Last week, there were a total of 27 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, raising approximately $119 million | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

Organizer: Luan Peng, RootData

According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from June 10 to June 16, 2024, there were a total of 27 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a cumulative financing of approximately $119 million.

From the distribution of sectors, the projects that received financing are mainly concentrated in the infrastructure and DeFi sectors. The large-scale parallel proof-of-work network Nexus completed a $25 million Series A financing. Other popular projects include the Web3 automation platform Ava Protocol, the smart account standard Squads, and the data source layer Irys.

In addition, Nuffle Labs, an independent entity established by the NEAR Foundation, completed a $13 million strategic financing round, with funds coming from strategic grants from the NEAR Foundation and investments led by Electric Capital, with participation from Canonical Crypto, Fabric Ventures, Robot Ventures, Caladan, Lyrik Ventures, and others.

(List of projects with financing greater than $5 million last week, data source: * Rootdata）

1. Infrastructure

1. Web3 startup Nexus Labs completed $25 million Series A financing, led by Pantera Capital
   According to NFTGATORS, Web3 startup Nexus Labs completed $25 million in Series A financing, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Pantera Capital, with participation from Dragonfly Capital, Faction Ventures, and Blockchain Builders Fund. Nexus plans to use the new funds to expand its team and develop more products.

Nexus Labs is committed to building zero-knowledge privacy tools to support technologies such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and cloud computing.
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2. Nuffle Labs, an independent entity established by the NEAR Foundation, completed $13 million in strategic financing
   Nuffle Labs, an independent entity established by the NEAR Foundation, completed $13 million in strategic financing, with funds coming from strategic grants from the NEAR Foundation and investments led by Electric Capital, with participation from Canonical Crypto, Fabric Ventures, Robot Ventures, Caladan, Lyrik Ventures, and others.

Nuffle Labs has built the NEAR Data Availability Layer (NEAR DA), the NEAR Fast Finality Layer (NFFL), and other products in the NEAR modular product suite.

The company stated in a press release: "As an independent entity, Nuffle Labs will now be able to make agile decisions to ensure that NEAR Modular products remain competitive. Nuffle Labs' strategic positioning between the NEAR Foundation, Ethereum, and the EigenLayer ecosystem will leverage the strengths of multiple platforms to enhance the efficiency and resilience of the NEAR ecosystem."
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3. Solana ecosystem multi-signature protocol Squads completed $10 million Series A financing, led by Electric Capital
   According to The Block, Solana ecosystem multi-signature protocol Squads completed $10 million in Series A financing, led by Electric Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Placeholder VC, RockawayX, L1 Digital, and Mert Mumtaz, co-founder and CEO of Helius and founder of Odyssey Ventures. The company had previously raised $12.5 million in three rounds of financing.

According to Web3 asset data platform RootData, Squad is a multi-signature management tool based on Solana, designed to handle complex governance and fund management, with a mission to unleash the full potential of self-custody, co-ownership, and coordination for teams emerging in Web3.

Since its launch in 2021, Squads claims to have helped protect over $10 billion in assets, a significant increase from $500 million last October.
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4. Ava Protocol completed $10 million seed round financing, with participation from Polygon founders
   According to CoinDesk, Ava Protocol (formerly OAK Network) completed $10 million in seed round financing, with participation from Electric Capital, Taisu Ventures, and Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal. The new funds will be used to develop its Eigenlayer AVS for private autonomous trading on Ethereum.

Additionally, according to Web3 asset data platform RootData, Ava Protocol is an intent-based Eigenlayer AVS that seamlessly supports privacy-preserving autonomous trading across various use cases, including DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. Ava Protocol is enhancing decentralized applications through features like regular and scheduled payments, stop-loss orders, and streaming rewards. Its event-driven execution model triggers cross-chain transactions based on signals such as time, price changes, and smart contract updates. Developers can easily schedule and automate functions across different blockchains (including Ethereum), ensuring efficient and reliable execution without compromising privacy.
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5. On-chain data developer Irys completed $8.9 million financing, led by Lemniscap
   According to The Block, on-chain data developer Irys completed $8.9 million in financing, led by Lemniscap, with participation from Framework, Primitive Ventures, Hypersphere, Permanent Ventures, and others.

Irys has expanded its services beyond bundled transactions to improve storage throughput and develop scalable on-chain data. Additionally, the platform is building infrastructure to track and verify data to combat digital misinformation.

According to Web3 asset data platform RootData, Irys is an origin layer that enables users to expand permanent data and accurately attribute its source. By tracking and verifying the origin of data, Irys paves the way for accountability in all information. The source layer acts as a distributed ledger for digital information, tracking the origin and modifications of data.
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6. Re-staking project Symbiotic completed $5.8 million seed round financing, led by Paradigm and Cyber Fund
   Re-staking project Symbiotic announced its official launch and stated that it has completed $5.8 million in seed round financing, led by Paradigm and Cyber Fund.

