Last week, there were a total of 18 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with a significant decline in the total amount of financing | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

Organizer: Xiangxiang Xi, ChainCatcher

According to incomplete statistics from ChainCatcher, during the period from March 13 to March 19, 2023, there were a total of 18 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a total financing amount of approximately $61.8 million. The number of financing events and the total amount have significantly declined compared to the previous two weeks, with a particularly noticeable drop in the total amount, where only 1 event exceeded $10 million in financing.

From the perspective of sector distribution, infrastructure, NFTs, and social entertainment were the popular sectors last week. There were a total of 5 infrastructure projects, raising approximately $17.6 million; 2 NFT projects, raising approximately $15 million; and 2 social entertainment projects, raising approximately $10.8 million.

In terms of financing rounds and scales, early-stage projects accounted for the largest proportion, with 14 financing rounds ranging from $1 million to $10 million, and 9 rounds classified as seed funding. The three projects with the largest financing amounts are the digital fashion platform DressX ($15 million), the public blockchain infrastructure Orbs ($10 million), and the Web3 security audit alliance Code4rena ($6 million).

(Last week's projects with financing amounts between $10 million and $100 million, data source: Rootdata)

I. Infrastructure

1. Crypto infrastructure developer Orbs plans to raise $10 million from DWF Labs

Crypto infrastructure developer Orbs plans to raise $10 million from venture capital firm DWF Labs. Orbs stated that DWF Labs will purchase up to $10 million worth of Orbs Tokens. Orbs CEO Nadav Shemesh mentioned that the first part of the total investment will be settled today. He added that the remaining investment will be "calculated at an average price."

It is reported that Orbs was established in 2017 and plans to continue developing its infrastructure to increase adoption on EVM chains and TON. According to the crypto data platform RootData, Orbs has been deployed on networks such as BNB Chain, Avalanche, and Fantom. (Source link)

2. Parallel transaction infrastructure builder Smooth completes $2 million seed round financing, led by NGC Ventures

Parallel transaction middleware Smooth has completed a $2 million seed round financing, led by NGC Ventures, with participation from ArkStream Capital, Cogitent Ventures, Token Metrics, Alves Ventures, and others.

Smooth is the first parallel transaction middleware that achieves EVM compatibility, providing a high-performance transaction framework for existing Layer 2 and App Chains, and offering a universal transaction model for subsequent blockchain development.

Smooth stated that the funds from this financing will be used for technical research and development and to expand the core team. Project development has fully launched to prepare for the next round of blockchain demand for parallel transactions. Currently, the project is still in the early research and development stage, with no token plans at the moment, and is expected to launch a testnet in the third quarter. (Source link)

3. Crypto wallet infrastructure company Capsule completes financing, co-led by a16z and Geometry

According to The Block, crypto wallet infrastructure startup Capsule has completed a financing round, with the amount undisclosed. Andreessen Horowitz (through its accelerator Crypto Startup School) and Geometry co-led the round, with participation from Spice Capital, Anchorage co-founders Diogo Monica and Nathan McCauley, Celo co-founders Rene Reinsberg and Marek Olszewski, and Sommelier Finance co-founder Zaki Manian, among others. a16z's CSS accelerator program typically invests $500,000 in participating startups in exchange for 7% equity.

Capsule was founded last year by Nitya Subramanian, former product lead of Layer 1 blockchain Celo, aiming to help developers create wallets with interoperable transactions. Currently, it has four employees, and Subramanian is looking to add some engineers. (Source link)

4. Self-custody wallet Soul Wallet announces completion of $3 million seed round financing

Self-custody wallet Soul Wallet has announced the completion of a $3 million seed round financing, co-founded by Jiajun Zeng, who previously worked as a product manager at ByteDance and Meituan.

It is reported that Soul Wallet will provide a self-custody Ethereum wallet based on ERC-4337, currently undergoing internal testing, with plans to launch in Q3 or Q4. (Source link)

5. Cross-chain asset protocol TeleportDAO completes $2.5 million seed round financing, led by AppWorks and DefinanceX

Cross-chain asset protocol TeleportDAO has announced the completion of a $2.5 million seed round financing, led by AppWorks and DefinanceX, with participation from Quantstamp, Coinlist, Candaq Fintech Group, SNZ Holding Limited, and Gate Labs. The funds raised will be used for product development and team expansion.

According to the crypto data platform RootData, TeleportDAO was established in February 2022 and is a trustless and universal interoperability protocol that provides infrastructure for developers to build cross-chain applications. Using it, users can move any data between blockchains, such as contract calls and other messages, or assets like tokens and NFTs. (Source link)

II. NFT

1. Digital fashion company DressX completes $15 million Series A financing, led by Greenfield

Digital fashion company DressX has completed $15 million in Series A financing, led by crypto venture firm Greenfield. This round of financing concluded at the end of February, with participation from Slow Ventures, The Artemis Fund, Red Dao, and Warner Music. Part of the funds will be used to improve the interoperability of its digital fashion assets, enhance its application, and improve the performance of the NFT market.

