Last week, there were a total of 23 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with a significant rebound in both the number of financing deals and the total amount raised | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

Organizer: Cookies, RootData

According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from July 10 to July 16, 2023, there were a total of 23 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a total financing amount of approximately 123.45 million USD. The number of financing deals and the total amount have significantly rebounded.

From the perspective of sector distribution, infrastructure, DeFi, and NFT were the popular sectors last week, with financing amounts of 20.5 million USD, 17.5 million USD, and 30.9 million USD, respectively.

In terms of financing rounds and scales, early-stage projects accounted for the largest share, with a total of 9 seed round financings. The most impactful financing was Xterio's 15 million USD investment from Binance Labs, and the music NFT platform Sound.xyz completed a 20 million USD Series A financing led by a16z.

*（List of projects with financing amounts greater than 10 million USD last week, data source: * Rootdata）

I. CeFi

1. Web3 startup Narval completes 4 million USD financing, led by BlockTower VC
Web3 startup Narval has completed a 4 million USD financing round, led by BlockTower VC, with participation from Fabric Ventures, First Capital, a16z, Cherry Crypto, Motier Ventures, Bpifrance, and individual investors including Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon), Seb Borget (The Sandbox), and Fred Montagnon (Arianee).

Narval aims to provide organizations with a more secure way to interact with digital assets, helping them manage and utilize assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs. (Source link)

2. Investment app Roi completes 3.6 million USD financing, led by Spark Capital
According to Fortune, investment app Roi has completed a 3.6 million USD financing round, led by Spark Capital, with participation from NBA star Kevin Durant's venture capital firm 35 Ventures, Google's Gradient Ventures, and angel investor Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase.

Roi allows users to add stocks, bonds, and retirement accounts they want to track in one place, providing a one-stop trading service for users' Robinhood, Coinbase, TD Ameritrade, and WeBull accounts. In addition to traditional assets, Roi also provides users with an overview and detailed data of all their cryptocurrency and NFT holdings. (Source link)

3. Acura Capital acquires 10% stake in Latin American cryptocurrency exchange Patex, valuing it at 100 million USD
Acura Capital has reached a 10 million USD deal to acquire a 10% stake in Patex, pushing its valuation to 100 million USD. It is reported that the Patex ecosystem is a complete crypto solution targeting the Latin American market, providing solutions for regulatory and user needs. Its ecosystem mainly consists of Patex Network, Centralized Patex, and Patex Campus.

II. Infrastructure

1. Modular blockchain Artela completes 6 million USD seed round financing, led by Shima Capital
Modular blockchain Artela has completed a 6 million USD seed round financing, led by Shima Capital, with participation from A&T Capital, Big Brain Holdings, SevenX Ventures, Dispersion Capital, Amino Capital, etc. Artela plans to release the Aspect white paper and launch the initial testnet later this year.

It is reported that Artela is a scalable blockchain network that enables developers to build feature-rich dApps. Artela is committed to enhancing blockchain scalability, allowing developers to easily customize their applications in a modular way and drive faster innovation in Web3. (Source link)

2. Enterprise-grade liquid staking protocol Alluvial completes 12 million USD financing, led by Ethereal Ventures and Variant
Enterprise-grade liquid staking protocol Alluvial announced the completion of a 12 million USD Series A financing round, co-led by Ethereal Ventures and Variant, with participation from Brevan Howard Digital, Coinbase Ventures, Kraken, Avon Ventures, IOSG Ventures, and IOBC Capital. It is reported that the funds will be used to build the institutional-focused Ethereum staking protocol Liquid Collective. (Source link)

3. Decentralized network hardware infrastructure company GEODNET completes 1.5 million USD financing, led by EdgeFi Fund
Decentralized network hardware infrastructure company GEODNET has completed 1.5 million USD financing, led by EdgeFi Fund under Borderless Capital, with participation from IoTeX and a group of angel investors. The new funds will be used to expand reliable global coverage and mobile operating system software development kits.

GEODNET is building a decentralized high-precision multi-band GNSS base station network based on blockchain and providing GEOD token incentives based on the Polygon blockchain to offer reliable solutions for real-time motion applications. (Source link)

4. Nostr protocol-based social app Primal completes 1 million USD financing, with participation from Hivemind Ventures
Nostr protocol-based social app Primal announced the completion of 1 million USD financing, with participation from Ten31, Hivemind Ventures, etc.

It is reported that Primal's social application suite combines a Twitter-like interface with the open-source Nostr protocol, prioritizing features such as censorship resistance, account ownership, and decentralization. Currently, Primal has launched a web application and plans to expand to mobile services. (Source link)

III. DeFi

1. DeFi privacy protocol Silent Protocol completes 5 million USD financing, led by Sora Ventures

DeFi privacy protocol Silent Protocol announced the completion of a 5 million USD financing round, led by Sora Ventures. The funds will be used to expand its network to build a secure layer for its applications that comply with EU MiCA regulations, facilitating cooperation with traditional institutions.

