Last week, there were a total of 19 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with both the number of financing deals and the total amount declining | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

Organizer: Biscuit, ChainCatcher

According to incomplete statistics from ChainCatcher, during the period from May 22 to May 28, 2023, there were a total of 19 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a total financing amount of approximately 213.4 million USD. The number of financing events and the total amount have both seen a certain decline 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 6 infrastructure projects, raising a total of 16.5 million USD; 4 GameFi projects raised approximately 22.75 million USD.

In terms of financing rounds and scales, early-stage projects accounted for the majority, with 7 financing events belonging to seed rounds. The three projects with the largest financing amounts are Tools for Humanity, the company behind the cryptocurrency project Worldcoin (115 million USD), the cryptocurrency trading platform Growminer (48 million USD), and the Web3 game studio Pomerium (20 million USD).

*（List of projects with financing amounts between 10 million and 200 million USD last week, data source: * Rootdata）

I. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

1. Worldcoin completes 115 million USD Series C financing, led by Blockchain Capital

Tools for Humanity, the company behind the cryptocurrency project Worldcoin co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announced the completion of 115 million USD in Series C financing, led by Blockchain Capital, which also included the crypto team from Andreessen Horowitz, as well as Bain Capital Crypto and Distributed Global.

It is reported that the new funds will be used for product expansion and hiring new employees to strengthen the startup's team of 150 people.

According to the crypto data platform RootData, Worldcoin is a new global cryptocurrency aimed at becoming the largest and most inclusive cryptocurrency network in the world by providing Worldcoin for free to everyone. Worldcoin has built a device called Orb that captures an image of a person's eye and converts it into a short digital code, allowing verification of whether the person has registered. If not, they will receive a share of Worldcoin for free. The original image does not need to be stored or uploaded. (Source link)

II. CeFi

1. Digital bank Onyx Private completes 4.1 million USD financing, with participation from Y Combinator and others

Digital bank Onyx Private announced the completion of a new round of financing of 4.1 million USD, with participation from Village Global, Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital, One Way Ventures, 186 Ventures, and Olive Tree Capital.

It is reported that Onyx Private is currently collaborating with Piermont Bank to provide digital banking services, offering users high-yield, fixed-income investment portfolio products, managed by Helium Advisors, with brokerage accounts cleared through Pershing, a subsidiary of BNY Mellon. (Source link)

2. Cryptocurrency trading platform Growminer has secured 48 million USD in strategic financing

Cryptocurrency trading platform Growminer announced that it has secured 48 million USD in strategic financing, with specific investor information not yet disclosed. It is said that some global funds, investment groups, and professional investment institutions participated.

It is reported that Growminer primarily provides trading tools for institutional and individual investors and is currently in the regulatory approval process, expected to be finalized next month. The new funds will be used for team expansion, product improvement, and accelerating market penetration, with plans to expand services to the global digital economy. (Source link)

III. Infrastructure

1. Web3 wallet infrastructure Openfort completes 3 million USD seed round financing, led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Maven 11

Web3 wallet infrastructure Openfort has completed a 3 million USD seed round financing, led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Maven 11, with participation from Game7, NGC Ventures, and Newman Capital.

It is reported that Openfort allows users to register using various popular authentication methods (such as Google, Gmail, and Twitter). It also enables gamers to conveniently perform batch transactions (multicalls), with gas fees settled from the backend. (Source link)

2. Web3 application development platform Sort completes 3.5 million USD financing, led by Lemniscap and The General Partnership

Web3 application development platform Sort has completed a 3.5 million USD seed round financing, led by venture capital firms Lemniscap and The General Partnership. This round of financing will be used to expand its team, advance the platform's product suite, and accelerate the launch of the Sort application. (Source link)

3. Distributed routing protocol Syntropy announces completion of 4 million USD financing

Distributed routing protocol Syntropy announced the completion of 4 million USD financing, with investors including Alpha Transform Group, Alphemy Capital, Denali Digital, Saxon Ventures, and FirstBlock Capital. Syntropy plans to launch new Web3 products during Aptos Hack Holland.

It is reported that Syntropy is transforming the public internet into a secure and user-centric internet through a unified layer, with built-in encryption and optimized performance, automatically enabling anything connected to it. (Source link)

4. Application chain infrastructure protocol Tanssi Network completes 3 million USD seed round financing, led by Arrington Capital

The team behind the application chain infrastructure protocol Tanssi Network Moondance Labs announced the completion of 3 million USD seed round financing, led by Arrington Capital, with participation from Borderless Capital, HashKey Capital, D1 Ventures, Hypersphere, C² Ventures, and Jsquare. The Tanssi Network testnet is expected to launch later this year, with the mainnet set to go live in 2024.

