Last week, there were a total of 22 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with the number of financing deals and total amount remaining stable | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

Organizer: Biscuit, ChainCatcher

According to incomplete statistics from ChainCatcher, during the period from May 15 to May 21, 2023, there were a total of 22 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a total financing amount of approximately $229.9 million. The number of financing events and the total amount remained stable compared to the previous two weeks.

From the perspective of track distribution, infrastructure and DeFi were the popular tracks last week. There were a total of 4 infrastructure projects with a cumulative financing of $97.4 million; 4 DeFi projects with a cumulative financing of approximately $9.7 million.

In terms of financing rounds and scales, early-stage projects accounted for the largest proportion, with 6 financing rounds belonging to seed rounds. The three projects with the largest financing scales are the network infrastructure solution Auradine ($81 million), the Bitcoin mining company Cormint ($30 million), and the on-chain IP ecosystem Story Protocol ($29.3 million).

（List of projects with financing scales between $10 million and $200 million last week, data source: Rootdata）

I. CeFi

1. Ripple Acquires Cryptocurrency Custody Company Metaco for $250 Million

According to CoinDesk, Ripple spent $250 million to acquire the Switzerland-based cryptocurrency custody company Metaco. This acquisition will allow Ripple to expand its products by integrating its technology into the custody, issuance, and settlement of tokenized assets.

The acquisition was conducted through a combination of cash and Ripple equity, and Metaco will continue to operate as an independent business unit led by founder and CEO Adrien Treccani. (Source link)

2. Digital Asset Data Provider PYOR Completes $4 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by Castle Island Ventures

Digital asset data provider PYOR announced the completion of a $4 million seed round financing, led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Hash3, Antler, Future Perfect Venture, Force Ventures, CoinSwitch Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and angel investor Balaji Srinivasan.

PYOR plans to use this financing to establish its digital asset explanation layer and accelerate global institutional participation in digital assets, driving the expansion of its core infrastructure and product platform. Additionally, the funds will be used to expand the team and recruit. (Source link)

II. Infrastructure

1. Infrastructure Solution Provider Auradine Completes $81 Million Series A Financing, Led by Celesta Capital and Mayfield

The startup Auradine, associated with Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital, completed $81 million in Series A financing, led by Celesta Capital and Mayfield, with participation from Cota Capital, DCVC, and Stanford University.

Auradine, founded in 2022, is developing a wide range of hardware and software infrastructure, including energy-efficient silicon, zero-knowledge proofs (blockchain-based privacy tools), and AI solutions for decentralized applications. (Source link)

2. Web3 API Platform Airstack Completes $7 Million Financing, Led by Superscrypt

Web3 API platform Airstack announced the completion of the second half of its $7 million Pre-Seed round financing, led by Superscrypt, with participation from Polygon, Hashed Emergent, NGC, Primal Capital, UOB Ventures, and Signum Capital. Airstack allows developers to access and utilize on-chain data using AI-supported natural language requests.

According to the crypto data platform RootData, Airstack announced the completion of a $3 million seed round financing last October, with participation from institutions such as Polygon and Fenbushi Capital. (Source link)

3. ZK Startup Lagrange Labs Completes $4 Million Financing, Led by 1kx

ZK startup Lagrange Labs completed $4 million in financing, led by 1kx, with participation from Maven11, Lattice Fund, CMT Digital, Daedalus Angels, and others. This round of financing will be used to develop its ZK system to achieve secure interoperability across different blockchain networks. (Source link)

4. Web3 Social Graph CyberConnect Raises $5.4 Million Through CoinList Token Sale

Web3 social graph project CyberConnect announced that its public sale on CoinList has ended, with all 3 million CYBER tokens sold at a price of $1.8 per token, raising a total of $5.4 million.

CyberConnect stated that there were 532,000 registered users from 112 countries, with 11,540 participants in the token sale (approximately 5,750 from the priority queue and about 5,790 from the regular queue). (Source link)

III. DeFi

1. Money Market Protocol Dolomite Completes $2.5 Million Financing, Led by Draper Goren Holm and NGC

The money market protocol Dolomite on Arbitrum completed $2.5 million in financing, led by Draper Goren Holm and NGC, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, WWVentures, RR2 Capital, 6th Man Ventures, Token Metrics Ventures, Orchard Street Capital, and Guanxi DAO. Individual investors include Matthew Finestone, Kyle Rojas, David Bleznak, Coinflipcanada, CryptoCondom, 1chioku.eth, and slappjakke.eth.

According to the crypto data platform RootData, Dolomite is a next-generation margin trading and lending protocol on Arbitrum that supports the use of thousands of different assets as collateral. (Source link)

2. Time-Limited Token Trading Market Hourglass Completes $4.2 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by Electric Capital

DeFi startup Hourglass announced the completion of $4.2 million in seed round financing, led by Electric Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, Tribe Capital, hack.vc, and other angel investors.

Hourglass launched the first-ever marketplace for trading time-limited tokens (TBT), a concept that tokenizes users' staked assets in DeFi protocols based on their lock-up time periods, essentially transferring ownership of the assets locked in the protocol to another buyer. Additionally, Hourglass will mark Lido's withdrawal queue, which could otherwise lead to "exit times of weeks or even months." This will allow users to "trade their position" to extract staked Ethereum while simultaneously gaining liquidity. (CoinDesk)

3. Liquid Staking Derivatives Protocol Asymmetry Finance Completes $3 Million Financing, with Participation from Ankr

According to CoinDesk, liquid staking derivatives (LSD) protocol Asymmetry Finance completed $3 million in financing, with participation from Ecco Capital, Republic Capital, GMJP, and Ankr.

