Financing Weekly Report | 20 public financing events; cross-chain protocol Wormhole completed $225 million in financing with a valuation of $2.5 billion

Highlights of this issue
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 20 blockchain investment and financing events around the world last week (11.27-12.3), with a total funding of over US$320 million. An overview is as follows:
DeFi announced three investment and financing events, among which the DeFi income platform Coinchange completed a $10 million financing, G1.VC participated;
No investment and financing events have been announced in the NFT and Metaverse fields;
The blockchain game track announced one investment and financing event: blockchain game studio Farcana received strategic investment from Animoca Brands;
The Infrastructure and Tools track announced 5 financings, among which the cross-chain protocol Wormhole announced that it had completed a $225 million financing at a valuation of $2.5 billion;
Other Web3/crypto-related projects announced 9 financings, among which Web3 entertainment company AnotherBall completed a $12.7 million seed round of financing, led by Hashed and others;
The centralized financial sector announced two investment and financing events, among which Singapore remittance company Wind completed a pre-seed round of financing of US$3.8 million
DeFi
DeFi yield platform Coinchange completes $10 million financing
DeFi income platform Coinchange has completed a $10 million financing round, led by G1.VC, Spirit Blockchain, Good News Ventures, K2.CA and Atoia Ventures, with Mintfox participating. The company will use the funds to develop its business and services and attract new customers. It is reported that Coinchange allows its business users to trade and obtain digital asset income as a service through its Earn API, which is a risk management platform that supports Bitcoin, Ethereum and all major stablecoins, providing stable returns. In addition to DeFi income services, Coinchange also manages compliant brokerage services in the United States and Europe.
Crypto derivatives protocol MYX completes $5 million seed round of financing, led by HongShan
MYX, a crypto derivatives protocol incubated by D11 Labs, announced that it has completed a $5 million seed round of financing at a valuation of $50 million. HongShan (formerly Sequoia China) led the investment, and Consensys, Hack VC, OKX Ventures, Foresight Ventures, Redpoint China, HashKey Capital, GSR Markets, Alti5, Leland Ventures, Cypher Capital, Bing Ventures, Lecca Ventures and other investors participated. At the same time, MYX announced that it will soon launch a Treasure Hunting Event to incentivize and give back to early supporters in the community. The event will last until the end of TGE. The first phase is about to start, and it is considering deploying key early plot vouchers on the BRC-20 network. It is reported that MYX is a decentralized perpetual contract exchange that uses an original MPM mechanism to achieve zero slippage trading and efficiently match long and short positions.
DeFi protocol Term Structure completes $4.25 million seed round, led by Cumberland DRW
DeFi protocol Term Structure has completed a seed round of financing of US$4.25 million, led by Cumberland DRW, with participation from Decima Fund, HashKey Capital, Longling Capital and MZ Web3 Fund. As of now, Term Structure's total financing amount has reached US$8 million. Term Structure Protocol has been launched on the Ethereum Goerli testnet.
Chain Games
Blockchain game studio Farcana receives strategic investment from Animoca Brands
Farcana, a blockchain game studio based in the UAE, announced a strategic investment from Animoca Brands. Most of the new funds will be used to enhance Farcana and its integration in the Bitcoin ecosystem, and the project is preparing for the token launch and full game release early next year. It is reported that the company is committed to advancing digital property rights in games and the metaverse to promote the beta release and development of Farcana within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Built with Unreal Engine 5, Farcana is a team arena third-person shooter that offers competitive tournaments supported by a permanent Bitcoin prize pool and will be one of the first AAA Web3 games to launch "Free Mint" Bitcoin Ordinals. The game has attracted more than 40,000 users and is hosting new tournaments based on the initial game testing plan in Dubai.