5. Smart contract platform Firechain completes 3 million USD seed round financing, with participation from Ankr and others

Smart contract platform Firechain announced the completion of 3 million USD seed round financing, with participation from Genblock Capital, MGNR, Cogitent Ventures, 1NVST, and Ankr. The new funds will be used to expand the team, accelerate the development roadmap, and launch its innovative blockchain platform.

Firechain is a heterogeneous blockchain smart contract platform that has built a heterogeneous, event-driven hybrid ledger model architecture to support features such as free transactions, with plans to launch a public testnet for its DLT network in June. (Source link)

6. Bitcoin domain project BTCDomain completes angel round financing, with participation from Waterdrip Capital and others

The Bitcoin ecological domain project BTCDomain announced the completion of angel round financing, with the specific financing amount undisclosed. Waterdrip Capital participated, along with other angel investors including WangFeng, founder of Element and LK Venture, and Kevin Shao, founder of Bitrise Capital.

After this round of financing, BTCDomain will further develop application scenarios for Bitcoin domains, promoting broader development of the Bitcoin ecosystem in areas such as ZK resolution, wallet payments, on-chain websites, and decentralized social media.

IV. DeFi

1. Narwhal Finance completes strategic financing at a valuation of 25 million USD

The decentralized perpetual trading platform Narwhal Finance, operating on Arbitrum and BNB Chain, announced the completion of strategic financing at a valuation of 25 million USD. At the same time, Narwhal Finance also announced a partnership with Pyth Network for oracle services and with Wormhole for token bridging services.

According to the crypto data platform RootData, Narwhal Finance completed a 1 million USD seed round financing in March this year, led by Animoca Brands and participated by Hailstone Ventures. (Source link)

2. MEV developer FastLane Labs completes 2.3 million USD seed round financing, led by Multicoin Capital

Polygon ecosystem MEV developer FastLane Labs has completed 2.3 million USD seed round financing, led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from Polygon Ventures, Shima Capital, Delphi Ventures, Everstake Ventures, and Symbolic Capital. (Source link)

3. Stablecoin lending protocol Num Finance completes 1.5 million USD seed round financing, with participation from Ripio Venture and others

Stablecoin lending protocol Num Finance has completed 1.5 million USD seed round financing, with participation from stablecoin developer Reserve, H2O Scouter Fund, Ripio Venture, VC3 DAO, and Auth0 CTO Matias Woloski.

Num Finance primarily provides local currency stablecoin collateral loan services to enterprises, currently issuing Argentine peso and Peruvian sol stablecoins. (Source link)

4. Modular oracle RedStone completes angel round financing, with investments from Aave founder, Polygon co-founder, and others

Modular oracle RedStone announced the completion of angel round financing, with angel investors including Aave founder Stani Kulechov, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, zkSync co-founder Alex Gluchovski, and Avalanche co-founder Emin Gun Sirer, among others. The specific investment amount was not disclosed.

RedStone stated that since its establishment in 2021, it has raised 7.5 million USD from Web3 VCs. RedStone is a modular oracle that provides unique data sources for DApp applications through modular design and customizable data feedback. (Source link)

V. Metaverse

1. Metaverse avatar platform GoodGang Labs completes 2 million USD seed round financing, with participation from Kakao Investment

Singapore's metaverse avatar platform GoodGang Labs has completed 2 million USD in seed round financing, with participation from Kakao Investment. The new funds will be used to build the 3D environment kiki town.

GoodGang Labs is a company dedicated to providing solutions for metaverse avatars, and it will launch GangHouse for Web3, allowing users to communicate in real-time using their own NFTs as mediums. (Source link)

VI. Gaming

1. Web3 MOBA-style competitive game Arena of Faith completes 1.75 million USD seed round financing, led by Chain Hill Capital

Web3 MOBA-style competitive game Arena of Faith announced the completion of 1.75 million USD in seed round financing, led by Chain Hill Capital, with Initiate Capital participating.

Arena of Faith focuses on serving the MOBA esports ecosystem and building a decentralized event system, aiming to better adapt to the current user needs of the MOBA market through a Web3 business model, bridging KOLs, content creators, event organizers, esports clubs, and esports enthusiasts while providing new commercialization ideas.

