Last week, there were a total of 17 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 June 5 to June 11, 2023, there were a total of 17 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a total financing amount of approximately $11.781 million. The number of financing events and the total amount have both decreased compared to the previous two weeks.

From the perspective of track distribution, infrastructure was the popular track last week, with a total of 7 infrastructure projects raising a cumulative $9.155 million. In terms of financing rounds and scales, early-stage projects accounted for the largest share, with 5 seed rounds and 3 pre-seed rounds.

The three projects with the most significant financing impact are the social layer of Web3, Lens Protocol ($15 million), the Ethereum-equivalent ZK-Rollup network Taiko ($12 million), and the decentralized gaming infrastructure Argus ($10 million).

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

I. CeFi

1. Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital plans to complete approximately $14.25 million in private equity financing

Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital has reached a stock purchase agreement with investors to privately sell 15,000 shares of Series A redeemable convertible preferred stock at a purchase price of $952.38 per share, equivalent to about a 5% original issue discount on a $1,000 par value per share. After the company receives shareholder approval to increase its authorized shares, holders can choose to convert the Series A preferred stock into common stock at an initial conversion price of $14.52 per share. H.C. Wainwright & Co. will act as the exclusive placement agent, and the total net proceeds from this issuance are expected to be approximately $14.25 million. The issuance is expected to be completed around June 8, subject to customary closing conditions. (Source link)

2. Cryptocurrency trading platform OUINEX completes $2 million seed round financing

Cryptocurrency asset trading platform OUINEX announced the completion of a $2 million seed round financing, which will be used to launch its trading platform in early 2024.

OUINEX, headquartered in Paris, aims to provide cryptocurrency trading services for investors in the EU, Africa, and Latin America through trading matching and a universal user interface (GUI). (Source link)

3. LBank Labs announces investment in fund management company Collab+Currency

LBank Labs has completed an investment in the well-known fund management company Collab+Currency. Collab+Currency has previously invested in some of the most influential web3 consumer projects, such as Blur, SuperRare, Art Blocks, Sky Mavis, and other well-known projects.

Sparkle Ventures is the seventh fund in LBank Labs' FOF strategic investment and plans to continue expanding FOF investments in the coming months to enhance synergy and network effects among the portfolio. (Source link)

4. Crypto fantasy gaming app TradingLeagues completes $3.5 million Pre-A round financing, with participation from Leo Capital

According to the Economic Times of India, the crypto fantasy gaming app TradingLeagues has completed $3.5 million in Pre-A round financing, with participation from Leo Capital, Jeejeebhoy family office, and KPB family trust fund under the family office of KP Balaraj, founder of Sequoia India and Westbridge Capital.

It is reported that TradingLeagues helps users understand the stock and cryptocurrency markets through gaming, cultivating skills such as portfolio building and trading. TradingLeagues plans to complete a $10 million Series A financing in the coming months. (Source link)

II. Infrastructure

1. Blockchain gaming infrastructure developer Argus completes $10 million financing, led by Haun Ventures

Web3 gaming infrastructure developer Argus announced the completion of a $10 million seed round financing, led by Haun Ventures, with participation from Alchemy Ventures, Robot Ventures, Dispersion Capital, Anagram, Balaji Srinivasan, Elad Gil, Calvin Liu, and others.

It is reported that Argus is designing a blockchain called World Engine for on-chain games from the ground up, providing a foundation for game developers to build and customize their own open and interoperable game worlds. With the novel second-layer sharding architecture of World Engine, each game can now have its own horizontally scalable blockchain, owned and grown by the community. (Source link)

2. Decentralized social protocol Lens Protocol completes $15 million financing, led by IDEO CoLab Ventures

According to TechCrunch, the decentralized social protocol Lens Protocol has completed $15 million in financing, led by IDEO CoLab Ventures, with participation from General Catalyst, Varian and Blockchain Capital, Flamingo DAO, DAOJones, Punk DAO, DAO5, Global Coin Research, and Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams, OpenSea co-founder Alex Atallah, former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, Sandbox co-founder Sébastien Borget, and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, among others. (Source link)

3. Ethereum Layer 2 network Taiko completes $22 million financing, led by Sequoia China and Generative Ventures

The Ethereum Layer 2 network Taiko based on zkRollup has raised a total of $22 million in two seed rounds. The first round was a $10 million financing led by Sequoia China, completed in the third quarter of 2022. The second round raised $12 million, led by Generative Ventures.

Other investors in both rounds include IOSG Ventures, GSR, and GGV Capital, as well as angel investors such as POAP founder Patricio Worthalter, Tim Beiko and Anthony Sassano from the Ethereum Foundation. (Source link)

4. Blockchain digital platform WAVE BL completes $26 million financing, led by NewRoad Capital Partners

Blockchain digital platform WAVE BL has completed $26 million in financing, led by NewRoad Capital Partners, with participation from existing investors ZIM, Marius Nacht, Contour Venture Partners, Frank Sica, and Techstars Central LLC, as well as new investor Reefknot Investments (backed by Temasek and Kuehne + Nagel).

