, and they also issue Catto NFTs to increase the efficiency of READ token rewards.
Centralized Finance
Swiss fintech platform GenTwo completes $15 million financing, led by Point72 Ventures
GenTwo, a Swiss fintech platform specializing in securitization, has raised $15 million in a Series A round led by hedge fund celebrity Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures. The Zurich-based company plans to use the funds to expand internationally and develop its financial engineering platform. The company’s PRO platform allows investors to securitize and bring to market any asset or investment strategy in a bankable form. It allows all investors to gain exposure to non-bankable assets, including real estate, art or digital assets.
Venture Capital
Connect Ventures closes $80 million for fourth fund, plans to continue investing in Web3 and fintech
European technology venture capital firm Connect Ventures announced that its fourth fund has completed $80 million in fundraising, with support from British Patient Capital, De Agostini, Big Society Capital, Top Tier and Molten Ventures. It is reported that the new fund will drive Connect Ventures to continue pre-seed and seed round investments in B2B SaaS, financial technology, consumer and Web3. The current investment portfolio of the venture capital in the Web3 field includes Web3 task platform Zealy, Web3 social platform OP3N, encrypted payment startup Cheq, and bank-as-a-service platform Fiat Republic.
