Last week, there were a total of 31 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with a cumulative financing of approximately $238 million | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

Organizer: Cookies, RootData

According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from February 19 to February 25, 2024, there were a total of 31 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, raising approximately $238 million.

From the distribution of sectors, the projects that received financing were mainly concentrated in the infrastructure and DeFi sectors, completing 10 and 11 financing rounds respectively. The liquidity re-staking sector continues to be hot, with EigenLayer receiving $100 million in funding from a16z; Binance Labs announced an investment in Renzo. Other popular projects include execution layer system AltLayer, communication infrastructure Beoble, metaverse Matr1x, and Web3 streaming payment protocol Superfluid, among others.

In addition, according to incomplete statistics from ChainCatcher, during the nearly three months from the end of October 2023 to the end of January 2024, at least more than 11 Bitcoin mining companies announced that they had received financing, raising over $700 million. Additionally, some mining companies are actively seeking financing; Marathon Digital submitted an S-3 form to the SEC, planning to raise up to $750 million through a mixed equity issuance. In three months, they plan to raise over $1.5 billion, with Bitcoin mining companies preparing ammunition for the upcoming halving.

*（List of projects that raised more than $5 million last week, data source: * Rootdata）

1. Infrastructure

1. L1 blockchain Flare completes $35 million private placement financing, with participation from Kenetic and others
L1 blockchain Flare has completed a $35 million private placement financing, with participation from Kenetic, Aves Lair, and others. It is reported that Flare supports the creation of smart contract protocols and focuses on pricing oracles to transmit asset prices across various decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

Early investors in the project voluntarily agreed to extend the token distribution period from 2024 to the first quarter of 2026. Additionally, a sell limit of 0.5% of daily trading volume has been implemented to reduce selling pressure in the market. (Source link)

2. Rollup-as-a-Service protocol AltLayer completes $14.4 million strategic round financing, led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC
Rollup-as-a-Service protocol AltLayer has completed $14.4 million in strategic round financing, led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC. OKX Ventures, HashKey Capital, Bankless Ventures, Primitive Ventures, SevenX, Mask Network, IOSG, and TRGC also participated, with this round of financing concluding in September 2023. The statement indicated that the new funds will be used to expand the AltLayer team and further develop its Rollup infrastructure, but AltLayer did not disclose its valuation. (Source link)

3. Crypto payment platform Meso completes $9.5 million financing, led by Solana Ventures and Ribbit Capital
Crypto payment platform Meso has completed a $9.5 million seed round financing, led by Solana Ventures and Ribbit Capital, with participation from Canonical Crypto, 6th Man Ventures, and angel investors including Phantom co-founder Chris Kalani, Pinterest CEO Bill Ready, and Bodhi Labs' Archie Puri.

Meso aims to connect crypto wallets with bank accounts, and co-founder and CEO Ben Mills has previously worked at PayPal, Braintree, and Venmo. (Source link)

4. Crypto wallet Nest Wallet announces $3.6 million financing, with participation from Inception Capital, OrangeDAO, and others
Crypto wallet Nest Wallet has announced $3.6 million in financing, with participation from Inception Capital, OrangeDAO, Ascensive Assets, gumi Cryptos Capital, INCE Capital, SnackClub, Kevin Lin, Gabby Dizon, Sébastien Dessimoz, Kun Gao, and others. (Source link)

5. Modular blockchain developer Inco completes $4.5 million financing, led by 1kx
Privacy-focused modular blockchain developer Inco has announced the completion of $4.5 million in seed round financing and the launch of its first testnet, Gentry. This round of financing was led by 1kx, with Circle Ventures, GSR, Polygon Ventures, Robot Ventures, Alliance DAO, and zkSync developer Matter Labs participating. (Source link)

6. Bitcoin ZK Rollup protocol Citrea completes $2.7 million seed round financing, led by Galaxy Ventures
Bitcoin ZK Rollup protocol Citrea has completed $2.7 million in seed round financing, led by Galaxy Ventures, with participation from Delphi Ventures, Taproot Wizards co-founder Eric Wall, and Avail co-founder Anurag Arjun. Citrea plans to use zero-knowledge cryptography to help develop the DeFi and NFT ecosystems within Bitcoin.

Citrea's ZK Rollup will be based on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which means developers will be able to migrate applications built for Ethereum and other compatible networks. Citrea has not yet launched, but the team plans to release a test network in the next quarter. (Source link)

7. Decentralized cloud service provider NodeShift completes $3.2 million seed round financing, led by Inovo.vc
Decentralized cloud service provider NodeShift has completed $3.2 million in seed round financing, led by Inovo.vc, with participation from Notion Capital, 10x Founders, Epic Games, and Kestrel0x1, among others. The funds raised will be used to strengthen supply and market promotion efforts.