Infrastructure & Tools
Cross-chain protocol Wormhole completes $225 million financing with a valuation of $2.5 billion and establishes Wormhole Labs
Cross-chain protocol Wormhole announced that it has completed $225 million in financing at a valuation of $2.5 billion, making it the largest crypto project financing in 2023. There is no lead investor in this round of financing, and investors include Brevan Howard, Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, ParaFi, Dialectic, Borderless Capital, Arrington Capital and Jump Trading. Saeed Badreg, CEO of Wormhole Labs, said that technically this is the company's first financing; and Jump Crypto, the encryption department of high-frequency trading company Jump Trading, has incubated the project for many years. Badreg said that the equity of these investors will be entirely composed of token warrants, not company equity, and he declined to comment on the name of the Wormhole token or when it will be launched (there has been no previous reports on this).
ParaX announces rebranding as Parallel Finance, raises over $30 million
Web3 super app ParaX announced that it will change its brand name back to its original name Parallel Finance. The application and its smart contracts will remain unchanged, and users do not need to migrate any assets. Parallel Finance said that its mission, roadmap and commitment to the community remain consistent. The company also said that it has raised more than $30 million in total from investment institutions such as Sequoia Capital, Polychain, Blockchain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Founders Fund.
Decentralized physical infrastructure provider Grove completes $7.9 million in financing
Decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) provider Grove (formerly Pocket Network) has raised $7.9 million from Fidelity's Avon Ventures, Placeholder Capital and Druid Ventures. Grove will use the funds to establish new partnerships and promote DePIN towards mainstream adoption. It is reported that DePIN refers to the use of blockchain technology and token incentives to build a physical infrastructure network so that other projects do not need to bear the cost of purchasing and running their own equipment. In this sense, it can be regarded as a decentralized version of Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud. Grove provides Web3 infrastructure for building products and services on its POKT network, which supports more than 40 different chains.
Crypto financial operating system company Accutual completes $3.85 million in financing
Acctual, a crypto financial operating system company, has completed a $3.85 million seed round of financing at a valuation of $15 million, led by Third Prime and IDEO, with participation from Alchemy Ventures, OrangeDAO, Soma Capital, Messari founder Ryan Selkis, and Nium founder Prajit Nanu. It is reported that Acctual was co-founded by Bana, Issa Hassan, and Mohamedeq Mohamed. Bana and Mohamed had product development backgrounds when they were at Stripe, and Hassan previously worked as a software engineer at Google. Acctual is committed to helping cryptocurrency companies better manage funds. Acctual aims to help crypto companies introduce automated processes for accounts receivable (AR) and accounts payable (AP) into financial operations in Web3, and the financial operating system is in the testing phase.
Decentralized identity solution Gataca completes strategic financing of approximately US$1.41 million
Gataca, a decentralized identity management solution, has completed a strategic financing of 1.3 million euros (about 1.41 million U.S. dollars), with participation from Signature Ventures, the U.S. fund SBXi and Gataca's early supporters. This round of financing will be used by Gataca to develop new products and features and expand the team. It is reported that Gataca's decentralized identity solution enables individuals to privately control their personal data. The company's technology has been successfully applied to a variety of use cases, including higher education and finance.
other
Web3 entertainment company AnotherBall completes $12.7 million seed round of financing, led by Hashed and others
Web3 entertainment company AnotherBall announced the completion of a $12.7 million seed round of financing, bringing the company’s total funding to approximately $14.8 million. The round was led by ANRI and Hashed, with participation from Global Brain, Globis Capital Partners, Sfermion, HashKey Capital, Everyrealm, Ethereal Ventures, Emoote, and several individual investors including Crunchyroll founder Kun Gao.
It is reported that AnotherBall has been actively involved in technical projects such as "Ailis" and "SAI by IZUMO". AnotherBall is currently developing a platform that enables creators around the world to connect with fans and make money from their content. The beta version of the platform is scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2024 (January to March), and a full public release is expected later this year. AnotherBall is a venture capital company founded in May 2022. The company's main focus is the Web3 virtual UP project IZUMO, which aims to create a place for anchors, illustrators, music and video producers who love anime, comics and game culture to continue to generate income based on their hobbies.
