Last week, there were a total of 17 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with a cumulative financing of approximately 145 million USD | Investment and Financing Weekly Report
Mixed execution network developer Fluent Labs has completed an $8 million financing round led by Polychain Capital; cross-chain asset protocol Universal has completed a $9 million financing round led by a16z; Curve founder launches new project Yield Basis and raises $5 million at a $50 million valuation.Organizer: Luan Peng, RootData
According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from February 17 to February 23, 2025, there were a total of 17 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a cumulative financing of approximately $145 million.
From the perspective of track distribution, the projects that received financing are mainly concentrated in the infrastructure and DeFi tracks. Popular projects include the stablecoin company AI native entertainment application chain Infinity Ground, the Bitcoin staking platform Acre, the privacy computing protocol Primus, and the cross-chain asset wrapping protocol Universal.
In addition, the crypto security platform Blockaid recently completed a $50 million Series B financing round, led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from GV (formerly Google Ventures) and existing investors Variant and Cyberstarts.
List of projects that raised more than $5 million last week, data source: Rootdata
I. Infrastructure
AI native entertainment application chain Infinity Ground announced the completion of a $2 million seed round financing, with investors including Animoca Brands, MARBLEX, MH Ventures, Frachtis, KuCoin Ventures, KnightFury, PAKA, and Presto. The protocol supports developers in creating Agent applications on Base, BNB Chain, and Kaia using a customized proxy IDE and IDK based on Initia Stack.
According to RootData, Infinity Ground is a pioneering AI native entertainment application chain built on SVM. It not only creates its own AI games and interactive narratives but also provides advanced tools for developers to simplify the creation of AI-driven casual games. By nurturing a unified and rich AI native gaming ecosystem, Infinity Ground is reshaping the landscape of digital entertainment.
According to official news, the privacy computing protocol Primus announced the completion of $6.5 million in pre-seed and seed round financing. This round was led by Dispersion VC, Symbolic VC, and VanEck, with participation from Samsung Next, Alchemy, Maelstrom Fund, Welara, BB Fund, Modular Capital, Karatage, Initial Ventures, and others.
Primus is a protocol that securely performs computations over untrusted networks without exposing sensitive data through Multi-Party Computation Transport Layer Security (MPC-TLS) and Zero-Knowledge TLS (zkTLS) protocols.
According to The Block, hybrid execution network developer Fluent Labs has completed $8 million in financing, led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Primitive, dao5, Symbolic Capital, Builder Capital, Nomad Capital, Public Works, and angel investors Balaji, Dingaling, among others. The $8 million is the total amount Fluent Labs has raised to date, although the company declined to disclose its valuation.
Fluent is the first hybrid execution network, an Ethereum L2 that combines Wasm, EVM, and SVM applications into a unified execution environment. Hybrid execution allows programs written for different VMs to work together in a unified execution environment.
Bitcoin DeFi project Maestro completes $3 million seed round financing
According to Globenewswire, Bitcoin DeFi project Maestro announced the completion of $3 million in seed round financing, co-led by Wave Digital Assets and Draper Associates, with participation from UTXO Management, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, Draper Dragon, and Necto Labs.
Maestro is described as an enterprise-grade infrastructure provider tailored for Bitcoin DeFi, having launched UTXO-based infrastructure services to simplify the complex process of building Bitcoin-native financial applications. Maestro provides APIs, developer tools, and innovative solutions such as a mempool meta-protocol index for real-time on-chain insights.
Modular real yield layer and Instagram application chain Cygnus has completed $20 million in Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from Manifold Trading, OKX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, and Optimism Foundation Retro Funding. This financing will allow Cygnus to expand its product range and strengthen its influence in key markets, driving the crypto industry into the era of super applications.
Cygnus aims to build a modular real yield layer that allows any blockchain to easily customize its own re-staking network and achieve shared security. Assets from both on-chain and off-chain can be deposited into Cygnus LVS to become liquidity validators, facilitating seamless coordination and economic security.
Cygnus aims to create a transparent and decentralized economic network within emerging ecosystems and establish sustainable models that drive real-world utility and support mass adoption.
According to Bloomberg, crypto startup Altius Labs has completed $11 million in Pre-Seed round financing, led by Founders Fund and Pantera, with participation from Archetype, Reforge, DCG, No Limit Holdings, Amber Group, and angel investors from projects such as Berachain, Movement, Ethena Labs, Ritual, dao5, Solana Foundation, and Hudson River Trading.