NodeShift provides a single API for accessing excess computing, storage, and graphics accelerators from independent data center operators and connects to low-cost decentralized network services like Akash and Filecoin. (Source link)

8. Solana infrastructure company Helius completes $9.5 million Series A financing, led by Foundation Capital
Solana infrastructure company Helius has announced the completion of $9.5 million in Series A financing, led by Foundation Capital, with participation from Reciprocal Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, Chapter One, and Propel.

Helius is a vertically integrated developer platform that helps build crypto applications on Solana. The company was founded in 2022 by former software engineers from Coinbase and Amazon Web Services. The platform provides a set of tools that enable developers to quickly and easily build applications on Solana. (Source link)

9. Smart contract wallet Clave completes $1.6 million Pre-Seed round financing, led by Matter Labs
Smart contract wallet Clave has completed $1.6 million in Pre-Seed round financing, led by Matter Labs, with participation from Safe, Lambda Class, Mirana Ventures, and angel investors Sandy Peng from Scroll, Raj Parekh from Portal, and Anurag Arjun from Avail.

Clave originated from Opclave, which was showcased at the 2023 Ethereum Global Scaling Hackathon (ETHGlobal Scaling Ethereum Hackathon), and aims to provide a simpler blockchain experience for everyone. (Source link)

10. Crypto infrastructure provider Januar ApS completes €1.5 million seed round financing, with participation from CMT Digital and others
Crypto infrastructure provider Januar ApS has completed €1.5 million in seed round financing, with participation from CMT Digital, Skyfall Ventures, Third Prime, and Chainalysis co-founder and CEO Michael Grønager, among others. The total amount raised in its seed round financing has now reached €7.5 million. The funds will be used to launch new products and expand market services. Januar ApS was founded in 2021 to bridge the gap between traditional financial systems and the decentralized future financial market. (Source link)

2. DeFi

1. Liquidity re-staking protocol EigenLayer receives $100 million from a16z
According to Bloomberg, crypto venture capital firm a16z has invested $100 million in liquidity re-staking protocol EigenLayer. EigenLayer was founded by Sreeram Kannan and supports tokens being deposited or "re-staked" into the network to support transaction validation on the blockchain, helping new projects built on Ethereum leverage the security of the blockchain to secure their own networks. (Source link)

2. Binance Labs announces investment in Ethereum liquidity re-staking protocol Renzo
Binance Labs has invested in the Ethereum liquidity re-staking protocol Renzo, based on EigenLayer, with the investment amount undisclosed. The investment structure of Binance Labs is the same as that of the seed round financing, with a 1:1 ratio of equity to token warrants.

Renzo plans to launch native ETH re-staking on the BNB Chain in collaboration with cross-chain protocol Connext, allowing BNB Chain users to directly re-stake their ETH as Renzo LRT token ezETH without cross-chain transactions, and earn EigenLayer points and Renzo's ezpoints rewards. Renzo will also accept wBETH, stETH, and native ETH for re-staking.
(Source link)

3. Ethereum cash flow protocol Superfluid completes $5.1 million strategic financing, led by Fabric Ventures
Ethereum cash flow protocol Superfluid has announced the completion of $5.1 million in strategic financing, led by Fabric Ventures, with participation from Multicoin Capital, IOSG Ventures, Circle Ventures, Safe Foundation, The LAO, Taavet+Sten, and other companies. This round of financing concluded at the end of last year, and the structure is the same as the company's seed round financing, which includes equity with token warrants. (Source link)

4. Perpetual contract trading platform OX.FUN completes $4 million new round of financing
Decentralized perpetual contract trading platform OX.FUN, initiated by Zhu Su (@zhusu), has completed a new round of financing amounting to $4 million. This round of financing was participated in by Double Peak Group, EmChain, Genblock Capital, and others. The funds will be used for product iteration, team building, market expansion, and more. (Source link)

5. Centralized lending protocol ZeroLend announces $3 million seed round financing, with participation from Momentum 6 and Blockchain Founders Fund
zkSync ecosystem decentralized lending protocol ZeroLend has announced that it has raised $3 million in seed round financing at a valuation of $25 million, with investors including Momentum 6, Blockchain Founders Fund, Morning Star Ventures, Banter Capital, Newman Capital, dVdT, Transform Capital, Cypher Capital, Bison Fund, Ozaru Ventures, iAngels, Krypital, Genblock, viaBTC, GBV, and Asteroid Capital, as well as angel investors MrBlock from Curve Finance, Pranav Sharma from Woodstock, and others. Additionally, ZeroLend stated that it will launch its native governance token ZERO in the first quarter of 2024. (Source link)

6. Mantle ecosystem DeFi protocol INIT Capital completes $3.1 million seed round financing, led by Electric and Mirana
Mantle ecosystem liquidity-linked currency market INIT Capital has announced the completion of $3.1 million in seed round financing, led by Electric Capital and Mirana Ventures, with participation from BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes and his family office Maelstrom, Robot Ventures, Nomad Capital, Tangent Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Selini Capital, and Faction.