Decentralized Bitcoin Mining Pool Mummolin Completes $6.2 Million Seed Round, Led by Jack Dorsey
Mummolin, a Wyoming-based decentralized Bitcoin mining pool, announced the successful completion of a $6.2 million seed round led by Jack Dorsey, CEO of The Block, with participation from other notable investors including Accomplice, Barefoot Bitcoin Fund, MoonKite, NewLayer Capital, and Bitcoin Opportunity Fund. The OCEAN mining pool is the first transparent and non-custodial platform where miners can receive block rewards directly from coinbase transactions, eliminating the risks associated with traditional mining pools withholding payments from individual miners.
Web3 consumer app Setter raises $5 million in seed funding led by a16z
Web3 consumer application Setter has completed a $5 million seed round of financing, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Marcy Ventures Partners, Superlayer, Thirty Five Ventures, and retired tennis star Serena Williams. The application plans to help brands innovate ways to promote exclusive products and provide limited edition products to customers. It is reported that Setter aims to solve the "complexity and unfriendliness of current wallet technology" and provide a more seamless Web3 experience for more users. Setter's initial focus is to establish partnerships with streetwear and sneaker brands, aiming to expand into the fields of fashion, luxury goods and consumer collectibles.
On-chain fan engagement platform MITH completes $3.5 million seed round of financing, with Warner Music Group and others participating
MITH, a fan engagement platform based on the Polygon blockchain, announced the completion of a $3.5 million seed round of financing, led by Point72 Ventures and A+E Networks, with participation from Warner Music Group, CMT Digital, Winklevoss Capital, Synergis Capital, Near Foundation, 4RC and Alpha Praetorian Capital. It is reported that MITH was incubated by Range Media Partners to help creators and brands interact with fan communities and make profits. The company has launched its first product Private Garden on the Polygon blockchain, where creators and brands can provide fans with community forums, photos, videos, texts, live broadcasts and other content and digital business services. The team will also cooperate with other blockchains.
Binance Labs invests $3.15 million in Web3 education protocol Open Campus
Binance Labs announced a $3.15 million investment in the Web3 education protocol Open Campus, which aims to bring new users to Web3 and attract more local users to participate in education by launching new Publisher NFTs. NFTs can increase the income potential of content creators and realize the income sharing of co-owners. It is reported that Open Campus is a community-led Web3 education platform that allows content creators to tokenize the educational content they publish. Open Campus plans to provide entry services, including wallets, token payments, and incentives through adopters such as TinyTap (a subsidiary of Animoca Brands) to promote the adoption of Web3. Recently, Open Campus launched the Global Educator Fund in partnership with Animoca Brands, a $10 million program that provides incentives for qualified educators or individuals to generate content intended to be published on Open Campus launch partners. These courses are marked as Publisher NFTs, allowing educators to truly own their content.
Entertainment Company Titan Content Completes Seed Round Led by RW3 Ventures and Raptor Group
Titan Content, a new entertainment company founded by Nikki Semin Han, former president of SM Entertainment in South Korea, has completed its first seed round of financing led by RW3 Ventures and Raptor Group, with Dreamus Company as co-lead investor, and Animoca Ventures, Sfermion, Bell Partners AB, Heros Entertainment, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Scrum Ventures, Planetarium and Avalanche participating. The amount of financing has not been disclosed. Titan aims to combine traditional Korean pop music business models and content with Web3, metaverse and artificial intelligence innovation.