Altius Labs was founded by Hudson River Trading software engineer Anit Chakraborty and former Amber Group managing partner Annabelle Huang. Altius is building a VM-agnostic modular execution stack that separates the execution stack from a single binary implementation and network design, enabling seamless integration with any L1, L2, and application chain to immediately enhance performance and interoperability.
II. DeFi
According to The Block, Bitcoin staking platform Acre has completed $4 million in strategic financing, with participation from Draper Dragon, Big Brain Holdings, and Orange DAO.
Acre co-founder and CEO Laura Wallendal stated that this round of financing was conducted in the form of a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) and token subscription rights, with Wallendal indicating that the $90 million valuation represents the fully diluted valuation of the yet-to-be-launched ACRE token.
Acre is a subsidiary of Thesis, a startup studio focused on Bitcoin, which supports projects including tBTC, Fold, and Mezo Network. Acre allows users to deposit their Bitcoin to earn more Bitcoin or "compound" their Bitcoin. It achieves this through various methods, including deposit rewards. Acre's first vault partner is Mezo, a Bitcoin company.
Stablecoin liquidity provider Mansa completes $10 million seed round financing, led by Tether
According to TechCrunch, stablecoin liquidity provider Mansa announced the completion of $10 million in seed round financing, led by Tether. This round includes both equity and debt financing, with Tether contributing $3 million in equity financing. The new funds will support the company's expansion into Latin America and Southeast Asia, where liquidity challenges have also limited cross-border transactions.
Cross-chain asset protocol Universal completes $9 million financing, led by a16z
Cross-chain asset wrapping protocol Universal has completed $9 million in financing led by a16z.
This round of financing will be used to scale the business, in addition to continuing to distribute new assets through other DApps, and will enhance the front-end user experience. The long-term goal of the Universal team is to make its wrapped asset services as popular as WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin).
Bitcoin DeFi project Maestro completes $3 million seed round financing
According to Globenewswire, Bitcoin DeFi project Maestro announced the completion of $3 million in seed round financing, co-led by Wave Digital Assets and Draper Associates, with participation from UTXO Management, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, Draper Dragon, and Necto Labs.
Maestro is described as an enterprise-grade infrastructure provider tailored for Bitcoin DeFi, having launched UTXO-based infrastructure services to simplify the complex process of building Bitcoin-native financial applications. Maestro provides APIs, developer tools, and innovative solutions such as a mempool meta-protocol index for real-time on-chain insights.
Curve founder launches new project Yield Basis and raises $5 million at a $50 million valuation
Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov has launched a new project Yield Basis and raised $5 million at a $50 million valuation, aimed at helping tokenized Bitcoin and Ethereum holders earn yields from market creation by mitigating impermanent loss.
fomo announced the completion of $2 million in Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from over 100 angel investors, including Solana co-founder Raj Gokal.
III. DeSci
DeSci project ResearchHub receives $2 million investment from Boost VC
According to official news, ResearchHub has received a $2 million investment from Boost VC.
It is reported that BoostVC is deepening its commitment to ResearchHub's mission of accelerating scientific research. This funding will further strengthen ResearchHub's DeSci efforts, making research more open, transparent, and collaborative.
IV. Tools
Gate.io has completed a strategic investment in the on-chain trading platform DEXX
Gate.io announced that it has completed a strategic investment in the on-chain trading platform DEXX. The funds from this strategic investment will be used to support DEXX's relaunch plan, helping the platform's business to recover in an orderly manner and achieve long-term stable development in the future.
Previously on November 16, 2024, the DEXX platform was severely impacted by a hacking incident.
V. Others
Crypto security platform Blockaid completes $50 million Series B financing, led by Ribbit Capital
According to Bloomberg, crypto security platform Blockaid recently completed $50 million in Series B financing, led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from GV (formerly Google Ventures) and existing investors Variant and Cyberstarts. This financing will help Blockaid address the growing risks of cybercrime in the digital asset space.
In 2024, Blockaid successfully intercepted 71 million potential attacks, preventing losses of $5.3 billion. The company expects that as user growth and token prices rise, cyber attack incidents will surge to "hundreds of millions" in 2025. Blockaid plans to use this funding to expand operations and increase R&D investment, expecting to double its workforce this year. The company's CEO Ido Ben-Natan stated that due to changes in the regulatory environment in the U.S., demand has surged, and the company is currently facing a staffing shortage.
