Last week, there were a total of 17 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with a significant rebound in the total financing amount | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

整理：饼干，RootData

According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from August 14 to August 20, 2023, there were a total of 17 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a total financing amount of approximately $191.25 million, showing a significant rebound in total financing.

From the distribution of sectors, the most popular sector for financing is social entertainment. The Web3 social application friend.tech received seed round investment from Paradigm, while the Bitcoin social network platform Orange Pill completed $250,000 in Pre-Seed financing. The Web3 decentralized social data layer Port3 Network completed a new round of financing worth millions of dollars.

In terms of financing rounds and scales, early-stage projects accounted for the majority, with a total of 8 seed round financings. Additionally, cryptocurrency custody company BitGo completed a $100 million financing at a valuation of $1.75 billion, making it the largest financing event of the past week.

*（List of some projects that completed financing last week, data source: * Rootdata）

I. Infrastructure

1. Full-chain interoperable Layer 1 network ZetaChain completes $27 million equity financing, with participation from Jane Street Capital and others
The full-chain interoperable Layer 1 network ZetaChain announced the completion of $27 million in equity financing, with participation from Blockchain.com, Human Capital, VY Capital, Sky9 Capital, Jane Street Capital, VistaLabs, CMT Digital, Foundation Capital, Lingfeng Capital, GSR, Kudasai, and Krust.
It is reported that ZetaChain's mission is to establish a new standard for blockchain interoperability, allowing users to manage all their assets and data from a single platform, regardless of which blockchain they were created or stored on (including non-smart contract chains like Bitcoin and DogeCoin), without the need for bridging or wrapping tokens.

According to official data, the ZetaChain ecosystem has currently deployed over 27,000 dApp contracts, covering sectors such as cross-chain DeFi, NFTs, Web3 social, identity, and gaming protocols. More than 1.7 million users have participated in the ZetaChain testnet, completing over 13 million transactions. (Source link)

2. Layer1 blockchain Linera completes $6 million financing, led by Borderless Capital
Layer1 blockchain Linera, created by former Meta employees, has completed $6 million in financing, led by Borderless Capital. It is reported that the new funds will be used to expand the team, launch the protocol's development and test networks, and cultivate strategic influence in the Asia-Pacific region while continuing to develop its developer academy. (Source link)

3. Cryptocurrency payment company CityPay completes over $2 million seed round financing, with participation from Tether and others
Cryptocurrency payment company CityPay announced the completion of over €2 million (approximately $2.17 million) in seed round financing, which includes $500,000 in cryptocurrency investment, with participation from Tether, Presto Ventures, and other angel investors. The new funds will be used for market expansion and to promote the development of the B2C platform.

CityPay.io helps business clients receive cryptocurrency payments through four methods: web-integrated payments, POS terminals, email billing, and personal initial deposits. (Source link)

II. CeFi

1. Cryptocurrency custody company BitGo completes $100 million financing at a $1.75 billion valuation
Cryptocurrency custody company BitGo Inc. announced that it has raised $100 million at a valuation of $1.75 billion. It is reported that BitGo ensures the security of crypto assets by protecting private keys, sometimes in physical vaults. The company is currently the custodian for creditors of the bankrupt digital asset exchange FTX and is also responsible for its legal proceedings. Other clients of BitGo include financial services company Swan Bitcoin and blockchain developer Mysten Labs Inc.

According to the crypto data platform RootData, BitGo has previously completed a total of $66.5 million in financing, with investors including Goldman Sachs, Galaxy Digital, and other institutions. (Source link)

2. Web3 equity trading company Dinari completes $7.5 million seed round financing, with participation from former Coinbase CTO and others
Web3 equity trading company Dinari has completed $7.5 million in seed round financing, with participation from Third Kind Venture Capital, 500 Global, former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, Sancus Ventures, Version One VC, and others.

Dinari stated that it will launch a trading platform called dShare, which will match tokens and underlying securities on a 1:1 basis, allowing users to invest in equity of publicly funded companies. This service will not be available in the United States. (Source link)

III. DeFi

1. On-chain reputation governance platform Jokerace completes $2 million Pre-seed financing, with participation from 1kx and others
The developer of the on-chain reputation governance platform Jokerace, JKLabs, announced the completion of $2 million in pre-seed financing, with participation from 1kx, Boys Club, Seed Club Ventures, and over 90 angel investors.
It is reported that Jokerace aims to address governance-related issues by using on-chain reputation to assess who should have more say in the governance process, allowing projects to initiate competitions and hackathons, distribute grants, and provide incentives to on-chain community members. (Source link)

2. Phoenix development team Ellipsis Labs completes $3.3 million seed round financing
The decentralized limit order book Phoenix development team Ellipsis Labs announced the completion of $3.3 million in seed round financing, led by Electric Capital, with participation from Robot Ventures, Anagram, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron, and Monad Labs CEO Keone Hon.

