Last week, there were a total of 27 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, raising approximately $212.3 million | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

Organizer: Luan Peng, RootData

According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from July 22 to July 28, 2024, there were a total of 27 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a cumulative financing amount of approximately $212.3 million.

From the perspective of track distribution, the projects that received financing are mainly distributed in the infrastructure and DeFi tracks. Popular projects include the Bitcoin economic layer Mezo, the customizable and application-specific Layer 2 blockchain Caldera, the consumer-centric blockchain Abstract, the BitVM-based Bitcoin security equivalent Layer 2 Bitlayer, and the Base gaming ecosystem B3.

In addition, the Web3 community platform OpenSocial Protocol raised $6 million, led by Framework Ventures and North Island Ventures, with participation from Hivemind Capital Partners, Stratos, Moonrock Capital, and others.

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

I. Infrastructure

Bitcoin scaling network Mezo completes $7.5 million financing, led by Ledger Cathay Fund
Bitcoin scaling network Mezo completed $7.5 million in financing, led by Ledger Cathay Fund, with participation from ArkStream Capital, Aquarius Fund, Flowdesk, GSR, Origin Protocol, and Bybit's ecosystem project Mantle EcoFund. This round of financing brings its total funding to $30 million.

The new funds will be used for Mezo's plans to expand the adoption of its network, including integrating more products into its network, such as its Bitcoin staking platform Acre.

According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Mezo is a Bitcoin Layer 2 network that enables users to access applications that facilitate the use of Bitcoin tokens, promoting a circular Bitcoin economy, not just a "savings technology." Mezo utilizes a "HODL proof" points program to leverage the idle Bitcoin of holders; the longer the storage time, the more "HODL score multipliers" contributors receive. (Source link)

Web3 community platform OpenSocial Protocol completes $6 million financing
Web3 community platform OpenSocial Protocol raised $6 million, led by Framework Ventures and North Island Ventures, with participation from Hivemind Capital Partners, Stratos, Moonrock Capital, and others. This funding will be used to expand its multi-chain technology and support web3 community applications.

OpenSocial aims to enhance intellectual property, community relationships, and financial incentives to aid user retention and growth. (Source link)

Decentralized AI platform Redpill completes $5 million seed round financing, led by Animoca Brands and DFG
Decentralized AI technology innovation platform Redpill announced the completion of a $5 million seed round financing, led by Animoca Brands and DFG, with participation from Jsquare, Hypersphere, and several other institutions.

According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, RedPill is a decentralized AI platform that aggregates top AI models into a single API, enabling democratized access to them, thus providing faster, more affordable, and verifiable AI services globally. RedPill introduces a model that tokenizes LLM resources and issues equivalent model tokens to AI node providers based on "cost proof." These tokens can be traded by nodes or purchased by users through DeFi markets. (Source link)

Ethereum Rollup deployment platform Caldera completes $15 million Series A financing, led by Founders Fund
Ethereum Rollup deployment platform Caldera completed $15 million in Series A financing, led by Founders Fund. Dragonfly, Sequoia Capital, Arkstream Capital, Lattice, and others participated. The Series A financing brings Caldera's total funding to $25 million, having raised $10 million last year.

Caldera is a platform that provides Rollup as a service, helping developers quickly launch Ethereum-based Rollups or scaling networks. The platform has assisted over 50 projects in launching Rollups, locking in a total value of over $800 million and processing over 59 million transactions.

Caldera co-founder and CEO Matt Katz stated that the financing will further drive its technological development and help Web3 teams leverage shared network effects to achieve greater scalability and security. (Source link)

Web3 AI company Network3 completes $5.5 million financing, with participation from Borderless Capital, EV3, and others
Web3 AI company Network3 completed a total of $5.5 million in pre-seed and seed round financing. Borderless Capital, EV3, IoTeX Eco fund, SNZ, Waterdrip Capital, and Bing Ventures participated. The company plans to use its financing to grow its team and continue developing its technology stack.

It is reported that Network3 is building a decentralized edge AI infrastructure, currently with 250,000 online nodes globally, covering 184 countries and regions. Users can provide inference, fine-tuning, and training services for edge AI models by sharing bandwidth, computing power, datasets, etc., thereby earning token incentives. Network3 also plans to release physical mining machines in the coming months. (Source link)

Bitcoin L2 project Bitlayer Labs completes $11 million Series A financing, led by Franklin Templeton and others
According to Fortune, Bitcoin L2 project Bitlayer Labs announced the completion of $11 million in Series A financing, led by Franklin Templeton, ABCDE, and Framework Ventures, with participation from Stake Capital Group, WAGMI Ventures, Flow Traders, GSR Ventures, and FalconX. This round of financing brings Bitlayer's total funding to $16 million.