Web3 video streaming platform Rad completes new round of financing, led by Ayre Ventures
Web3 video streaming platform Rad has completed a new round of financing, led by Ayre Ventures, and the specific amount of financing has not been disclosed. Rad also announced that it has incorporated the use of the BSV blockchain into its transactional video on demand (TVOD) and the release and purchase process of open or limited edition NFT videos. In addition, Rad is also integrated with the mobile and web wallet HandCash, and users can connect to applications, games and websites to directly stream funds to help facilitate payments. Users can create and purchase content on Rad without the need for browser plug-ins, and the company can expand other forms of payment. Currently, Rad supports multiple devices such as PlayStation 5, PSVR, Oculus Quest, iOS, Google TV, etc.
Web3 social protocol Inspect completes new round of financing, Morningstar Ventures and others participate
Web3 social data protocol Inspect announced the completion of a new round of financing, with participation from Dewhales, BasementDAO, Morningstar Ventures, Kairon Labs, Optic Capital, Rarestone Ventures, Maven Capital, etc. The specific amount has not been disclosed. Inspect ecosystem partners include Mocaverse, MoonPay, MultiversX, Avalanche, Ronin, Axie Infinity, Polygon Ventures, Algorand Technologies, Floor Protocol, Cardano Community, OKX Web3 Wallet, etc. According to reports, Inspect is transforming dynamic markets into user-friendly platforms equipped with real-time analysis and insights that are accessible to everyone. The official also reminded that there is currently no authorized $INSP contract.
Crypto tax service company Waltio completes €1.8 million in funding
Crypto tax service company Waltio announced the completion of 1.8 million euros (about 1.97 million U.S. dollars) in financing, with participation from angel investors such as Crédit Agricole Capital Développement, a capital development company under Crédit Agricole, Julien Bouteloup, founder of Stake Capital, and Clément Coeurdeuil, co-founder of Budget Insight. It is reported that Waltio mainly helps users track digital asset portfolios to provide tax calculation, reporting and planning services. The new funds will be used to promote software development, enhance tax compliance solutions, international expansion, and integrate artificial intelligence.
Centralized Finance
Singapore remittance company Wind completes $3.8 million pre-seed round of financing
Wind (Wind.app, non-custodial wallet), a Singapore remittance company powered by Polygon blockchain, announced the completion of a $3.8 million pre-seed round of financing, led by German venture capital firm Global Founders Capital and Singapore blockchain investment company Spartan Group, with participation from Saison Capital, Alumni Ventures and Tiny VC. Wind focuses on blockchain remittance services from US dollars to Southeast Asian (especially Philippine) currencies, offering a transaction fee of 0.3%. This round of financing will be used for product development, strengthening compliance and licensing measures, and other initiatives.
Algorand Foundation announces strategic investment in digital payment platform HesabPay
The Algorand Foundation announced that Algorand Ventures has made a strategic investment in HesabPay. It is reported that HesabPay is the first and only interoperable digital payment platform in Afghanistan. The platform was originally established to address the humanitarian aid crisis. More than a dozen organizations, including the World Food Program, have used the platform to send funds directly to beneficiaries in Afghanistan. Since then, HesabPay has expanded its use cases and now allows users to purchase airtime, pay electricity bills, and send digital funds to other users.
Venture Capital
Vietnamese VC firm FEBE Ventures launches second fund with $75 million
Vietnamese venture capital firm FEBE Ventures announced the launch of its second fund with a size of US$75 million, which is backed by international family office Otium Capital and has established a joint investment partnership with Tekton Ventures. In addition, FEBE Ventures also announced that Aditya Pendyala will join as a partner, and his professional fields cover artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML), enterprise software as a service (SaaS), Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain. Currently, FEBE Ventures has made a number of investments in the Web3 field, and its investment portfolio includes: Atato, a licensed digital asset custody solution provider in Singapore, and SeMorpheus, a Web3 brand retail platform.
Web3 VC firm AC Capital is launching a new $20 million crypto fund
Web3 venture capital firm AC Capital announced that it is launching a new $20 million fund. The fund's strategic focus will be on key investments in BTC ecosystem issuance and trading, non-EVM Layer applications, chain-independent liquidity layers, and user-friendly encryption interface solutions.