Last week, there were a total of 21 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with a significant increase in total financing amount | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

整理：饼干，RootData

According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from July 17 to July 23, 2023, there were a total of 21 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a total financing amount of approximately $217 million. The total amount of financing has significantly increased.

From the perspective of track distribution, infrastructure and NFTs were the popular tracks last week, with financing amounts of $125.5 million and $16 million, respectively.

In terms of financing rounds and scales, early-stage projects accounted for the most, with a total of 9 seed round financings. The most influential financing was Manta Network developer p0x labs completing a $25 million Series A financing at a valuation of $500 million; Radiant Capital received a $10 million investment from Binance Labs; dappOS completed seed round financing at a $50 million valuation, led by IDG and Sequoia China.

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

I. CeFi

1. Telegram raises $210 million through bond issuance, founder Pavel Durov and others invest
Telegram raised $210 million through bond issuance, purchased by the founder and several well-known funds, though the specific fund names were not disclosed. Among them, founder and CEO Pavel Durov stated that he purchased about a quarter of the bonds. Currently, Telegram is still not profitable, and the new financing aims to bring it closer to breakeven, having spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade to keep the app running.

Currently, Telegram has over 800 million users, adding more than 300 million users in the past two and a half years, attracting 2.5 million new registered users daily. (Source link)

2. Cryptocurrency exchange OpenEx completes Pre-A round financing at a $50 million valuation, with participation from C² Ventures and others
Cryptocurrency exchange OpenEx completed Pre-A round financing at a $50 million valuation, with the amount undisclosed. C² Ventures, Agallochum Capital, TKX Capital, and others participated, along with the founders and managing directors of Galxe and Fenbushi Capital participating personally.

It is reported that the funds will be used to improve DApp trading experience and develop new financial products. OpenEx is a hybrid trading platform that combines CEX and DEX. (Source link)

II. Infrastructure

1. Manta Network developer p0x labs completes $25 million Series A financing at a $500 million valuation, led by Polychain Capital and Qiming Venture Partners
Manta Network developer p0x labs completed $25 million Series A financing at a $500 million valuation, co-led by Polychain Capital and Qiming Venture Partners, with participation from Alliance, CoinFund, and SevenX Ventures.

It is reported that the funds will be used to expand the ZK Layer 1 blockchain of Manta Pacific and Manta Atlantic to achieve compliant on-chain privacy. (Source link)

2. Web3 operating protocol dappOS completes seed round financing at a $50 million valuation, led by IDG and Sequoia China
Web3 operating protocol dappOS announced the completion of seed round financing at a $50 million valuation, led by IDG Capital and Sequoia China, with participation from OKX Ventures, HashKey Capital, KuCoin Ventures, TronDao, Gate Labs, Taihill Ventures, Symbolic Capital, Foresight Ventures, BlueRun Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Leland Ventures, and others.

It is reported that dappOS was selected for Binance Labs' fifth incubation program in November 2022 and received Pre-Seed round financing from Binance Labs in June this year. (Source link)

3. Web3 infrastructure company RISC Zero completes $40 million Series A financing, led by Blockchain Capital
Web3 infrastructure company RISC Zero completed $40 million Series A financing, led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from Galaxy Digital, IOSG, RockawayX, Maven 11, Fenbushi Capital, Delphi Digital, Algaé Ventures, IOBC, Tribute Labs' Zero Dao, and Alchemy.

It is reported that RISC Zero is an infrastructure company aimed at helping developers build zero-knowledge proof software and is about to launch the Bonsai computing platform, a decentralized proof engine that allows developers to integrate zk proofs into their applications and chains to enhance security. (Source link)

4. Web3 and blockchain solutions company Cosmic Wire completes $30 million seed round financing, led by Solana Foundation and Polygon
Web3 and blockchain solutions company Cosmic Wire completed $30 million seed round financing, led by Solana Foundation and Polygon. It is reported that the funds will be used to drive Cosmic Wire's development of decentralized applications and expand the Web3 ecosystem. (Source link)

5. Stablecoin developer Ethena completes $6 million seed round financing, led by Dragonfly
Crypto startup Ethena completed $6 million seed round financing, led by Dragonfly, and is developing a new type of stablecoin backed by Ethereum derivatives. It is understood that Ethena's financing also received support from exchanges Deribit, Bybit, OKX, Gemini, and Huobi.

