Which early projects are top crypto venture capital firms betting on recently? | 5.1-5.31

整理：Cookies, Chain Catcher

In this article, Chain Catcher will introduce early projects recently backed by leading crypto venture capital firms (from May 1 to May 31), including basic information, official websites, related reports, etc., to help readers further understand potential projects for the future.

1. Syndicate

On May 3, DAO infrastructure service provider Syndicate completed a $6 million financing round, with participation from Circle Ventures, OpenSea, Uniswap Labs Ventures, and others.

Syndicate is an investment tool serving DAO organizations, enabling them to invest in tokens and NFTs, as well as off-chain startups and assets. They can attach legal entities, open bank accounts, and issue K-1 forms. Syndicate supports any ERC-20 asset, and its dashboard displays token and NFT investment data in real-time.

DAO organizations can easily generate, send, and collect signed DAO legal documents through Syndicate's application, and can record investments in off-chain assets (such as startup equity, SAFE) while attaching off-chain memos, metadata, and links, eliminating the need to manually track investments or transactions in spreadsheets. Since its launch at the end of January, nearly 1,200 Investment Clubs have been launched on Syndicate.

Official website: https://syndicate.io/

Related reading: 《Understanding DAO Investment Tools: Web3 Investment Clubs on the Syndicate Protocol》

2. Stakes

On May 3, Web3 social betting platform Stakes completed a $5.3 million seed round financing, with participation from DCG and others.

Stakes is building a platform for the next generation of sports fans that combines social interaction and NFTs, bringing people together through community and competition. Stakes combines social media, gaming, and crypto technology to tap into what sports fans truly seek, reconstructing the sports betting market through friendly competition and knowledge discussions. Users can earn NFTs by predicting the outcomes of sports events.

Traditional sports betting is not user-friendly for the average person and does not align with users' betting expectations. Most sports betting activities can only occur among friends, so Stakes is creating a new betting paradigm, a social betting platform that allows fans to enjoy the fun of sports betting more conveniently.

Official website: https://playwithstakes.com/

Related articles: 《Stakes Raises $5.3 Million in Seed Funding》

3. Team DAO

On May 4, crypto gaming guild Team DAO completed a $5 million Series A financing round at a valuation of $48.88 million, led by Krust Universe and Animoca Brands, with participation from Shima Capital and others.

Team DAO is a metaverse gaming guild that provides proprietary scalable solutions for players. Team DAO has developed an automated and scalable elite recruitment process, a gamified training system, and lifelong community mentoring. Additionally, Team DAO carefully selects metaverse games and blockchain P2E games through a rigorous internal curation process.

Currently, Team DAO has developed modules such as team analytics, dashboards, and ecosystem expansion. According to the roadmap, it will provide users with earning and governance participation features around Wrapped TEAM, launching products such as the wTEAM market, TEAM SCHOLAR wallet, and wTEAM Staking Vaults.

Official website: https://www.teamdao.com/

Related articles: 《Team DAO Whitepaper》

4. Bundlr

On May 5, the decentralized storage project Bundlr, based on Arweave, completed a $5.2 million financing round, led by Framework Ventures and Hypersphere Ventures, with participation from OpenSea and Race Capital.

Bundlr is a decentralized storage scaling platform powered by Arweave, building the future of data storage by bringing the speed and ease of use of web2 into web3 technology.

The main business logic of Bundlr is quite simple. First, users from other public chains can directly delegate storage tasks to Bundlr and pay storage costs using the native tokens of their respective public chains, while Bundlr converts other public chain tokens into AR to pay for storage gas fees. Second, Bundlr can package multiple storage transactions into one (this packaged transaction is called a bundle) and submit it to the mainnet. This greatly reduces the number of transactions on the Arweave mainnet, thereby indirectly increasing the transaction throughput of the Arweave mainnet and reducing the gas cost of each storage transaction to some extent.

Additionally, Bundlr uses economic mechanisms to prevent storage nodes from acting maliciously. In the Bundlr system, centralized storage nodes are called Bundlers, and each node needs to stake project tokens $BNDL. If they fail to complete users' storage instructions successfully, their staked tokens will be forfeited.

Official website: https://bundlr.network/

Related articles: 《Bundlr Network 101: How does Bundlr work?》

5. Cometh

On May 5, blockchain game studio Cometh completed a $10 million seed round financing, led by White Star Capital, Ubisoft, and Stake Capital, with participation from Shima Capital and others.