It is reported that Silent Protocol was launched in 2021, primarily developing scalable privacy layers for existing applications, allowing existing decentralized applications to maintain liquidity and scale using zk solutions. (Source link)

2. Decentralized trading platform Ambient Finance completes 6.5 million USD seed round financing, led by BlockTower Capital
Decentralized trading platform Ambient Finance has completed a 6.5 million USD seed round financing, led by BlockTower Capital, with participation from Jane Street, Circle, Tensai Capital, Naval, Yunt Capital, Susa Ventures, Quantstamp, and Hypotenuse Labs, with individual investors including Julian, co-founder of Ribbon Finance, and Steven, a researcher at The Block. The funds from this round will be used for research and development.

Ambient Finance is a decentralized trading protocol that allows for the combination of concentrated and constant product liquidity on any pair of blockchain assets through a bilateral AMM. (Source link)

3. Staker liquidity release protocol Ion Protocol completes 2 million USD Pre-Seed round financing, led by Portal Ventures and SevenX Ventures
Staker liquidity release protocol Ion Protocol announced the completion of a 2 million USD Pre-Seed round financing, co-led by Portal Ventures and SevenX Ventures, with participation from Foresight X, Bankless Ventures, Maelstrom Fund, Alexander, Anthony Sassano (sassal.eth), founder of The Daily Gwei, and Ryan Watkins, co-founder of Syncracy Capital.

It is reported that Ion Protocol supports loans of staked and re-staked assets, allowing users to deposit any validator-supported assets (including LSTs, re-staked positions, etc.) into a collateral vault and mint allETH from their deposits. (Source link)

4. Decentralized derivatives trading platform KTX.Finance completes 4 million USD seed round financing, led by Hashed
Singapore-based decentralized derivatives trading platform KTX.Finance has completed a 4 million USD seed round financing. This round was led by Hashed, with participation from AlphaLab Capital, CRIT Ventures, 100&100 Ventures, Trinito Corporation / Morpheus, GSG Asset, KuCoin Ventures, Clapper Ventures, Sky9 Capital, Lapin Digital, and NexGen Venture. The financing will be used to expand operations and business scope.

KTX.Finance is an on-chain decentralized derivatives trading protocol operated by Alphamesh and incubated by ByteTrade Lab, a Singapore-based Web3 infrastructure and venture capital firm. KTX enables traders to trade against the KLP pool, which consists of 50% stablecoins and 50% blue-chip crypto assets (such as BTC, ETH, BNB). (Source link)

5. OKX Ventures announces investment in Arbitrum-based on-chain derivatives DEX Aark Digital
OKX Ventures announced its investment in Arbitrum-based on-chain derivatives DEX Aark Digital. Aark is the next-generation GMX-style perp DEX designed for professional traders.

Dora, founder of OKX Ventures, stated, "We are excited to participate in the investment in Aark Digital. The Aark team is passionate about the derivatives sector, and their product innovation and mechanism design are commendable, reducing LP risks and enhancing returns to some extent, committed to creating a new trading platform experience for professional traders."

IV. Gaming

1. Xterio receives 15 million USD investment from Binance Labs to develop AI and Web3 game development capabilities
According to an official announcement from Binance, Binance Labs has invested 15 million USD in Xterio, with the new funds aimed at further advancing game and technology development, including the integration of artificial intelligence and the launch of tokens.

It is reported that Xterio is a Web3 game platform and publisher, and its ecosystem is rapidly evolving, with plans to release multiple cross-platform games on PC and mobile devices. The ecosystem will also distribute digital collectibles through Xterio's network platform and marketplace. (Source link)

2. Blockchain game MetaCene completes 5 million USD seed round financing, led by Hash Global and SevenX Ventures
Blockchain MMORPG game MetaCene has completed a 5 million USD seed round financing, led by Hash Global and SevenX Ventures, with participation from WeMade, Emurgo, MixMarvel DAO Ventures, Sinovation Ventures, and LK Venture.

It is reported that MetaCene is developing a blockchain-based game featuring a surreal post-apocalyptic world. Players can redefine game civilizations using various NFTs. (Source link)

V. Metaverse, NFT

1. Music NFT platform Sound.xyz completes 20 million USD Series A financing, led by A16z
Music NFT platform Sound.xyz has completed a 20 million USD Series A financing, led by A16z, with participation from rapper and NFT enthusiast Snoop Dogg, musician Ryan Tedder, music producer Tay Keith, Collab + Currency, Sound Ventures, Palm Tree Crew, Scalar Capital, and A Capital.