Ethena has developed a stablecoin called USDe, which maintains its peg to the US dollar by using users' collateral to short hedge Ethereum through perpetual swaps. The company hopes to fully launch its stablecoin and bond assets in the coming months after completing the test network phase in the third quarter. (Source link)

6. Account abstraction wallet Echooo Wallet completes $15 million financing at a $100 million valuation, with participation from A&T Capital and others
Account abstraction crypto wallet Echooo Wallet completed $15 million financing at a $100 million valuation, with participation from Skyview Capital, A&T Capital, and others. Additionally, Echooo Wallet announced that it will launch a "limited-time free account abstraction wallet giveaway" event today at 22:00 Beijing time. (Source link)

7. Cross-chain liquidity network Side Protocol developer completes $1.5 million Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from Hashkey Capital and others
Cosmos ecosystem interoperability financial protocol Side Protocol's parent company Side Labs completed $1.5 million pre-seed round financing, with participation from Hashkey Capital, KR1, Continue Capital, Symbolic Capital, Informal Systems, Dora Ventures, Charles Lu, Harry Halpin, Eric Chen, Mirza Uddin, Siddhartha Dutta, and Vincent Niu.

It is reported that the new funds will be used to expand its team and ensure compliance with legal and regulatory standards while establishing a mesh liquidity network aimed at eliminating bridges and intermediary tokens for cross-chain asset exchanges through liquidity center networks. (Source link)

8. Lightweight node protocol Over Protocol developer completes $8 million financing, with participation from SK and others
Layer 1 blockchain lightweight node protocol Over Protocol developer Superblock announced it has completed a total of $8 million financing, with participation from SK, Netmarble, DSC, E&Investment, Schmidt, SpringCamp, and NaverZ. The new funds will be used to further expand into the Korean market.

Over Protocol is a Layer 1 blockchain built using the Ethanos protocol, designed to allow anyone to run a node on a PC by reducing storage requirements, thereby lowering the maintenance costs of blockchain nodes. (Source link)

III. DeFi

1. Cross-chain lending protocol Radiant Capital receives $10 million investment from Binance Labs
Binance Labs invested $10 million in cross-chain lending protocol Radiant Capital, which will drive further product development and expansion to other Ethereum-compatible blockchains. Radiant Capital supports cross-chain lending and currently offers various collateral options on Arbitrum and BNB Chain. (Source link)

IV. Gaming

1. Web3 mobile game developer Hexacore completes $3.5 million financing, led by Scalo Technologies
Web3 mobile game developer Hexacore announced the completion of $3.5 million financing, led by Dubai tech venture Scalo Technologies, with participation from Xsolla, Estoty, and other angel investors. The new funds will be used to accelerate the development of Web3 features for further mobile games, including in-app purchases, NFT collectibles, and ad incentives.

Hexacore is committed to building a game open economy based on digital ownership, helping Web2 developers integrate blockchain technology into games, and providing services such as embedded wallets, NFT minting and sales, payment channels, blockchain token economics, and digital asset management. (Source link)

2. Web3 game developer Eyeball Games completes $1.5 million Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from Polygon Ventures, Immutable, and others
Web3 game developer Eyeball Games announced the completion of $1.5 million Pre-Seed round financing, led by White Star Capital supported by Ubisoft's digital asset fund, with participation from Polygon Ventures, Immutable, Oular, Great South Gate Ventures, and several angel investors.

Eyeball Games will use this latest financing to develop an NFT-based blockchain pool game called Eyeball Pool, which will initially launch on Immutable's zkEVM chain (supported by Polygon) and later expand to more blockchains, aiming for a mobile launch in the first quarter of 2024. (Source link)

V. Metaverse, NFT

1. NFT marketplace solution Authic Labs announces completion of seed round financing, with participation from Angelwise, Rockstart, and others
No-code NFT marketplace solution Authic Labs announced the completion of seed round financing, with participation from Angelwise, Rockstart, Graduate Entrepreneur Fund, and SeedBlink, though the specific amount of this round of financing has not been disclosed. The new funds will be used to expand its market coverage and support the development of new products and services.

