Highlights of this issue
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 21 investment and financing events in the global blockchain last week (10.23-10.29), with a total funding scale of over US$137 million. An overview is as follows:
DeFi announced three investment and financing events, among which Anboto Labs completed US$3 million in financing, and Matrixport and others participated in the investment;
An investment and financing event was announced in the NFT and Metaverse fields: Metaverse platform HYTOPIA (formerly NFT Worlds) completed US$3 million in financing, led by Delphi Ventures;
The chain gaming circuit announced two investment and financing events. Game studio Neon Machine raised US$20 million in Series A financing, led by Polychain Capital;
The Infrastructure and Tools track announced 7 financings, among which the cryptocurrency startup smlXL announced the completion of a $13.4 million seed round of financing, with support from a16z crypto, Greylock, etc.
Other Web3/crypto-related projects announced 6 financings, including Rymedi, a blockchain-based Web3 medical data platform, which raised $9 million, led by RW3 Ventures and White Star Capital;
The centralized finance sector announced two investment and financing events, among which Cube.Exchange has raised $9 million in seed round financing, with investors including Asymmetry Technologies and others
DeFi
Crypto company Anboto Labs completes $3 million financing and launches non-custodial trading platform
Hong Kong crypto company Anboto Labs announced that it has completed a $3 million financing in the third quarter of this year, with investors including Kronos Ventures, Cherry Crypto, Mechanism Capital, XBTO and Matrixport. The new financing is based on the $1.9 million raised by the company last year, bringing its valuation to $35 million. It is reported that Anboto Labs is a provider of crypto trading execution tools. It also announced the launch of an institutional-grade non-custodial trading platform. After 18 months of closed testing, the new platform has achieved a trading volume of $4 billion in 20 exchanges and blockchain networks.
Digital asset OTC trading platform STIX completes $2.7 million in financing
STIX, an OTC trading platform for the secondary market of digital assets, announced the completion of a $2.7 million financing, led by Psalion VC, with participation from Big Brain Holdings, Eterna Capital, Fisher8 Capital, Humla Ventures, 0xkb and TLF Ventures. Founded by Taranveer Sabharwal in the second quarter of 2023, STIX is currently building an OTC trading platform to address the general lack of liquidity, high counterparty risk and inefficient pricing in the crypto market, and plans to release a complete set of proprietary risk management and portfolio analysis tools.
Base Ecosystem DEX PRINT3R Completes $500,000 Pre-Seed Round of Financing, Led by MH Ventures
Base ecosystem DEX PRINT3R announced the completion of a US$500,000 Pre-Seed round of financing, led by MH Ventures, with participation from 300DAO, Onchain Wizard, PrimapesDAO, Homeless Ventures and 2Shares.
Metaverse & NFT
Metaverse platform HYTOPIA completes $3 million financing, led by Delphi Ventures
The metaverse platform HYTOPIA (formerly NFT Worlds) announced on the X platform that it has completed a $3 million financing round, led by Delphi Ventures, with participation from several venture capital firms and angel investors.
It is reported that HYTOPIA is a game platform and engine made from scratch, integrating social functions and providing developers with a game creation toolkit inspired by Minecraft. It is currently building HYTOPIA's transparent and open monetization layer, which is supported by its L2 blockchain and its TOPIA tokens. Previously, on October 20, the HYTOPIA mainnet was launched.
Chain Games
Game studio Neon Machine completes $20 million Series A financing, led by Polychain
Seattle-based gaming studio Neon Machine has announced that it has raised $20 million in Series A funding. Polychain Capital led the round, with participation from Griffin Gaming Partners, Brevan Howard Digital, Franklin Templeton, IOSG Ventures, and Tess Ventures. The Shrapnel maker has now raised a total of $37.5 million in funding through seed rounds, Series A rounds, and private token sales.
The company has a total of 70 employees. The funds will be used to further develop the sci-fi shooter Shrapnel at a "critical time" as the game team prepares to release an early access version in December and then a full release sometime in 2024. A large amount of in-game content (such as weapon parts, weapons, and cosmetics) will be available as NFTs on Shrapnel's Avalanche subnet, a private crypto network built on Avalanche. Back in April, Shrapnel launched its own ERC-20 token SHRAP on its Avalanche network.
Web3 game studio Moonveil Entertainment completes $5.4 million seed round of financing, with participation from IOSG and others
Web3 game studio Moonveil Entertainment announced the completion of a $5.4 million seed round of financing, led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Arcane Group, with participation from a number of Web3 funds and game industry funds such as LongHash, IOSG and Infinity Venture Crypto. It is reported that the Moonveil Entertainment team members are composed of core management and production teams from well-known game companies such as Riot, Tencent, and NetEase, as well as senior Web3 developers. The team is currently developing projects including the immersive tower defense mobile game Astrak and the multiplayer competitive strategy game Project B.