Sound.xyz states that anyone can upload their music to Sound and retain 100% ownership. Users can mint NFTs on the Ethereum mainnet as well as on Optimism. (Source link)

2. NFT lending protocol Gondi developer Florida Street completes 5.3 million USD financing, led by Hack.vc
NFT lending protocol Gondi developer Florida Street has completed a 5.3 million USD seed round financing, led by Hack.vc, with participation from Foundation Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Pantera Capital, and 6th Man Ventures.

Gondi launched on Tuesday, allowing lenders to sell their NFTs at fixed rates on the platform, while borrowers can use NFTs as collateral or for NFT-based financial applications, paying interest only based on the outstanding loan term. Additionally, borrowers can enjoy instant refinancing, ensuring they always have the best loan terms even after initiating a loan. (Source link)

3. NFT ticketing solution GET Protocol completes 4.5 million USD seed round financing, led by Flow Ventures
NFT ticketing solution GET Protocol has completed a 4.5 million USD strategic round financing, led by Flow Ventures, with participation from Animoca Brands, Redbeard Ventures, Funfair Ventures, and individual investors including Sebastien Borget, co-founder of The Sandbox. (Source link)

4. Metaverse brand marketing company Karta completes 1.1 million USD seed round financing, led by GameTech Ventures
Metaverse brand marketing company Karta announced the completion of 1.1 million USD in seed round financing, led by GameTech Ventures, with participation from Toikido, Sports Loft, former Hipgnosis executive Amy Thomson, Sports Loft CEO Charlie Greenwood, UK Finance chairman Robert Wigley, Powster founder and CEO SteThompson, and BigIdeas Group. The new financing will be used to help Karta recruit talent to expand its team and operational scope.

It is reported that Karta was founded in 2021 by Tony Barnes and Erik Londré, based in London, UK, providing metaverse marketing services for brands and bands on platforms such as Roblox, Fortnite, and Decentraland. The company has collaborated with brands such as Unilever, Amazon Music, and McDonald's to create advertising and marketing opportunities in metaverse projects. (Source link)

VI. AI + Web3

1. AI smart contract platform Giza completes 3 million USD seed round financing, led by CoinFund
AI smart contract platform Giza has completed 3 million USD in financing, planning to apply artificial intelligence to smart contracts. This round was led by CoinFund, with participation from StarkWare, TA Ventures, and Arrington Capital.

It is understood that Algaba is building a platform that allows AI developers to easily generate zero-knowledge proofs for AI models. Additionally, the company plans to release the infrastructure behind the platform next week and fully launch the platform by the end of 2023. (Source link)

VII. Others

1. Digital employment platform Opolis completes 6.6 million USD financing, led by Greenfield
Digital employment platform Opolis has completed 6.6 million USD in financing, led by Greenfield, with participation from the NEAR Foundation, Draper Associates, and Polygon Ventures. It is reported that Opolis is a member-owned digital employment platform that uses blockchain technology to provide tools for independent workers to manage their employment benefits, wages, and shared services. (Source link)

2. Automated customer support company AwesomeQA completes 2.8 million USD seed round financing, led by North Island Ventures
Automated customer support company AwesomeQA has completed 2.8 million USD in seed round financing, led by North Island Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and Uniswap Labs Ventures. AwesomeQA supports using AI to automatically answer user questions in Discord and Telegram channels, planning to expand its team and improve its custom-trained AI models. AwesomeQA currently provides customer support for over 60 Web3 companies, including Aave, Dune, and Scroll. (Source link)

3. Crypto cybersecurity company Olympix completes 4.3 million USD seed round financing, led by Boldstart Ventures
Crypto cybersecurity startup Olympix has completed 4.3 million USD in seed round financing, led by Boldstart Ventures, with participation from Robot Ventures, Shrug Capital, Konstantin Richter of Blockdaemon, and Tarun Chitra of Gauntlet Networks.

Olympix is dedicated to building a crypto cybersecurity stack using AI-driven tools and is currently in the alpha testing phase. (Source link)

4. Decentralized digital identity startup Neoke completes 1.3 million EUR financing, with participation from Dreamcraft Ventures
Decentralized digital identity startup Neoke, focused on the travel market, has completed a new round of financing of 1.3 million EUR, with participation from Dreamcraft Ventures, ff Venture Capital, Vision Hub, and Plug & Play. The new funds will be used to develop decentralized digital identity and biometric solutions for travel.

The NeoKe platform uses blockchain and cloud technology to store and share verified user identity information, allowing travelers to fully understand and control their data, and simplifying processes such as registration for travel services, guest verification, access control, and data management by creating independent traveler profiles. (Source link)