Cometh has launched two applications, including Cometh Engine, which serves developers exploring the Web3 virtual world, providing NFT Blockchain Service (bulk distribution of NFTs to users), NFT API (allowing developers to quickly access all information about NFTs from the blockchain), Cometh SDK (enhancing game development, integrating native assets and DeFi services), and Cometh Astra (an L2 scaling solution for games).

Cometh Battle is a tactical card game that allows users to integrate DeFi and NFT features into a single, fun game. The game ecosystem currently has 60 spaceships, 300 NFT cards, and over 50,000 players, who must strategically combine spaceships and decks before battles.

Official website: https://www.cometh.io/

Related articles: 《Deep dive into Cometh Battle: The beginning》

6. Untamed Planet

On May 5, the metaverse game Untamed Planet completed a $24.3 million financing round, led by Animoca Brands.

Untamed Metaverse is a 3D immersive experience metaverse game where players will be able to explore digital twins of the world's wild landscapes, participate in missions, collect NFT assets, and form communities to protect nature. The project's white paper will be released in June 2022.

Untamed Planet is committed to environmental sustainability and follows best practice technologies and protocols in environmental and social impact. The first NFT collection was minted on Solana, a proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol with high energy efficiency.

The core mission of Untamed Planet is to commit "50% of profits to nature." Its first game is built on the Roblox platform, using in-game transaction revenues, and has already funded the adoption of a black rhino calf in Kenya.

Official website: https://www.untamedplanet.earth/

Related articles: 《Animoca Brands joins forces with Untamed Planet, the Nature gaming startup》

7. LootRush

On May 6, blockchain gaming platform LootRush completed a $12 million seed round financing, led by Paradigm, with participation from a16z, Y Combinator, and others.

LootRush provides a fast-launch platform for blockchain games and offers NFT rental services, aiming to lower the entry barrier for new gamers and generate income for NFT owners. The platform provides players with greater flexibility and NFT composability to enjoy gaming fun.

On the LootRush platform, users can enjoy blockchain games in just a few simple steps. First, create an account and select the game they want to play, then rent the corresponding NFT for that game on the platform to enter the game and start earning game tokens.

Currently, Axie Infinity is the only playable game on LootRush. LootRush plans to launch more games such as CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot.

Official website: https://www.lootrush.com/

Related articles: 《LootRush Manifesto》

8. Cassava Network

On May 9, Web3 infrastructure platform Cassava Network completed an $8 million private placement financing round, with participation from over 40 investment institutions including Dragonfly Capital, Spark Digital Capital, and Shima Capital.

Cassava Network is a token reward platform dedicated to improving the lives of people in Africa through blockchain and Web3. The native token CSV can be integrated into any existing or new Web2 application, allowing users to access Web3 rewards. The solution adopted by the team is not to migrate users from existing applications to the blockchain, but to bring the blockchain into existing applications.

Cassava is also building a complex Cassava ID system, where user behavior across different content platforms such as news, music, video, and gaming will be recorded through Cassava On-Chain Achievement Tokens (OAT). OATs are metadata NFTs that track user activities, such as the works of specific artists or the time spent reading news.

The Cassava team creates a complex identification system by associating OATs with specific wallets. This allows users to control their data and even potentially profit from it.

Official website: https://www.cassava.network/

Related articles: 《Cassava Official Documentation》

9. StarryNift

On May 10, NFT metaverse co-creation platform StarryNift completed a multi-million dollar Pre-A financing round, led by SIG Haina Asia Venture Capital, with participation from Binance Labs, Alameda Research, and others.

StarryNift is a gamified NFT platform that provides an integrated gamified platform and one-stop shop for creating, incubating, auctioning, and trading NFT collectibles, allowing users to create and auction NFTs in the metaverse built on the platform.

StarryNift aims to build an open space that connects Web2 and Web3, becoming a triple entry point for traditional Web2, emerging Web3, and cutting-edge VR devices. StarryNift will technically build developer-friendly SDK tools, integrate multi-chain to promote UGC, and commercially strengthen brand cooperation, IP incubation, and guild collaboration to form a multi-dimensional ecosystem, ultimately constructing an imaginative immersive 3D interactive world.

Official website: https://starrynift.art/starryverse

Related articles: 《StarryNift Mining & Referral Guidebook》

10. Co:Create

On May 10, NFT infrastructure startup Co:Create completed a $25 million seed round financing, led by a16z, with participation from FTX Ventures and others.