This round of financing will be used to enhance INIT's technical capabilities and market strategies. INIT will also launch a new product called "Looping Hook" on February 28. (Source link)

7. BRC-20 project Bitcoin Dogs based on Ordinals protocol completes $3.1 million financing
BRC-20 project Bitcoin Dogs, based on the Ordinals protocol, has announced that it has completed $3.1 million in pre-sale financing, with investor information not yet disclosed. The project plans to launch a pet simulator-based play-to-earn game. (Source link)

8. ERC404 improvement protocol project LoongCity completes $2 million seed round financing, led by MAZARINE SEA
ERC404 improvement protocol project LoongCity has announced the completion of $2 million in seed round financing, led by MAZARINE SEA. LoongCity plans to launch an ERC1321 protocol based on improvements to the ERC404 protocol, addressing the issue of NFT rarity determination through the introduction of on-chain oracles. (Source link)
9. Berachain ecosystem project Honeypot Finance completes Pre-Seed round financing, led by AC Capital and DEXT Force Ventures
Berachain ecosystem DeFi Hub project Honeypot Finance has announced the completion of Pre-Seed round financing, led by AC Capital and DEXT Force Ventures, with the specific amount undisclosed. (Source link)

10. Privacy DeFi access layer Singularity completes $2.2 million financing, led by gumi Cryptos Capital
Privacy DeFi access layer Singularity has completed $2.2 million in financing, led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm gumi Cryptos Capital, with participation from Nomura Securities' digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital, Eureka Partners, and previous investors Apollo Crypto, Digital Asset Capital Management, and Gandel Invest. The funds raised will be used to support protocol development and promote compliant access to DeFi focused on institutional users. Additionally, the Singularity protocol will be officially launched in the coming months.

Singularity is a compliant institutional-grade DeFi privacy layer designed to provide access to DeFi protocols for institutional on-chain participants while safeguarding commercial secrets. (Source link)

11. Ethereum cash flow protocol Superfluid completes $5.1 million strategic financing, led by Fabric Ventures
Ethereum cash flow protocol Superfluid has announced the completion of $5.1 million in strategic financing, led by Fabric Ventures, with participation from Multicoin Capital, IOSG Ventures, Circle Ventures, Safe Foundation, The LAO, Taavet+Sten, and other companies. This round of financing concluded at the end of last year, and the structure is the same as the company's seed round financing, which includes equity with token warrants. (Source link)

3. Gaming

1. Blockchain game studio Crystal Fun completes $5 million seed round financing
Decentralized blockchain game ecosystem platform and studio Crystal Fun has announced the completion of $5 million in seed round financing. This round of investment was participated in by Kucoin Ventures, Actoz Soft, Waterdrip Capital, Comma3 Ventures, Stratified Capital, Cypher9 Ventures, Aelf ventures, W Labs, and Masverse. (Source link)

2. Crypto fantasy sports platform Monkey Tilt completes $21 million financing, with participation from Hack VC and others
Crypto fantasy sports platform Monkey Tilt has announced the completion of $21 million in financing, with participation from PolyChain Capital, Hack VC, Poker Go, Accomplice, Paper Ventures, and Folius Ventures.

Monkey Tilt also announced that it will launch its fantasy gaming platform MTFantasy in over 20 states in the U.S. and is about to release a beta version. (Source link)

4. Others

1. Web3 education platform HackQuest announces $1.1 million Pre-seed financing, with participation from STEPN, Gitcoin co-founders, and others
Web3 education platform HackQuest has announced the completion of $1.1 million in Pre-seed financing, with participation from Find Satoshi Lab (the parent company of StepN), HashKey Capital, ByteTrade Lab, Outlier Ventures, Hash Global, OnePiece Labs, Gitcoin co-founder Scott Moore, Signum Capital partner YY, and others, and has received support from Open Campus OCX.

Currently, HackQuest has established official developer education or ecosystem construction collaborations with over 10 leading public chains, including Mantle Network, Solana, and Arbitrum, and plans to collaborate with universities such as Nanyang Technological University on course offerings. HackQuest stated that it will use this funding to launch more diverse courses and support more Web3 builders in launching their own projects. (Source link)

2. Silencio Network, focused on combating noise pollution, completes $1 million Pre-Seed round financing
Based in Munich, Germany, decentralized data coverage solution provider Silencio Network, focused on combating noise pollution, has successfully raised $1 million in Pre-Seed round financing. This round of financing was led by Borderless Capital, with participation from Moonrock Capital, Master Ventures, and Cogitent Ventures.

Silencio Network plans to use these funds to accelerate company growth, enhance data integrity, foster partnerships, and advance more strategic initiatives. Users can earn rewards by measuring noise pollution using their mobile phones through its app. (Source link)