Infrastructure & Tools
Web3 security company Blockaid completes $33 million in financing, with Sequoia Capital, Ribbit and others participating
Blockaid, a Web3 security startup co-founded by two former Israeli military cyber intelligence officers, has raised $33 million in two rounds - a $6 million seed round and a $27 million Series A round. Seed round investors include Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, and Cyberstarts. The three investors, as well as co-leaders Ribbit Capital and Variant, all participated in the Series A round. Blockaid's seed round closed at the end of 2022, and the Series A round closed less than a year after the seed round.
Blockaid was founded in September 2022 by co-founder and CEO Ido Ben-Natan and his former colleague Raz Niv. The two previously worked in the cybersecurity R&D team of Unit 8200, the Israeli military's cyber intelligence department, and in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. Ben-Natan declined to comment on the structure of the round, valuation, or whether any investors would join Blockaid's board of directors. Blockaid operates in New York and Tel Aviv and currently has about 25 employees, and the company is looking to hire more cross-functional personnel.
Crypto startup smlXL completes $13.4 million seed round, with participation from a16z and others
Cryptocurrency startup smlXL announced the completion of a $13.4 million seed round of financing, with support from a16z crypto, Greylock, etc. The funds raised will be used to build a 16-person team and develop products, including EVM.code and evm.storage. smlXL launched its first product (an interactive guide to EVM opcodes) evm.codes last year, and today has officially launched its website. smlXL's mission is to make blockchain more transparent, useful, and accessible. It is currently expanding its coverage to unverified Solidity contracts and is also launching a transaction page.
Crypto payment gateway Triple-A completes $10 million Series A financing
Singapore-based crypto payment gateway Triple-A has completed a $10 million Series A round of financing, led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India and Southeast Asia) and Shorooq Partners. Triple-A will use the new funds to further develop its product suite.
Founded in 2018 by Eric Barbier, a fintech-focused entrepreneur, Triple-A provides stablecoin and blockchain-based payments, supporting major tokens including USDT, USDC, Bitcoin and Ethereum. Triple-A obtained a payment institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 2021. Triple-A has a team of more than 70 employees and has offices in Singapore, Miami, Hong Kong, Paris and Barcelona.
Nocturne Labs Completes $6 Million Seed Round, Bain Capital and Polychain Co-Led, Vitalik Participated
Nocturne Labs, a crypto startup that hopes to bring private accounts to the Ethereum ecosystem, has raised $6 million in seed funding. Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital co-led the round, with participation from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Bankless Ventures, Hack VC, Robot Ventures, and others. Co-founder and CEO Luke Tchang said it was a round of equity with token warrants, but declined to comment on valuation.
Nocturne was founded in the United States last year and is building a protocol that aims to allow users to conduct anonymous transactions in the Ethereum ecosystem. The protocol is expected to be launched on the Ethereum mainnet next month. Unlike mixers such as Tornado Cash, Tchang said Nocturne will "ultimately strike the right balance between compliance and permissionlessness." The protocol is taking a "cautious approach" to remain compliant.
Cosmos Ecosystem Application Chain Noble Completes $3.3 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by Polychain Capital
Cosmos ecosystem application chain Noble announced the completion of a $3 million seed round of financing, led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Circle Ventures, Borderless Capital, Wintermute Ventures, Hustle Fund, CMCC Global and Interop. Noble is also working with Circle to bring native USDC into the Cosmos inter-chain communication protocol IBC ecosystem.
ZK development startup Virtual Labs raises $1.2 million at a $20 million valuation, led by OP Crypto
ZK development startup Virtual Labs announced that it has completed a $1.2 million Pre-Seed round of financing with a valuation of $20 million. OP Crypto led the investment, with participation from Byzantine Marine, Koyamaki Ventures, NEAR Foundation and several angel investors.
Virtual Labs is committed to enhancing the Web3 user experience by leveraging zero-knowledge technology to eliminate gas fees, delays, and cumbersome wallet interactions. The company's flagship product, Virtual rollup, is a ZK state channel that facilitates unlimited transactions from an unlimited number of participants.
Web3 accounting solution Integral announces strategic investment from Coinbase Ventures
Web3 accounting solution Integral announced a strategic investment from Coinbase Ventures and a partnership with Coinbase. The partnership will bring next-generation accounting solutions to Coinbase Prime customers, covering assets held both inside and outside Coinbase. Integral plans to use the funds to provide Prime customers with data covering all their assets and develop complementary solutions, such as accounts receivable and accounts payable automation, to further facilitate web3 business operations.
other
Web3 medical information platform Rymedi completes $9 million Series A financing
Rymedi, a blockchain-based Web3 medical data platform, has raised $9 million in Series A funding, with RW3 Ventures and White Star Capital co-leading the round, with participation from Blockchange Ventures, Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund, and angel investors. Rymedi simplifies the transfer of medical records and data through blockchain, and intends to use the funds to enhance data security and accessibility of medical records.