The Co:Create protocol is a platform that provides smart contracts for NFTs, allowing projects to mint NFTs and control royalties paid in native tokens. Co:Create will build a digital community around NFTs and their associated tokens, enabling NFT projects to maximize these digital assets to enhance utility, voice for the community, and establish new partnerships.

At the core of Co:Create is a factory method that allows projects to implement a single instance of the protocol, called a Create instance. This means NFT projects can deploy smart contracts based on demand. The factory method has customizable templates for four components: NFT minting mechanisms, native utility and governance tokens, DAOs, and treasuries.

The initial version of Co:Create will be launched this fall. Later, Co:Create plans to transition to a DAO and launch its native token CO, handing governance of the protocol over to the community of its NFT projects.

Official website: https://www.usecocreate.io/

Related articles: 《Co:Create Whitepaper》

11. Lighthouse Labs

On May 6, metaverse search engine company Lighthouse Labs completed a $7 million seed round financing, led by Animoca Brands and Accel.

Lighthouse is building the most in-depth spatial network search engine, achieving rich, real-time, and intuitive search capabilities through direct integration of partner data. The project provides users and creators with a powerful navigation system, allowing users to search for projects across all metaverses.

At the same time, Lighthouse supports the creation of friend groups, enabling users to turn exploration into an intrinsic social experience. The team aims to create a decentralized connection layer for the Web3 ecosystem to help the next billion users join the open metaverse.

Additionally, Lighthouse places great emphasis on user experience for Web3 products, striving to make metaverse navigation as smooth as today's hyperlink navigation. The company has announced that it will launch its first product this summer.

Official website: https://www.lighthouselabs.xyz/

Related articles: 《Lighthouse: The Open Metaverse Navigation Engine》

12. Branch

On May 12, gaming startup Branch completed a $12.5 million seed round financing, with participation from Dragonfly Capital, Polychain, Coinbase Ventures, Three Arrows Capital, and others.

Branch is building the next generation of engaging social games in Web3, where users can purchase NFT series of islands, each with different combinations of virtual resources. These resources can be crafted into items or props in the game world, and the "earning" part of its "play-to-earn" label comes from users paying each other for harvesting materials or reselling items as NFTs on the secondary market.

Branch co-founder Dayton Mills stated that the game the company is developing is inspired by Animal Crossing and Minecraft. Its feature is that most blockchain games require players to purchase NFTs in advance to play, but in the game currently under development, the use of crypto technology will be cleverly hidden so that players may never know what NFTs are, yet still earn from it. The initial version of the game is expected to be launched this summer.

Official website: https://www.branch.gg/

Related articles: 《Animal Crossing Meets Minecraft: Branch Raises $12.5M for Play-to-Earn Project》

13. Inflow

On May 15, crypto music application Inflow completed a $1.5 million seed round financing, with participation from ConsenSys, Protocol Labs, and others.

Inflow is a platform that helps artists launch cryptocurrencies and gain new revenue streams through NFTs or tokens, providing a solution that allows them to profit without dealing with copyrights/royalties. Specifically, Inflow provides all creators with Web3 profiles where they can publish their social tokens and sell art collectibles in the form of NFTs. Fans gain ownership in the creator's digital community, and creators receive ongoing funding.

In 2021, Inflow focused on NFTs, and the next phase will be social tokens. Future expansion plans include adding other industries and fields through Inflow Sports and Inflow Social, allowing fans worldwide to connect with art creators.

Official website: https://www.inflowmusic.io/

Related articles: 《How Inflow Created the First Music Platform for the Web3 Economy》

14. Azra Games

On May 19, P2E game studio Azra Games completed a $15 million financing round, led by a16z, with participation from NFX, Coinbase Ventures, and others.

Azra Games is a studio dedicated to providing users with high-quality collectible and combat games based on blockchain, led by former EA Capital Games general manager Mark Otero, whose previous game "Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes" has generated over $1 billion in total revenue and has been EA's top mobile game for six years.

Azra Games will launch a fantasy combat arena game called Project Arcanas, where players fight for wealth and power. Participants can earn non-fungible token-based collectibles and build legions for battles and rewards. It is reported that Azra has been working on this game for over four months, trying to create a visually appealing and engaging game that players can easily pick up.

In the coming months, the first gamified PFP called Genesis Explorers will be released. Users will be able to collect NFTs called Play Forever Pass (PFP) as profile pictures, which will essentially serve as game passes while the team builds the Project Arcanas universe. Azra plans to release a teaser for the game's collectible toy battle experience by the end of next year.