It is reported that Ellipsis Labs' flagship protocol is Phoenix, a decentralized limit order book built on the Solana chain. (Source link)

IV. AI + Web3

1. AI-driven on-chain data analysis platform Lore Explorer completes $2.3 million financing, with participation from Arca and others
Blockchain analysis platform Lore Explorer's parent company Shuttle Labs has completed $2.3 million in new financing, with participation from SALT.org, Arca, Balaji Srinivasan, and Floodgate.
It is reported that the new funds will be used to build Lore's AI browser and EVM-compatible network analysis tools. Lore Explorer is an AI-first on-chain data analysis solution that integrates deep large language models (LLM), making blockchain analysis conversational. (Source link)

2. Blockchain AI project Jada AI completes $25 million financing, with participation from LDA Capital
The AI project Jada AI, which utilizes blockchain technology, has completed $25 million in financing, with participation from alternative investment group LDA Capital. The funds will be used to expand the project's development team and add new organizations. (Source link)

V. Metaverse

1. Metaverse platform ZTX completes $13 million seed round financing, led by Jump Crypto
The metaverse platform ZTX (ZepetoX), created in collaboration with South Korea's metaverse platform Zepeto and Jump Crypto, announced the completion of $13 million in seed round financing, led by Jump Crypto, with participation from Collab+Currency, Parataxis, MZ Web3 Fund, Everest Ventures Group, and others.
Zepeto and Jump Crypto aim to enter the blockchain space through ZTX. Zepeto hopes to integrate 3D environment ownership into its platform through the ZTX initiative to promote cryptocurrency adoption.

ZTX is expected to launch its first "Genesis Home Mint" project this month, which will include a collection of 4,000 custom 3D house NFTs that will be sold on the Ethereum scaling network Arbitrum. Purchasing these NFTs will grant users membership in Zepeto, as well as priority access to participate in specific airdrops, events, and in-game enhancements in the future. (Source link)

VI. Social Entertainment

1. Web3 social application friend.tech receives seed round investment from Paradigm
The Base-based Web3 social application friend.tech tweeted that it has received seed round investment from Paradigm. Earlier this year, friend.tech collaborated with Paradigm to build new online social interaction tools and expressed gratitude for the community's enthusiasm, stating that they are happy to continue growing with the community. (Source link)

2. Bitcoin social network platform Orange Pill completes $250,000 Pre-Seed financing, led by Lightning Ventures
The Bitcoin social network platform Orange Pill completed $250,000 in Pre-Seed financing, led by Lightning Ventures, with participation from NBA star Matthew Dellavedova and Barefoot Bitcoin Fund. The Orange Pill App was previously launched in November 2022 and is available on iOS and Android platforms. (Source link)

3. Web3 decentralized social data layer Port3 Network completes new round of financing worth millions, with participation from Gate Labs and others
The Web3 decentralized social data layer Port3 Network announced the completion of a new round of financing worth millions, with participation from EMURGO, Adaverse, Gate Labs, and others.

It is reported that the new round of financing and grant funds will be used to promote its on-chain interaction automation language BQL (Blockchain Quest Language). BQL enables various on-chain interaction workflows, allowing users to execute complex interactions such as transactions and arbitrage with a single click.

Additionally, according to the crypto data platform RootData, Port3 Network completed a $3 million investment from Kucoin Ventures and other institutions in February of this year. (Source link)

4. NFT music royalty market MasterExchange completes $2.7 million financing, with participation from Vectr Fintech and others
According to Music Business Worldwide, the NFT music royalty investment market MasterExchange has completed $2.7 million in financing, with participation from Vectr Fintech, Claes-Henrik Julander, and Rob Small. MasterExchange has launched its first "Initial Music Offering (IMO)" product, "Sofia," which has sold out.

It is reported that MasterExchange was co-founded by AI and blockchain expert Alexander Fred-Ojala, allowing music creators to raise funds by selling a portion of their future income (i.e., music royalties) to support early-stage creation. More IMOs are expected to be launched this fall. According to MasterExchange's official website, royalty shares are tradable assets on the MasterExchange platform, with each royalty share associated with an NFT on Polygon, and each is unique. However, the NFTs are held by external crypto custodians, and users do not directly interact with the NFTs when using MasterExchange.

VII. Others

1. Scientific research incentive platform ResearchHub receives investment from Sora Ventures
The decentralized science (DeSci) project ResearchHub, supported by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, has received an undisclosed investment from Sora Ventures. The company allows users to earn cryptocurrency rewards, ResearchCoin (RSC), for contributing new knowledge to the scientific community.

2. Web3 security company PeckShield incubator Aegis completes millions in seed round financing, with participation from NLVC and others
Web3 security company Aegis announced the completion of millions in seed round financing, led by Generative Ventures, NLVC, and Qiming Venture Partners.

Founded in 2022, Aegis was incubated from another global blockchain security company, "PeckShield." Aegis aims to create a low-threshold security platform to serve numerous Web3 end users. Currently, Aegis's products exist as browser plugins, providing protection during pre-transaction, in-transaction, and post-transaction phases. After a transaction is completed, Aegis reduces asset losses caused by excessive authorization of user wallets and signatures through its unauthorization feature. (Source link)

3. PADO Labs has completed $3 million in seed round financing and will launch a Beta version product
Cryptographic technology provider PADO Labs announced that it completed $3 million in seed round financing six months ago and stated that its Beta version product is about to launch for internal testing.

It is reported that PADO will utilize cryptographic algorithms to integrate off-chain data into the on-chain world through technologies such as interactive zero-knowledge proofs (IZK) and secure multi-party computation (MPC), ensuring compliant, secure, private, and verifiable links, facilitating the creation of interconnected and composable user credit credentials. PADO's vision is to establish a fully decentralized credit protocol centered around users. (Source link)