Authic Labs has developed a no-code platform that can customize its NFT marketplace according to customer needs. The NFT solutions it builds can help enterprise clients leverage Web3 technology to create secure, scalable loyalty programs and generate new revenue streams. (Source link)

2. NFT liquidity solution platform Ra1se completes seed round financing
NFT liquidity solution platform Ra1se has completed seed round financing from North American mining companies. Ra1se utilizes multi-chain compatibility to convert illiquid NFTs into highly liquid blue-chip NFTs through complex algorithms. It is reported that the Ra1se platform will launch its beta version in early August and kick off a series of user incentive activities called "Hundred E Subsidy." (Source link)

3. NFT marketplace Jungle completes $16 million financing
NFT marketplace Jungle has completed $16 million financing, with specific investors not disclosed. It is reported that Jungle's latest platform integration features an AI search tool designed to improve and simplify the way traders browse the NFT market and find the next major investment opportunity. (Source link)

VI. AI + Web3

1. AI metaverse infrastructure Futureverse completes $54 million Series A financing, led by 10T Holdings
AI metaverse startup Futureverse completed $54 million Series A financing, led by 10T Holdings, with other investors including Ripple Labs, Futureverse co-founder Aaron McDonald, and Shara Senderoff.

It is reported that Futureverse was formed by the merger of 11 different companies from the fields of blockchain, artificial intelligence, virtual universes, and gaming, starting with the merger of eight companies at the end of 2022, followed by the addition of three more companies. (Source link)

2. Company Tromero, which integrates machine learning and blockchain consensus, completes £1.5 million seed round financing, led by BlueYard Capital
London-based machine learning training and hosting platform Tromero completed £1.5 million seed round financing, led by BlueYard Capital. Tromero will use this investment to build a team over the next 12 months to deliver a fully functional platform prototype.

Tromero's blockchain training AI approach merges proof-of-work consensus with machine learning, aiming to reduce AI training and hosting costs. (Source link)

VII. Others

1. Web3 social feed application Interface completes $1.4 million seed round financing, co-led by Polymorphic Capital and Mask Network
Web3 social feed application Interface completed $1.4 million seed round financing, co-led by Polymorphic Capital and Mask Network, with participation from Seed Club, Caballeros Capital, Safe Ecosystem Foundation, and angel investors including Blake Gao, Anton Bukov, Sergej Kunz, Arthaud Mesnard, Andrey Scherbovich, and Will Papper.

2. DAO registration service provider MIDAO completes $1 million financing, with participation from Balaji Srinivasan and others
DAO registration service provider MIDAO completed $1 million financing, with participation from The LegalTech Fund, FJ Labs, and angel investor Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase. This round of financing will enhance MIDAO's core products, provide legal recognition for Web3 projects and DAOs, help ensure contributor liability protection, expand its global partner network of Web3 lawyers and professional service providers, and broaden MIDAO's service scope worldwide.

It is reported that MIDAO is a partner network of over 300 vetted Web3 lawyers, with a mission to enable Web3 organizations across industries to access legal and regulatory frameworks and provide services to existing DAOs seeking legal recognition. (Source link)

3. Blockchain explorer developer Cymbal completes $18.5 million financing, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and others
California-based blockchain technology startup Cymbal announced the completion of $18.5 million financing, with participation from First Round Capital, Solana Ventures, CAA Connect, Coinbase Ventures, Patron, GV, Acrew, and UTA Ventures. The funds from this round of financing will be used to expand operations and increase development efforts.

It is reported that Cymbal is building a "readable" Ethereum blockchain explorer that transforms complex on-chain data into visual and easy-to-understand transaction summary analyses, such as wallet portfolio rankings, NFT purchase counts, and specific crypto project sales, making it easier for ordinary users to understand. Currently, Cymbal supports the analysis and processing of Ethereum blockchain data and plans to expand to the Solana blockchain in the future. (Source link)