Official website: https://azragames.com/

Related articles: 《A16z Leads $15M Round for P2E Studio Azra Games》

15. Parcl

On May 20, synthetic asset protocol Parcl on the Solana chain completed a $7.5 million strategic financing round, with participation from Dragonfly, Not Boring, Solana Ventures, and others.

Parcl is a startup that digitizes real estate investment based on the Solana blockchain, allowing users to enjoy a real estate trading market with no barriers, low transaction fees, and instant liquidity.

Parcl reconstructs the way real estate investment is approached for both novices and industry experts, with the Parcl index mimicking price trends in the real estate market, allowing users to gain price exposure without the burden of owning or trading physical assets. By creating digital assets from properties in different cities and communities, Parcl Indexes allow users to access real estate assets in major global cities like Manhattan or Miami.

Additionally, the platform allows users to invest Parcl tokens or stablecoins into Parcl liquidity pools to earn passive income. The platform is currently in the testing phase.

Official website: https://www.parcl.co/

Related articles: 《Parcl Official Documentation》

16. Flowcarbon

On May 24, carbon credit trading platform Flowcarbon completed a $70 million financing round, led by a16z, with participation from General Catalyst and Samsung Next.

Flowcarbon is an open-source protocol for carbon credits based on Celo, promoting institutional capital into climate change mitigation efforts by tokenizing carbon credits. Additionally, the protocol aims to become a transparent, barrier-free carbon trading market, continuously helping organizations achieve net-zero or net-negative carbon emissions.

In Flowcarbon's protocol, on-chain carbon is an innovative tool that can be integrated into existing DeFi ecosystems as a novel composite financial instrument. Flowcarbon's GNT is fully backed by the real-time value of off-chain credits and can be used as collateral, protocol treasury assets, stablecoin reserves, or to offset on-chain carbon credits.

Official website: https://www.flowcarbon.com/

Related articles: 《Flowcarbon Raises $70M to Tokenize Carbon Credits and Build an On-chain Market》

17. Doppel

On May 25, NFT fraud detection startup Doppel completed a $5 million seed round financing, led by FTX Ventures, with participation from Polygon Studios, Solana Ventures, OpenSea Ventures, Dapper Labs, and others.

Doppel is a startup founded in February this year by former Uber engineers Kevin Tian and Rahul Madduluri, primarily indexing NFT data from public chains including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, and Flow, and using models containing keywords and metadata to detect fraudulent activities.

Doppel has already integrated with the largest NFT marketplace OpenSea and is working on integrations with other companies. The recent priority is to establish new integrations and multi-chain expansions and to add off-chain data to their models. While Doppel helps companies identify fraudulent activities, it is up to each company to decide how to handle incidents once fraud is detected.

Official website: https://www.doppel.com/

Related articles: 《Announcing Our $5M Seed Round》

18. MetaKings

On May 25, Web3 game studio MetaKings completed a $15 million seed round financing, with participation from Delphi Digital, Animoca Brands, and others.

Blocklords is a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game set in a medieval backdrop, inspired by games like Total War, Age of Empires, Civilization, and Crusader Kings. The game combines real-time combat, fantasy lore, and a detailed lineage system. Players own non-fungible token (NFT) hero characters that can develop skills, trade, participate in battles, and create lineages through marriage and reproduction.

Blocklords provides entry-level hero characters, with the first batch of hero NFTs set to be minted this summer on Immutable X. After the NFT minting, a Blocklords beta version featuring farming and city-building game mechanics will be launched, followed by combat features, with the full game expected to be released in 2023.

Official website: https://metakings.ai/

Related articles: 《MetaKings Official Documentation》

19. FanTiger

On May 26, music NFT startup FanTiger completed a $5.5 million seed round financing, led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from IOSG Ventures, Polygon Studios, and others.

FanTiger is an NFT music platform operated by ArtistFirst, where artists can sell song NFT collectibles to build an active fan community. These NFTs give fans the opportunity to build a music community with artists and receive other benefits and rewards.

Before the official launch, FanTiger opened a beta experience program for music fans. The beta experience waiting list gives fans the chance to receive exclusive benefits, such as early access to music NFTs, OG titles, limited edition merchandise, and 5,000 free FanTiger NFTs.

Multicoin partner Kyle Samani stated, "The FanTiger platform has a unique advantage in increasing digital collectible ownership in the music industry. We are excited to partner with FanTiger, which will disrupt the Indian music industry."

Official website: https://www.fantiger.com/

Related articles: 《NFT marketplace FanTiger raises $5.5 million》