According to Web3 asset data platform RootData, Symbiotic is a universal re-staking system that enables decentralized networks to guide powerful, fully sovereign ecosystems. It will provide a method called Active Verification Service (AVS) to jointly protect each other for decentralized applications.
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7. Data protocol codatta completed $2.5 million seed round financing, led by OKX Ventures
   Codatta announced the successful completion of $2.5 million in seed round financing. This round was led by OKX Ventures, with participation from Comma3 Ventures, Mask Network, OGV, Paramita Venture, Web3Port, CGV, Fibo Partners, CatcherVC, BlockAI Venture, and angel investors from former executives of Coinbase and Pinterest. Additionally, GoPlus and zCloak Network also participated in strategic investments.

The funds will be used to accelerate the development of developer tools, enhance AI capabilities, build decentralized technologies, and improve community engagement.

Codatta is a decentralized data protocol aimed at building foundational data infrastructure with scientific confidence, designed to serve developers and protocols. Previously, codatta's Beta testing was launched in April 2024, attracting millions of user address annotation data in the testing phase, in addition to 500 million tagged addresses.
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8. Native account abstraction layer Zyfi completed $2 million private placement financing, with participation from Tenzor Capital
   Native account abstraction layer Zyfi announced the completion of $2 million in private placement financing on the X platform, with participation from Tenzor Capital, Everstake Capital, ZBS Capital, and others.

Additionally, according to Web3 asset data platform RootData, ZyFi is a payment-as-a-service solution focused on flexibility and ease of integration. It was created to accelerate the adoption of payers in the zkSync ecosystem. DApps can suggest their users use any ERC-20 traded on zkSync for payments or decide to sponsor part or all of the transaction gas costs using their own custom logic.
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9. AI Layer2 project Optopia.ai completed seed round financing, with participation from G·Ventures and Kucoin Ventures
   According to Cointelegraph, AI Layer2 project Optopia.ai announced the completion of seed round financing. This round was participated by G·Ventures, Kucoin Ventures, JRR Capital, KKP International Limited, ZenTrading, Klein Labs, MCS Capital, and well-known KOL MrBlock.

The funds will be used to accelerate the ongoing upgrades and optimizations of Optopia's infrastructure, enhance AI capabilities, build decentralized technologies, and improve community engagement.

Optopia.ai is a Layer 2 network aimed at building innovative AI standards and expanding AI application scenarios, designed to simplify Web3 operations through AI agents, lower the entry barrier for users, and empower AI agents through a token economic model to unleash the potential of Web3. Optopia launched its mainnet in May and is currently conducting mainnet interaction activities to cultivate a strong and active developer and user community.
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10. Binance Labs announced investment in Ethereum L2 developer Zircuit
    Binance Labs announced an investment in Ethereum Layer2 network developer Zircuit, with the amount undisclosed. The investment by Binance Labs in Zircuit was made ahead of the network's mainnet launch this summer. Both companies declined to disclose the investment scale and other terms of the deal.

According to Web3 asset data platform RootData, Zircuit is an EVM-compatible zero-knowledge rollup, and its unique hybrid architecture combines optimistic infrastructure with zero-knowledge proofs, providing developers with the best of both worlds.
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2. DeFi

1. DeFi lending service company Qiro Finance completed $1.2 million Pre-Seed round financing, led by Alliance
   Singapore-based DeFi lending service company Qiro Finance announced the completion of $1.2 million in Pre-Seed round financing, led by Alliance, with participation from Druid Ventures, Escape Velocity (EV3), Trident Digital, and CMT Digital. Specific valuation information has not been disclosed.

Qiro Finance aims to address the significant credit gap prevalent in regions such as Southeast Asia by leveraging blockchain technology and stablecoin frameworks. In addition to funding, Qiro Finance also received a grant of 100,000 MATIC from Polygon and a development grant of $50,000 from the Aptos Foundation.
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2. Decentralized derivatives protocol Particle completed a new round of strategic financing, with participation from Spirit DAO
   According to official news, decentralized derivatives protocol Particle announced the completion of a new round of strategic financing, with participation from Spirit DAO, XDeGods, dingaling, and others. The specific amount has not been disclosed.

According to Web3 asset data platform RootData, Particle completed seed round financing led by Polychain Capital in January this year. Particle is a decentralized leverage trading protocol that supports any permissionless asset, from tokens to NFTs. There are no price oracles, no counterparty risk, and no forced liquidation.
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3. Eigen Labs announced the acquisition of liquidity re-staking network Rio Network
   Eigen Labs announced on X the acquisition of liquidity re-staking network Rio Network to accelerate its mission of creating an open, verifiable cloud. The code and intellectual property of Rio Network will be purchased separately by the Eigen Foundation and will serve as a reference implementation within the EigenLayer ecosystem to better support emerging and developing LRTs. The Rio team will soon join Eigen Labs.
   (Source link)
4. Web3 settlement protocol Kima completed $5 million financing, with participation from Blockchange and Mastercard
   According to The Block, Web3 settlement protocol Kima announced the completion of $5 million in financing, with participation from Blockchange and Mastercard's FinSec Innovation Lab, as well as several angel investors.