According to RootData, WAVE BL is a blockchain-based digital platform that facilitates the traditional process of electronically transmitting original paper documents. WAVE BL previously completed approximately $8 million in Series B financing on March 16, 2021. (Source link)

5. Decentralized data broker Oamo completes $1.25 million Pre-Seed financing, led by White Star Capital

Decentralized data broker Oamo announced the completion of $1.25 million in Pre-Seed financing, led by White Star Capital. Oamo stated that it will soon launch a Beta version, and the current waitlist is open.

Oamo is a decentralized data service brokerage platform where users can establish their own decentralized identities, allowing individuals to own their data and profit from it while remaining anonymous. Additionally, Oamo provides user data analytics services for businesses, with current partners including Index Coop, Lighthouse World, Ledn, and Saddle Finance. (Source link)

6. Cosmos core developer Informal Systems completes $5.3 million financing, led by CMCC Global

According to The Block, Cosmos core developer Informal Systems has completed $5.3 million in financing, led by CMCC Global, with participation from Nascent, Maven11, and individual investors from Celestia and EigenLayer. This round of financing will be used to promote the development of the company's security auditing department, Informal Security. (Source link)

7. Web3 game launch platform HyperPlay completes $12 million Series A financing, led by Bitkraft Ventures

According to VentureBeat, the Web3 game launch platform and multi-chain game aggregator HyperPlay has completed $12 million in financing, led by Griffin Gaming Partners and Bitkraft Ventures, with participation from ConsenSys (the parent company of MetaMask), Ethereal Ventures, Delphi, Game7, Mirana Ventures, Monoceros Ventures, and others.

It is reported that HyperPlay was co-founded by MetaMask and Game7 DAO in November 2022, aiming to achieve interoperability for all Web3 games through wallets. Currently, its game store has listed 33 games. (Source link)

III. DeFi

1. Digital asset index protocol nealthy completes $1.3 million financing

Web3 index investment company nealthy has completed $1.3 million in Pre-Seed financing, with the investors undisclosed. Nealthy establishes diversified investment portfolios for investors by storing various digital assets in an on-chain vault and issuing index tokens. (Source link)

IV. NFT

1. NFT digital collectibles platform Dew Drops completes $1.5 million seed round financing, led by Dream Ventures

NFT digital collectibles platform Dew Drops announced the completion of $1.5 million in seed round financing, led by Dream Ventures, with participation from VaynerFund, Polygon Technology Fund, Ruttenberg Gordon Investments, and Slow Ventures. The new funds will be used to expand the team and accelerate platform development. Dew Drops aims to lower technical barriers and enhance the efficiency of exploring and discovering NFT digital collectibles. (Source link)

2. NFT API platform BlockSpan completes $1.4 million Pre-seed round financing

BlockSpan has completed $1.4 million in Pre-seed round financing, with participation from Innovation Works. The platform aggregates data from multiple chains and provides an API layer that allows NFT developers to retrieve token prices, current NFT ownership, and metadata including cached images in real-time.

V. Others

1. Bitcoin-denominated life insurance provider Meanwhile completes $19 million financing, with investments from OpenAI CEO and others

Bitcoin-denominated life insurance provider Meanwhile announced the completion of $19 million in financing across two seed rounds, with the first round co-led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Stripe issuing head Lachy Groom, and the second round led by Gradient Ventures.

Meanwhile stated that this funding enables it to obtain licensing and regulation from the Bermuda Monetary Authority and to hire an initial team to launch its first product—Bitcoin (BTC) denominated whole life insurance. (Source link)

2. Carbon-neutral blockchain application Nori completes $6.25 million financing, led by M13, Toyota Ventures, and others

Carbon-neutral blockchain application Nori announced the completion of a new round of financing totaling $6.25 million, led by current investors M13, Toyota Ventures, Placeholder, Cargill, and others. The new funds will be used to expand its business scope. Nori also announced the appointment of Trudeau as the new CEO, while Paul Gambill, who has served as Nori's co-founder and CEO for the past five years, will remain on the board and take on the new role of Chief Product Officer.

According to the crypto data platform Rootdata, Nori has built a blockchain-based end-to-end carbon removal marketplace, dedicated to removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to address climate change. Nori completed $7 million in Series A financing last March, and to date, Nori's total financing has reached $17.25 million. (Source link)

3. Ordinals incubator Bitcoin Startup Lab completes $1.5 million financing

The incubator Bitcoin Startup Lab, focused on Bitcoin and Ordinals, has completed $1.5 million in financing, led by Sora Ventures. Bitcoin Startup Lab aims to help users turn ideas around Bitcoin and Ordinals into startups, providing founders with entrepreneurship courses, workshops, and one-on-one mentoring.