(5.4–5.10) Investment and Financing Weekly Report | A total of 38 public investment and financing events, with infrastructure leading and active financing in the gaming sector

From May 4 to May 10, the cryptocurrency market experienced a total of 38 investment and financing events, including 18 in infrastructure, 5 in gaming, 4 in others, 3 in DeFi, 3 in Depin, 2 in CeFi, 2 in NFT, and 1 in RWA.

This week, there were 5 financing events over ten million dollars:

Cryptocurrency trading company Arbelos completed a $28 million seed round financing, with investors including Dragonfly and Polygon.

The zero-knowledge co-processing protocol Lagrange completed a $13.2 million seed round financing, with investors including Founders Fund and 1kx.

The WEB3 battle royale game Bladerite completed a $12 million seed round financing, with investors including HashKey Capital and Signum Capital.

The modular data access layer Lava Network completed an $11 million financing round, with investors including Animoca Brands and CoinGecko Ventures.

The no-code, out-of-the-box NFT toolkit Galaxis completed a $10 million financing round, with investors including Chainlink and Rarestone Capital.

This week, the investment and financing activity in the cryptocurrency market showed a relative rebound compared to last week, with 18 financing events in the infrastructure sector, followed by gaming, while DeFi and other narratives attracted investor attention. The financing sectors this week were diverse and concentrated in currently popular tracks. Cryptocurrency trading company Arbelos secured the largest financing amount this week.

This week's investment and financing projects sorted by financing amount are shown in the figure below:

Infrastructure

1. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 10, Euclid Protocol completed a $600,000 pre-seed round financing, with investors including Kahuna Ventures and Tomoaki Sato. Euclid Protocol is a unified cross-chain liquidity infrastructure powered by Nibiru, seamlessly connecting to the settlement layer (Nibiru) to provide low slippage and fair pricing across the ecosystem. The framework is based on Euclid's proprietary LiquiSync model, allowing any chain or protocol to easily access it.

2. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 9, Glacis completed a $2.1 million seed round financing, with investors including Arrington Capital and Paper Ventures. Glacis is a protocol that enables developers to simplify, secure, and manage their cross-chain applications. Developers are shifting from single-chain deployments to multi-chain deployments to cover as many users as possible. By leveraging Glacis's aggregated cross-chain general messaging protocol (GMP), such as Axelar, Wormhole, and LayerZero (commonly referred to as bridges), developers can define routing and security logic for their cross-chain applications.

3. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 9, Elys Network completed a financing round with an unknown amount, with investors including Cogitent Ventures. Elys Network is a decentralized perpetual trading and leveraged lending platform based on oracles, featuring ETF-style multi-asset index pools. Its characteristics include high scalability, interoperability, and security, with high TPS and low transaction fees. Elys Network aims to become the PerpDex and integrated DeFi consumption chain of the Cosmos Hub.

4. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 9, Arch Network completed a $7 million seed round financing, with investors including Multicoin Capital and OKX Ventures. Arch Network is a Bitcoin-native application platform. Arch introduces smart contract functionality directly into Bitcoin through a novel architecture that utilizes the Rust-based zero-knowledge virtual machine ArchVM, paired with a decentralized validator network collectively known as the Arch network. ArchVM is a virtual machine inspired by SVM (specifically designed for parallel execution) that combines zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) for transaction validation.

5. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 9, Arcium completed a $5.5 million strategic financing round, with investors including Greenfield and Coinbase Ventures. Arcium is a parallel trusted computing network. It provides developers and applications with a trustless, verifiable, and efficient framework to run trusted computing. Arcium aims to bring trust to every on-chain application and become a global computing network for the decentralized internet. The multi-party computation execution environment (MXE) is the backbone of the Arcium network. They combine multi-party computation (MPC), fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), and more to achieve encrypted computation.

6. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 9, UXUY completed an $8 million pre-A round financing, with investors including Binance Labs and Bixin Ventures. UXUY is a next-generation decentralized multi-chain trading platform based on MPC wallets. UXUY actively participates in the construction of the Bitcoin Layer 2 ecosystem, fully integrating into the Bitcoin Lightning Network and Taproot ecosystem, providing users with Lightning address DID services, and becoming an important bridge connecting the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems. As a decentralized multi-chain trading platform, UXUY provides instant cross-chain trading services for Coin, Token, and inscriptions between public chains by establishing uPool for traders.

7. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 9, Zeal completed a $2 million financing round, with investors including Gnosis. Zeal is a self-custodial crypto wallet for managing all web3 needs across EVM networks and applications. Zeal helps users track tokens, DeFi positions, and NFTs.

8. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 9, DLC.Link completed a financing round with an unknown amount, with investors including Cryptogram Venture (CGV). DLC.Link is building infrastructure for native Bitcoin smart contract settlement, initially focusing on currency hedging and lending. DLC.Link is constructing bridges and networks to unlock a secure and decentralized way to operate with native Bitcoin for smart contracts without sending it to another party or blockchain (i.e., without "wrapping" BTC).

9. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 8, Telos completed a $1 million strategic financing round, with investors including Presto. Telos is a decentralized blockchain ecosystem launched in 2018, which includes Telos EVM (the fastest EVM in the world) and Telos Zero (a high-speed native consensus layer). A hardware-accelerated zkEVM Layer 2 is also in development on Ethereum, supported by SNARKtor, a scalable and powerful decentralized recursive proof aggregation protocol designed to enhance data protection and scalability for global use cases. Telos launched its mainnet in December 2018.

10. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 8, Lagrange completed a $13.2 million seed round financing, with investors including Founders Fund and 1kx. Lagrange is a zero-knowledge co-processing protocol that supports verifiable computation at big data scale across various blockchains. Its unique ZK co-processing approach involves a decentralized network of nodes that perform computations off-chain and generate ZK proofs of the results in a highly parallel manner for on-chain submission, thereby releasing significant efficiency and cost benefits. By providing ultra-scalable proofs, Lagrange opens the door for innovation in cross-chain interoperability and applications requiring complex big data computations.

11. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 8, Owlto Finance completed an $8 million strategic financing round, with investors including Bixin Ventures and CE Innovation Capital. Owlto Finance is a decentralized cross-rollup bridge focused on Layer 2, providing low-cost, secure, and fast asset transfer solutions.

12. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 8, Electron completed a $1 million seed round financing, with investors including Founderheads and Router Protocol. Electron Labs is a general zk aggregation layer for Ethereum that uses light clients and zero-knowledge proofs to maintain decentralization. Electron uses UPA at the underlying level to aggregate proofs from multiple sources into a single super proof, thus sharing the costs of each use case.

13. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 8, NuLink completed a $1.6 million strategic financing round, with investors including DWF Labs and Poolz Venture. NuLink provides privacy protection for decentralized applications through APIs, enabling developers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses to build their own applications and achieve optimal security and privacy experiences.

14. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 7, Hemera completed a $2.6 million financing round, with investors including Nomad Capital and Lingfeng Innovation Fund (LIF). The Hemera protocol is the LLM OS for Web3, dedicated to solving the fragmentation problem in modular ecosystems. Web3-optimized LLMs and account-centric indexing allow Hemera to interoperate on Web3, providing high-performance AI-Ready Data infrastructure and user-defined agents.

15. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 7, ZKM completed a $5 million pre-A round financing, with investors including OKX Ventures and Amber Group. ZKM is a network based on zero-knowledge proofs aimed at unifying blockchains and creating a settlement layer on Ethereum. The project aims to provide faster and more convenient fund withdrawals, establish a standardized security framework across L2 and Alt L1 platforms, and enhance the security and integrity of IoT devices and cloud computing systems.

16. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 7, Lava Network completed an $11 million financing round, with investors including Animoca Brands and CoinGecko Ventures. Lava is a modular data access layer. It introduces specs: a modular primitive that allows contributors to add support for new chains and data services to the underlying protocol without permission. Data consumers send requests to Lava's data provider network (node operators), who join Lava to meet data demands. Lava creates a dynamic and scalable market around any blockchain data service. The protocol also creates cryptoeconomic guarantees around service quality, speed, uptime, and data accuracy. By leveraging a modular architecture and a peer-to-peer network of node operators, Lava creates a unified platform for accessing a multi-chain world.

17. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 7, Botanix completed an $8.5 million seed round financing, with investors including Polychain and Placeholder. Botanix is a fully decentralized second-layer EVM on Bitcoin, combining the security and decentralization of Bitcoin with the usability and versatility of EVM.

18. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 6, BitTap Labs completed a financing round with an unknown amount, with investors including Waterdrip Capital. BitTap is a decentralized wallet that supports the Taproot asset protocol.

Gaming

1. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 10, BAC Games completed a $1.5 million seed round financing, with investors including Hash Global and Matr1x. BAC Games is a Web3 racing game based on the Blast blockchain, emphasizing social interaction and teamwork, using the $BAC token for rewards.

2. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 9, Bladerite completed a $12 million seed round financing, with investors including HashKey Capital and Signum Capital. Bladerite is a MOBA and battle royale game that combines Web3 technology. The battle royale game is free to play, focusing on melee weapons, where players compete in a desolate land arena for substantial rewards.

3. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 8, DEGEN WAR$ completed a seed round financing, with investors including Saitama and DegenScore. DEGEN WAR$ is a fully on-chain player-versus-player NFT card game. Participants use a deck of NFT cards representing the biggest, most influential, and well-known public figures in the crypto and NFT space to battle each other in epic confrontations.

4. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 7, Blade of God X completed a multi-million dollar financing round, with investors including Delphi Digital and OKX Ventures. Blade of God X is a hardcore action role-playing game with a dark Nordic style, and is the official sequel to the Blade of God series. In the game, players take on the role of great heroes from mythology, burdened with suffering, sorrow, and an ordinary identity. They embark on an adventurous journey across the vast and mysterious Nordic lands, battling "sacrifices" who have lost their "fate," while seeking their own path to redemption.

5. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 7, DeepLink completed a strategic financing round, with investors including Waterdrip Capital. DeepLink is a Web3 cloud gaming platform that serves as an entry point for remote control tools, integrating artificial intelligence, blockchain, and streaming technologies, allowing players anywhere in the world to share or rent personal gaming PCs at any time.

Others

1. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 8, BlockBooster completed a $1.5 million seed round financing, with investors including OKX Ventures and Conflux. BlockBooster is a Hong Kong-based, Asia-focused venture studio dedicated to facilitating the development of next-generation protocols and software infrastructure in Web3. The incubated projects thrive in an expert environment guided by experienced mentors, while BlockBooster excels at providing domain expertise, extensive networks, and talent recruitment.

2. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 8, Citypay completed a financing round with an unknown amount, with investors including Tether. CityPay.io provides businesses with a platform to accept payments in multiple cryptocurrencies, offering customers a convenient payment experience. The platform includes four main payment channels: online payments, email payment orders, POS terminals, and initial deposit functionality.

3. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 8, Slingshot completed a $3 million financing round, with investors including Alphabit Fund. SlingShot helps coordinate community members to turn pure ideas into creativity, which then transforms into real experiences. Community members submit ideas through the SlingShot application interface to receive new and exciting games and experiences. They vote on their favorite game ideas displayed on the leaderboard. Rewards are requested for their participation (submitting ideas and voting). Members can also build - talented individuals, small teams, and studios receive support from the SlingShot DAO Treasury to build winning ideas.

4. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 6, Bondex completed a financing round with an unknown amount, with investors including Dext Force Ventures. Bondex is a Web3 talent network that supports users through tokenized rewards. Through its open referral system, Bondex allows anyone to become a recruiter, providing opportunities to profit from their networks and expertise. If a candidate they recommend is successfully hired, everyone can claim the listed bounty.