Kima has established a settlement protocol that connects traditional financial services such as fiat bank accounts and credit cards with decentralized financial tools.
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5. Account abstraction wallet Holdstation completed strategic round financing, with participation from SNZ Capital
   According to The Block, account abstraction wallet Holdstation on ZKSync announced the completion of strategic round financing, with the specific financing amount undisclosed. SNZ Capital, Summer Ventures, and EVG Ventures participated, and the new funds will drive the integration of Holdstation with artificial intelligence, promoting the development of its smart AI wallet.
   (Source link)
6. Berachain ecosystem project Honeypot Finance completed strategic round financing, led by TKX CAPITAL
   Berachain ecosystem project Honeypot Finance announced on social media the completion of strategic round financing, with a valuation of $20 million. The total amount raised in seed, seed, and strategic rounds has now reached $1.3 million. This round of financing was led by TKX CAPITAL, CSP DAO, AQUANOW, Web3Port, EnigmaValidator, and other institutions.
   (Source link)

3. Gaming

1. Telegram crypto gaming ecosystem Pixelverse completed $5.5 million financing, with participation from Delphi Ventures
   According to The Block, the Telegram-based crypto gaming ecosystem Pixelverse completed $5.5 million in financing, with participation from Delphi Ventures, Merit Circle, Bitscale Capital, Ghaf Capital, Big Brain Holdings, LiquidX, Foresight Ventures, and The Sandbox founder Sébastien Borget, as well as Nexon CEO Joonmo (James) Kwon.

Pixelverse is a recently launched click-to-earn Web3 game, and according to a statement, it attracted over 15 million users in less than a month.
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2. Gaming social metaverse platform Yuliverse completed $4 million Pre-A round financing, led by LIF Capital
   Web3 gaming social metaverse platform Yuliverse completed $4 million in Pre-A round financing, led by LIF Capital, with participation from Spyre Capital, Presto Labs, DWF Labs, Sending Labs, 2 Punk Capital, G20, CSP DAO, 071 Labs, Titans Ventures, Ultiverse, HC Capital, and others, raising over $6 million in total.

This round of financing will be used to build a new generation of Gamefi + DePin models, becoming the largest decentralized personal behavior data network by combining user location and behavior data.
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3. Uniswap Labs acquired Base ecosystem crypto survival game Crypto: The Game
   According to Fortune, Uniswap Labs acquired the interactive crypto survival game Crypto: The Game (CTG) based on the Base blockchain.

The founders of Crypto: The Game (CTG) will join Uniswap to co-develop the third season and explore new crypto experiences.
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4. AI

1. Modular AI network REVOX completed strategic round financing, with participation from SevenX Ventures
   Modular AI network REVOX (revox.ai) announced the completion of strategic round financing, with participation from multiple angel investors in the AI and Web3 fields, including SevenX Ventures, Arweave SCP Ventures, Cointelegraph Acceleration, Skyland Ventures, Taisu Ventures, 0x Consulting, and 7upDAO.

REVOX aims to build a modular AI Agent network and decentralized applications, providing users with fair and efficient information across Web3 and broader fields, fundamentally changing the way AI distributed applications are created through decentralized AI infrastructure, and becoming the preferred platform for Web3 AI developers and users.
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5. Others

1. Account abstraction wallet Holdstation completed strategic round financing, with participation from SNZ Capital
   According to The Block, account abstraction wallet Holdstation on ZKSync announced the completion of strategic round financing, with the specific financing amount undisclosed. SNZ Capital, Summer Ventures, and EVG Ventures participated, and the new funds will drive the integration of Holdstation with artificial intelligence, promoting the development of its smart AI wallet.
   (Source link)
2. Token distribution protocol Layer3 completed $15 million Series A financing, led by ParaFi and Greenfield Capital
   According to The Block, token distribution protocol Layer3 completed $15 million in Series A financing, co-led by ParaFi and Greenfield Capital, with participation from Electric Capital, Immutable, Lattice, Tioga, LeadBlock, Amber, and others.

Layer3 is also developing a new AI protocol to optimize token distribution strategies, expected to launch later this year.
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3. Mobile game L3 blockchain solution Unite completed $3 million financing, led by SuperLayer
   Unite announced the successful completion of a $3 million seed extension round financing. This round was led by Web3 venture studio SuperLayer, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures, Solana Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Gemini Frontier Fund, Formless Capital, HTX Ventures, CoinDCX Ventures, and others.

Unite plans to use these funds to accelerate its strategic transformation into the first Layer 3 blockchain solution for the mass market mobile gaming.
(Source link)