It is reported that Bitlayer is the first Bitcoin infrastructure project to receive ETF-licensed institutional investment, aiming to address the technical challenges of Bitcoin scalability through crypto innovation and blockchain protocol engineering. The project will support various protocols within the ecosystem and continue developing its Mainnet-V2. (Source link)

Web3 gaming infrastructure NPC Labs completes a total of $21 million in two rounds of financing
Web3 gaming infrastructure NPC Labs completed a total of $21 million in pre-seed and seed round financing. The seed round was led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Hashed, Makers Fund, Collab+Currency, Sfermion, Mirana Ventures, Bitscale Capital, and Mantle EcoFund.

NPC Labs was co-founded by three former Coinbase employees, aiming to increase the adoption of on-chain gaming through the expansion platform B3.fun built on Base. (Source link)

DePIN network layer Multiple Network completes $2 million seed round financing, with participation from OKX Ventures and others
According to official news, the DePIN network layer Multiple Network completed $2 million in seed round financing, with participation from OKX Ventures, Youbi Capital, Stratified Capital, Puzzle Ventures, CatcherVC, and Bitrise Capital. This funding will be used to expand its ecosystem and provide quality products for its users.

According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Multiple Network is a Web3 DePIN project that builds a network layer using SD-WAN technology to achieve high-performance transmission of digital assets and data. (Source link)

Web3 AI platform Assisterr completes $1.7 million Pre-Seed round financing
According to Cointelegraph, Web3 AI platform Assisterr announced the completion of $1.7 million in Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from Web3.com Ventures, Moonhill Capital, Contango, Outlier Ventures, Decasonic, Zephyrus Capital, Wise3 Ventures, Saxon, GFI Ventures, X Ventures, Koyamaki, and Lucid Drakes Ventures. Angel investors include Michael Heinrich, co-founder and CEO of 0g.ai, Mark Rydon, co-founder and CEO of Aethir, and Nader Dabit, Director of Developer Relations at Eigen Labs.

It is reported that Assisterr is an AI infrastructure startup based in Cambridge, aiming to enable developers to build their own AI use cases using Assisterr's infrastructure. Utilizing the Solana blockchain, Assisterr allows the community to collaborate, aggregate, and monetize their data and expertise in professional fields. (Source link)

II. DeFi

Liquid staking protocol Kintsu completes $4 million financing, led by Castle Island Ventures
Liquid staking protocol Kintsu completed $4 million in financing, led by Castle Island Ventures. Brevan Howard Digital, CMT Digital, Spartan Group, Breed VC, CMS Holdings, Animoca Ventures, and angel investors Alex Matthews and Ross Trachtman from Brevan Howard Digital, Marin Tvrdic from Lido, and Robinson Burkey from Wormhole Foundation participated.

Kintsu is a liquid staking protocol founded by Novenstern last year, who previously served as the strategic head of the decentralized exchange Pangolin on the Avalanche blockchain.

Additionally, Kintsu's sMONAD liquid staking token will be launched in the first week after Monad's release. The Monad mainnet is expected to launch sometime this year. (Source link)

On-chain order exchange Kuru completes $2 million seed round financing, led by Electric Capital
On-chain order exchange Kuru announced the completion of $2 million in seed round financing, led by Electric Capital, with participation from Brevan Howard Digital, CMS Holdings, Pivot Global, Breed, and Velocity Capital, as well as angel investors Keone Hon, Jarry Xiao, and Eugene Chen.

Kuru intends to use the new funds to expand its team and prepare for audits before the release of the Monad testnet.

It is reported that Kuru is an on-chain order book DEX on Monad, providing users with a single platform to find, research, and trade on-chain spot assets. (Source link)

Liquid staking platform aPriori completes $8 million seed round financing, led by Pantera Capital
According to The Block, MEV-supported liquid staking platform aPriori based on the Monad blockchain announced the completion of $8 million in seed round financing, led by Pantera Capital, bringing its total funding to $10 million. This financing also attracted participation from Consensys, OKX Ventures, CMS Holdings, and several other investors. aPriori is committed to building an efficient MEV and liquid staking architecture, aiming to reduce gas fees, optimize network traffic, and provide sustainable incentives for validators. The team chose to build on the EVM-compatible L1 Monad due to its high performance and portability.