Rymedi, based in Greenville, South Carolina, was founded in 2018. The company claims to serve more than 1 million patients across 1,200 locations in the United States, Africa, and Australia.
KNIFE:
DAO fund management protocol Aera completes $8 million financing, led by Bain Capital Crypto
Aera, a new startup founded by Tarun Chitra, the founder of DeFi risk manager Gauntlet, announced the completion of $8 million in financing. This round of investment was led by Bain Capital Crypto and participated by Jump Trading. Aera is an autonomous, data-driven fund management protocol designed to help decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) manage their finances. Chitra said that Aera's goal is to enable DAOs to respond quickly to market changes without sacrificing the principle of decentralization and provide them with crowdsourced portfolio management advice.
The parent company of citizen community platform Baseflow has completed a $2.5 million financing round, with Balaji, Tim Draper and others participating
The Network State Company, the parent company of the citizen community platform Baseflow, announced the completion of a $2.5 million financing round. Investors include former Coinbase chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan, Tim Draper, Aragon DAO, Polygon Labs co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, Audius co-founder Roneil Rumburg, Andrea Dusi, Max Merenti, and Alchemy Ventures product manager and partner Enzo Coglitore. It is reported that Baseflow is headquartered in Switzerland and aims to maximize sovereignty, governance and personal freedom.
social contact:
Content monetization agreement Access Protocol completes $1.2 million seed round of financing
Solana Ecosystem Content Monetization Protocol Access Protocol has completed a $1.2 million seed round of financing, with participation from Sora Ventures, DV Ventures, CMS Holdings, Double Peak Group and angel investors. The new funds will be used to continue the development of its Sketch and Scribe products, with a focus on the release of Access v2, which will be released at the end of the fourth quarter and the beginning of the first quarter of 2024.
De.Fi Announces Investment from OKX Ventures
Web3 SocialFi and antivirus super app De.Fi announced that they have received investment from OKX Ventures. According to the official website, De.Fi’s investors also include former executives from HOF Capital, Huobi, MEXC, NGC, Coinbase and Binance.
Web3 social data site Port3 Network receives investment from DWF Labs
Web3 social data website Port3 Network announced on the X platform that it has received investment from DWF Labs. This round of financing will be used to promote the development of its on-chain interactive automation language BQL and enhance the upcoming social data layer. Earlier in February, it was reported that Port3 Network completed a $3 million seed round of financing, led by KuCoin Ventures and participated by Jump Crypto and others; in August, it was reported that Port3 Network completed millions of dollars in financing and received grants from companies such as Binance Labs.
Centralized Finance
Hybrid Crypto Exchange Cube.Exchange Completes $9 Million Seed Round
Cube.Exchange, a hybrid cryptocurrency exchange that blends traditional finance with blockchain technology, has raised $9 million in seed funding from investors including Asymmetry Technologies and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, LLLP, Everstake, Foundation Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Third Kind Venture Capital, Arche Fund, WW Ventures and Cube.Exchange management members. Cube.Exchange will launch as a spot exchange before expanding to other products next year.
Cryptocurrency broker Atani completes $6 million in new round of financing, led by Cometa
Atani, a cryptocurrency broker based in Spain, has announced the successful closing of a $6 million funding round. The round was led by Mexican venture capital fund Cometa, with participation from JME Ventures, Conexo Ventures and CDTI, as well as business angel experts in the Web3 space, such as Neil Cunha-Gomes, Head of Fintech and Cryptocurrency at SoftBank’s EMEA business. The funds raised in this round will help the business grow internationally and accelerate the expansion of its exchange brokerage services. Atani recently received regulatory approval from the Bank of Spain to become a virtual asset service provider.
Venture Capital
Saudi NEOM Investment Fund established, announces investment in Animoca Brands and other companies
NEOM Tech & Digital, the technology subsidiary of the "Neom" new city construction project led by Saudi Crown Prince Salman, announced the establishment of the NEOM Investment Fund (NIF) to support the construction and development of 14 priority areas in NEOM. NIF will invest in technology startups globally through mergers and acquisitions and venture capital, focusing on pioneering growth companies and next-generation industries. NIF will also establish joint ventures and partnerships with large multinational companies, institutional investors and innovators in NEOM. As part of the opening ceremony, NIF announced a new round of investment in Animoca Brands, Pony.ai, Regent, Boom Technology, BlueNalu and other companies, and details will be announced in the coming days.