Asymmetry's main product is the safETH Token, which represents a basket of liquid staking derivative tokens, including Lido's wstETH, Rocketpool's rETH, Frax's frxETH, Stakewise's sETH2, and Ankr's ankrETH. (Source link)

4. Lifeform Completes New Round of Financing at a Valuation of $300 Million, Led by IDG Capital

Visual DID infrastructure provider Lifeform announced the completion of a new round of financing at a valuation of $300 million, led by IDG Capital. IDG Capital will deeply participate in building the digital citizen world and provide Lifeform with more ecological partners. (Source link)

IV. Tools

1. Crypto Tool Provider CryptoHub Completes $6 Million Financing, Led by Tectona

Israeli crypto startup CryptoHub announced the completion of $6 million in financing at a valuation of $30 million, with lead investor Tectona investing $3 million.

CryptoHub was founded in November 2021 by Eliran Ouzan and Shlomi Bazel, aiming to provide technological tools and solutions for the blockchain industry. The company is set to launch its first project CoinScan.com, which is a platform that displays real-time cryptocurrency trading information and provides analysis and research resources. (Source link)

2. Web3 Content Copyright Company Story Protocol Completes $29.3 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by a16z Crypto

According to NFTgators, Web3 content copyright company Story Protocol announced the completion of $29.3 million in seed round financing, led by a16z Crypto, with participation from Hashed, Samsung Next Fund, Two Small Ventures, DAO5, Berggruen Holdings, Mirana Corp, Foresight Ventures, and SLVC.

Story Protocol provides a way to create, manage, and license intellectual property on-chain, forming a remixable and combinable story Lego ecosystem that enables creators to craft stories with ownership and incentives. (Source link)

3. Bitcoin Voucher Company Azteco Completes $6 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by Jack Dorsey

Bitcoin voucher company Azteco announced the completion of $6 million in seed round financing, led by Jack Dorsey, with participation from Lightning Ventures, Hivemind Ventures, Ride Wave Ventures, Aleka Capital, Visary Capital, Gaingels, David Van Der Weele, Sunil Rajaraman, and others.

Azteco vouchers can be used for online payments and can also be used in hundreds of thousands of retail stores across over 195 countries, allowing people to spend, save, and send small amounts of Bitcoin to friends, family, and merchants. The company plans to use the funds from this round of financing for product development and market expansion in Latin America and Europe. (Source link)

V. NFT

1. Music NFT Platform anotherblock Completes €4 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by Stride.VC

According to Tech.eu, music NFT platform anotherblock completed €4 million in seed round financing, led by Stride.VC, with participation from Swedish producer Axwell and Swedish House Mafia.

According to RootData, in June 2022, anotherblock completed $2.5 million in financing, led by Inventure, with participation from StableNode, Centrifuge founder Maex Ament, Dune co-founder Fredrik Haga, and others. anotherblock aims to provide NFT solutions for music copyrights. (Source link)

2. Digital Entertainment Company AnotherBall Completes $2.2 Million Financing, with Participation from Polygon Founders

Digital entertainment company AnotherBall announced the completion of $2.2 million in angel round financing, with participation from Polygon founder Jaynti Kanani, Sony Group Corporation CTO Hiroaki Kitano, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, and Azuki development company Chiru Labs advisor Rehito Hatoyama.

AnotherBall is building a new Web3 "virtual UP host" project IZUMO, which aims to create a space for streamers, illustrators, musicians, and video producers who love anime, manga, and gaming culture to continuously generate income based on their interests. (PRNewswire)

VI. Others

1. Decentralized AI Integration Platform AiONE Completes $3 Million Private Placement Financing

According to U.today, decentralized AI integration platform AiONE announced the completion of $3 million in private placement financing, and the project is now live on Binance Smart Chain. AiONE primarily helps enterprises and project parties integrate AI design into various business development processes.

According to RootData, AiONE had previously obtained $1 million in seed round financing from private investors in the first quarter of 2023. (Source link)

2. Bitcoin Mining Company Cormint Completes $30 Million Series A Financing, Co-Led by Its President and SLAB Chairman

Bitcoin mining startup Cormint completed $30 million in Series A financing, co-led by Cormint President Jamie McAvity and Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) Chairman Nav Sooch, with participation from former Cormint CTO Alessandro Piovoccari and others.

Cormint plans to use the funds from this round of financing to establish a data center in Texas with a computing power of 2.4 EH/s. (Source link)

3. Blockchain Financial Technology Company Jia Completes $4.3 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by TCG Crypto

Blockchain financial technology company Jia, which provides loans to micro and small enterprises in emerging markets, completed $4.3 million in seed round financing, led by TCG Crypto, with participation from BlockTower, Hashed Emergent, Saison Capital, and Global Coin Research, with individual investors including Not Boring founder Packy McCormick, Canonical Crypto Anand Iyer and Jared Hecht, and founders of fintech lending companies Fundera and CircleUp Rory Eakin.

The company plans to use the funds to expand operations in Kenya and the Philippines, and then explore new markets in West Africa, Latin America, and Asia. (Source link)