Pantera Capital partner Lauren Stephanian stated, "We are excited to support aPriori in building MEV-driven liquid staking services on Monad; the team's background gives us confidence in their success." aPriori's founder Ray has held significant positions at Jump Crypto and Flow Traders, possessing extensive infrastructure building experience. (Source link)

III. Social

Web3 community platform OpenSocial Protocol completes $6 million financing
Web3 community platform OpenSocial Protocol raised $6 million, led by Framework Ventures and North Island Ventures, with participation from Hivemind Capital Partners, Stratos, Moonrock Capital, and others. This funding will be used to expand its multi-chain technology and support web3 community applications.

OpenSocial aims to enhance intellectual property, community relationships, and financial incentives to aid user retention and growth. (Source link)

Meme promotion platform STIX completes $1.8 million financing, with participation from Presto Labs and others
Based on Base, meme promotion platform STIX completed $1.8 million in financing, with participation from Presto Labs, Selini Capital, Mythos Group, and dozens of crypto KOLs. The funds will prepare for the Beta version release and token issuance of STIX.

It is reported that STIX is a derivative project of Stickerly, leveraging Stickerly's distribution platform, Web3 STIX increases gamification elements by regularly hosting meme popularity contests. (Source link)
Nascent announces joint investment in Yup with IDEO CoLab Ventures and Dan Romero
Dan Elitzer, co-founder of the global multi-strategy investment firm Nascent, announced on the X platform that Nascent will jointly invest in Yup with IDEO CoLab Ventures and Dan Romero.

Additionally, according to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Yup is a Web3 social network for curators, where users can curate and share content online. Users can earn rewards through taste and gain influence in topics. (Source link)

IV. Gaming

Chain game ecosystem Panda Titan completes $3 million financing, with participation from Archer Capital
The metaverse chain game ecosystem Panda Titan completed $3 million in financing, with participation from Archer Capital. This round of financing will accelerate Panda Titan's pace in technological innovation and market expansion.

The new funds will support Panda Titan in developing more games, applications, and improving its game launcher, while expanding its community and partnerships.

It is reported that Panda Titan is a metaverse chain game ecosystem based on the panda IP. Unlike typical chain game studios, Panda Titan is not limited to game development but actively develops and promotes products such as the metaverse, Web3 community building, game engine development, and game streaming platforms. The first platform game, Panda Titan World, is about to be launched, with plans to release more chain games and applications based on the panda IP, creating an exclusive ecosystem that provides keys to unlock new dimensions of participation and interaction. (Source link)

Binance Labs announces investment in Catizen's publishing platform Pluto Studio
Binance Labs announced an investment in Pluto Studio, the publishing platform for the Web3 game Catizen based on Telegram, with the specific amount not disclosed. Pluto Studio will use this new funding to support the development of the Catizen mini-program and game engine, thereby promoting the platform's development and making it easier for more developers to join the Catizen ecosystem. (Source link)

V. Others

AI-driven data platform DAOBase completes $6 million financing, with participation from SevenX Capital and others
DAOBase, an AI-driven data and infrastructure platform built for DAOs, announced the completion of $6 million in financing, with participation from SevenX Capital, AntAlpha Ventures, Tanuki Studio, y2z Ventures, Slingshot Labs, LD Capital, Mix Marvel DAO Venture, TI Capital, Bitrise Capital, The Sandbox co-founder Sébastien Borget, and DeXe Protocol co-founder Dmytro Kotliarov.

The funds from this financing will mainly be used for product development, marketing, and global expansion. DAOBase plans to further enhance the platform's functionality, scale its business, and provide smarter and more efficient governance solutions for DAOs.

It is reported that DAOBase is a data and infrastructure platform specifically designed for DAOs. The company helps DAOs and voters establish their on-chain and off-chain data reputation layers by utilizing advanced algorithms, enabling users to intelligently monitor DAO governance, make informed decisions, and explore future work models. (Source link)

Roxom completes $4.3 million seed round financing, led by Draper Associates founding partner Tim Draper
Bitcoin-priced trading platform Roxom announced on X that it has completed $4.3 million in seed round financing, led by Draper Associates founding partner Tim Draper, with participation from Kingsway Capital, Borderless, Cadenza Ventures, NewtopiaVC, and individuals such as Sebastián Serrano, David Marcus, and Daniel Rabinovich.

Additionally, according to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Roxom is an exchange for stocks, commodities, and futures priced and quoted in Bitcoin, allowing users to view and trade global markets using Bitcoin. (Source link)