DeFi

1. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 10, 0xGen completed a financing round with an unknown amount, with investors including Bella Protocol and Phoenix. 0xGen is a liquidity aggregator that integrates popular liquidity aggregators into a simple interface, providing exchange rates between any token pairs.

2. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 10, StakeGain completed a $500,000 seed round financing, with investors unknown. StakedGain is a multi-chain staking platform that allows users to participate in multiple blockchain networks by supporting over ten blockchain networks, including Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible chains and various Layer 2 solutions. This capability enables them to maximize returns by leveraging their assets across different protocols.

3. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 6, XSwap completed a strategic financing round, with investors including P2 Ventures and MH Ventures. XSwap is a cross-chain trading protocol designed to provide secure, reliable, and user-friendly cross-chain payments for protocols and end-users, all based on Chainlink CCIP.

Depin

1. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 7, PlanetWatch completed a merger financing round, with investors including Ambient Network. PlanetWatch is building a global decentralized air quality monitoring network, utilizing the Algorand blockchain, advanced algorithms, and high-performance yet affordable air quality sensors to deploy a dense, low-cost air quality monitoring network. The PlanetWatch network currently has over 20,000 sensors worldwide, providing advanced data products for government and private sector entities while establishing a distributed ledger for air quality data.

2. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 7, Ambient Network completed a $2 million seed round financing, with investors including Borderless Capital and Solana Ventures. Ambient Network is a decentralized environmental sensor and environmental data network that leverages the power of its vast sensor network to provide real-time, actionable environmental data. Ambient will allow individuals to join the network, deploy sensors, and even use smartphones to monitor and report environmental data and earn rewards.

3. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 6, MetaPhone completed a $1 million financing round, with investors including JDI Global. MetaPhone is a DePIN project based on the TON blockchain. MetaPhone is collaborating with an advanced, leading 3C manufacturer to launch flagship devices. MetaPhone brings high-quality hardware, a streamlined Android interface, and cutting-edge Web3 features, enabling users to handle everything they need on a single smartphone.

CeFi

1. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 6, DwellFi completed a $3 million seed round financing, with investors including Hustle Fund and Blockchain Coinvestors. DwellFi is redefining asset management using AI, blockchain, and tokenization technology. The SOC-2, Type 1 SaaS platform caters to a diverse clientele, including PE/RE/VC funds, hedge funds, fund administrators, and LPs, adapting to the dynamic demands of the market.

2. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 8, Arbelos completed a $28 million seed round financing, with investors including Dragonfly and Polygon. Arbelos Markets is a cryptocurrency trading company that provides primary liquidity for the crypto derivatives market, from high-touch to programmatic.

NFT

1. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 7, mint.fun completed a merger financing round, with investors including Zora. mint.fun is an NFT minting aggregator that showcases every project being minted in real-time, ranked by popularity, so users do not have to search various websites, Twitter, Discord, and group chats to determine which NFTs to mint. mint.fun is built by the Context team.

2. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 7, Galaxis completed a $10 million financing round, with investors including Chainlink and Rarestone Capital. Galaxis is a no-code, out-of-the-box NFT toolkit for creating decentralized communities. It provides creators with all the benefits of smart contract technology through an easy-to-understand non-technical user interface, enabling them to design and deploy a range of utility-driven NFTs and secure spaces for members to interact and trade value.

RWA

1. According to ROOTDATA investment and financing data on May 9, AgriDex completed a $5 million financing round, with investors including Endeavor Capital and African Crops Limited. AgriDex is a Solana-based RWA market that is reshaping the global agricultural industry. It provides participants in the agricultural sector with a transparent, integrated market with its own internal economy, leveraging on-chain fiat currency, smart contracts, and participant reviews, AgriDex offers fully compliant, streamlined solutions for agricultural supply chain management.