It is reported that DressX focuses on off-chain digital fashion items that can be showcased on platforms like Roblox and Instagram, launching its NFT marketplace last March and establishing a partnership with Crypto.com. NFTs sold on its marketplace can be digitally worn in augmented reality through the DressX application. (Source link)

2. Saudi Arabia's first NFT marketplace Nuqtah completes seed round financing, led by Animoca Brands

Saudi Arabia's first NFT marketplace Nuqtah has announced the completion of seed round financing, led by Animoca Brands, with participation from Polygon and local investors, with the specific financing amount undisclosed. The company will use the new funds to expand its business in product development, marketing, talent recruitment, and other areas over the next 12 months.

Nuqtah is the first NFT marketplace licensed by the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Ministry of Investment, aiming to help individuals and businesses easily create, deploy, and monetize NFTs without navigating complex blockchain infrastructure, while empowering NFT creators, businesses, and users to unlock the Web3 market and provide new opportunities for the region. (Source link)

III. Social Entertainment

1. NFT social platform Metalink completes $6 million financing, with participation from Dapper Labs

NFT social platform Metalink has completed a $6 million seed round financing, with participation from Social Capital, Arrington Capital, Sound Ventures, Gemini Frontier Fund, Dapper Labs' venture arm BallerVC, and Genies' Human Ventures. Angel investors include MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright, The Sandbox founder Sebastien Borget, and former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan.

Additionally, Metalink announced the launch of its mobile application, where NFT collectors can interact, aggregate information announcements, and track their portfolio performance. The application also plans to launch trading features later this year, allowing users to buy, sell, and exchange digital assets. (Source link)

2. Creator economy company GigaStar completes $4.8 million seed round financing, with participation from DV Crypto VC

Creator economy company GigaStar has announced the completion of $4.8 million in seed round financing, with participation from DV Crypto VC, Tomsic Holdings, Nameless Ventures, and Belvedere Strategic Capital.

It is reported that GigaStar leverages blockchain technology to provide creators with more innovative interactive methods, including fan incentives and potential long-term royalties, currently primarily supporting YouTube creators and helping channels generate revenue through the launch of channel revenue tokens. (Source link)

IV. DeFi

1. Bitcoin DeFi platform Alex on the Stacks ecosystem completes $2.5 million financing, with participation from Trust Machines

Bitcoin DeFi platform Alex, based on the Stacks ecosystem, has completed a $2.5 million strategic round financing, with participation from Trust Machines and Gossamer Capital. In addition to a decentralized exchange, Alex also offers staking, yield farming, and launchpad services. The funds raised will be used to continue building decentralized finance in the Bitcoin ecosystem and expand the user community.

According to the crypto data platform RootData, Alex announced the completion of $5.8 million in seed round financing in November 2021, led by White Star Capital, with participation from Cultur3, OKX Ventures, CatcherVC, and others. (Source link)

2. DeFi lending market Blueberry Protocol's developer Composable Corp completes $1.2 million seed round financing

The developer behind the DeFi lending application Blueberry Protocol, Composable Corp, has completed $1.2 million in seed round financing, with investors including Ashbury Ventures, Alchemix, Multisig Ventures, and Pirata Capital.

Blueberry Protocol is a peer-to-peer lending market. The funds raised will be used to develop the team and infrastructure, and will collaborate with DeFi projects such as Alchemix and Olympus DAO to integrate custom lending markets and yield strategies alongside many popular DeFi strategies. (Source link)

V. Others

1. Crypto asset security service provider Staging Labs completes $1.1 million Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from ConsensSys

Crypto asset security solution provider Staging Labs has announced the completion of $1.1 million in Pre-Seed financing, with participation from The General Partnership, Flourish Ventures, NGC Ventures, AlphaGrep, Gangels, Kleiner Perkins, Greylock, as well as ConsensSys, Coinbase, Anchorage Digital, Chainalysis, Quicknode, Merkle Science, and others.

It is reported that Staging Labs aims to establish regulatory and systemic protections in the crypto world similar to those in traditional finance to combat fraud and scams. (Source link)

2. Paradigm funds auditing DAO Code4rena with a $6 million token purchase

Crypto venture firm Paradigm has funded auditing DAO Code4rena with a $6 million token purchase, which incentivizes independent auditors to find vulnerabilities. Paradigm will help Code4rena scale its operations, and the new funds will be used to ensure funding diversification.

Code4rena DAO has 3,500 auditors, referred to as "admins" on the platform, who have participated in 217 audits. Code4rena has collaborated with projects such as OpenSea, Blur, zkSync, Aave, Trader Joe, Sushi, and Chainlink. (Source link)