Arena of Faith stated that its core team consists of producers from Tencent Interactive Entertainment's competitive game publishing, former senior experts from Ubisoft, senior developers from Tencent Timi Studio, and core contributors to the Cosmos ecosystem, all with over 10 years of experience in game development. (Source link)

2. Web3 game publisher BoomLand completes 1 million USD Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from Polygon and others

According to Cointelgraph, Web3 game publisher BoomLand has completed 1 million USD in Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from Polygon, Game7, Magic Eden, Hyperithm, and some private investors. BoomLand has previously completed a soft launch and initial NFT sale, with its first blockchain game "Hunters On-Chain" scheduled for release later this month. (Source link)

3. Web3 game studio Metagame Industries completes strategic round financing, with participation from Mysten Labs and others

Web3 game studio Metagame Industries has completed strategic round financing at a valuation of approximately 100 million USD, with the specific financing amount not disclosed. Participants include Sui public chain developer Mysten Labs, game developers Funplus and Xterio, Ecosystem Fund, MH Ventures, DWeb3 Capital, ZeroX Fund, and GMA. This financing aims to accelerate the development of its game Abyssworld.

Abyss World is the first AAA game in the Sui ecosystem, co-developed with Mysten Labs, and the project has begun a whitelist invitation campaign, with an IDO scheduled to take place soon. (Source link)

4. Web3 game studio Pomerium receives 20 million USD in angel round investment

Web3 game studio Pomerium announced that it has received 20 million USD in angel round investment from an undisclosed investor. This funding will enable the company to expand its blockchain-based game portfolio and drive innovation in Web3 gaming.

According to the crypto data platform RootData, Pomerium is a meme-supported GameFi platform that supports a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace and decentralized exchange for the best user experience. Pomerium games feature popular memes related to Pomeranians, sometimes including Elon Musk memes. (Source link)

VII. Others

1. Web3 creator community app PoPP completes 4 million USD angel round financing, led by Foresight Ventures

According to Coinspeaker, Web3 creator community app PoPP announced the completion of 4 million USD in angel round financing, led by Foresight Ventures, with participation from several other institutions and individuals. After this round of financing, PoPP's valuation reached 40 million USD. This round of funding will support PoPP's continued investment in product research and development iteration and creator incentives after its launch, with the product set to go live on the App Store for public testing soon.

According to the crypto data platform RootData, PoPP uses blockchain technology to build users' personal metaverse social relationships, allowing everyone to issue programmable soul-bound tokens and non-fungible tokens to carry their social relationships, organizational relationships, rights certificates, and works, enabling everyone who contributes to the community to earn rewards and helping users discover more valuable souls and content on the platform. (Source link)

2. Open-source drug discovery LabDAO completes 3.6 million USD financing, with participation from Seed Club Ventures and others

Focusing on open-source drug discovery, LabDAO has completed 3.6 million USD in financing, with participation from North Island Ventures, Seed Club Ventures, ID Theory, Road Capital, Curve Labs, gmjp.lol, Molecule, Gnosis DAO, The LAO, Orange DAO, Beaker DAO, and Spaceship DAO.

It is reported that LabDAO has also launched the PLEX client to facilitate communication and interaction between scientists and laboratories. LabDAO features containerized resource-intensive computing services, making it easier to run data. Outputs can be linked to NFTs for scientists to prove ownership of their data. (Source link)

3. Blockchain energy trading platform UrbanChain completes 5.25 million GBP Series A financing, led by Eurazeo

Blockchain energy trading platform UrbanChain announced the completion of 5.25 million GBP in Series A financing, led by Eurazeo. UrbanChain is currently operating a P2P energy trading platform in the UK, utilizing blockchain and AI systems to match renewable energy producers and consumers, allowing users to obtain reasonable electricity pricing services, thereby reducing electricity bills for businesses and households. (Source link)

4. Crypto loyalty service company Kigo completes 6.5 million USD financing, with participation from Augeo and others

Crypto loyalty service company Kigo has completed 6.5 million USD in financing. Kigo was formed by the merger of the crypto loyalty subsidiary Heaps and the NFT participation platform Thred of the loyalty technology service company Augeo, which together raised 16 million USD, including a new commitment of 6.5 million USD from Valor Siren Ventures and Augeo to accelerate Kigo's launch.

Kigo aims to provide services such as membership, user engagement rewards, and recognition through blockchain, allowing brands to collaborate with Kigo to offer digital loyalty reward features based on dynamic digital badges. Kigo's reward forms support various digital assets, including cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH, as well as digital collectibles and NFT passes. (Source link)