Last week, there were a total of 30 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with a cumulative financing of approximately 623 million USD | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

Organized by: Fairy, RootData

According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from July 1 to July 7, 2024, there were a total of 30 publicly announced investment and financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a total financing amount of approximately $623 million.

From the perspective of track distribution, the projects that received financing are mainly distributed in the infrastructure, DeFi, and gaming sectors. Popular projects include the blockchain ZK solution Pi Squared, the Bitcoin DeFi protocol Lombard, the distributed cloud computing company Prodia, the modular data layer CARV aimed at gaming and AI, and the open-source AI development platform Sentient.

In addition, Australian crypto mining company Iris Energy announced that it has raised $413.4 million through stock issuance. This financing was completed through the company's market offering (ATM) plan from May 15 to June 28, selling a total of 39.8 million shares. Combined with previously raised funds, Iris Energy has raised approximately $714 million in the first half of this year.

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

I. Infrastructure

UniSat announces completion of Pre-A round financing, led by Binance

According to official news from UniSat, it completed its Pre-A round financing in May this year, led by Binance, with the specific financing amount not disclosed.

The announcement stated that this strategic investment strengthens the existing technical and business partnership between the two parties, laying a solid foundation for further cooperation in the future. (Source link)

Bitcoin scaling protocol QED completes $6 million seed round financing, with participation from Blockchain Capital

According to The Block, the Bitcoin scaling protocol QED has completed a $6 million seed round financing, with Blockchain Capital as the sole investor, achieving a valuation of "nine digits," meaning at least $100 million. Previously, QED had obtained $3.25 million in Pre-seed round financing from institutions such as Arrington Capital, StarkWare, Draper Dragon, and $1.35 million in angel round financing from institutions like Sparkle Ventures supported by Animoca Brands.

It is reported that QED Protocol focuses on zero-knowledge proof verification technology, aiming to achieve decentralized exchanges, DeFi, and other applications on Bitcoin through the Taproot upgrade. Founder Carter Feldman stated that QED Protocol can process over 150,000 transactions per second and plans to launch a testnet in the next 3-4 months, with the mainnet going live after community consensus is reached, along with the launch of a native token to incentivize the operation of high-performance infrastructure. QED is headquartered in Hong Kong, has over 30 full-time employees in the Greater Bay Area, and plans to open its first office in Texas, USA. (Source link)

Blockchain data management company SendBlocks completes $8.2 million seed round financing, led by Castle Island Ventures

According to Chainwire, blockchain data management startup SendBlocks announced the completion of $8.2 million in seed round financing, led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Pitango, Illuminate Financial, Laser Digital (Nomura), and Starkware.

It is reported that SendBlocks allows blockchain enterprises, ecosystems, protocols, and applications to define the data that is important to them, and its platform supports customization. (Source link)

Blockchain ZK solution Pi Squared completes $12.5 million seed round financing, led by Polychain Capital

According to CoinDesk, Pi Squared, a company utilizing zero-knowledge technology for verifiable computation, announced it raised $12.5 million in a seed round financing led by Polychain Capital. Other participants in this round include ABCDE, Bloccelerate, Generative Ventures, Robot Ventures, and Samsung Next, as well as angel investors including Justin Drake from the Ethereum Foundation and Sreeram Kanaan, founder of EigenLayer.

It is reported that Pi Squared is led by Grigore Rosu, a computer science professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The company plans to use the new funds to expand its products. Pi Squared's first product is a "universal settlement layer" that can settle blockchain transactions in any programming language. Rosu stated that the company is also developing a "universal zero-knowledge circuit," which will enable "trustless remote computation, AI, and interoperable smart contracts for any blockchain or dApp" through zero-knowledge technology. The project is expected to enter the testnet phase by the end of 2024.

Additionally, the Web3 asset data platform RootData shows that Pi Squared uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) technology to verify the correctness of any program's execution without relying on a specific programming language (PL) or virtual machine (VM). It provides a universal and efficient verification method based on the K framework and matching logic, aiming to achieve seamless interoperability between blockchains, languages, and applications. (Source link)

Blockchain oracle service RedStone completes $15 million Series A financing, led by Arrington Capital

According to The Block, blockchain oracle service RedStone has completed $15 million in Series A financing, led by Arrington Capital, with participation from Kraken Ventures, White Star Capital, Spartan Group, Amber Group, SevenX Ventures, IOSG Ventures, and angel investors including Smokey the Bera and Homme Bera from Berachain, Mike Silagadze, Jozef Vogel, and Rok Kopp from Ether.Fi, as well as Amir Forouzani, Jason Vranek, and Christina Chen from Puffer Finance.

It is reported that RedStone is a blockchain oracle similar to popular oracles like Chainlink and Pyth Network, but based on a modular design. (Source link)

Blockchain company OpenLedger completes $8 million seed round financing, led by Polychain Capital and Borderless Capital

According to The Block, blockchain company OpenLedger raised $8 million in a seed round financing led by Polychain Capital and Borderless Capital. Other participants include HashKey Capital, Finality Capital, Hash3, STIX, MH Ventures, Sreeram Kannan from EigenLayer, Sandeep Nailwal from Polygon, and Kenny Li from Manta.

It is reported that OpenLedger focuses on building decentralized and data-driven AI infrastructure. The company plans to use this funding to expand its team and strengthen its data pipeline infrastructure, with the mainnet expected to go live in the next quarter. The OpenLedger team stated that as AI becomes increasingly prevalent, the importance of data continues to grow, and they are committed to bridging the gap between data and decentralization to drive the development of higher-quality AI models. (Source link)

Open-source AI platform Sentient completes $85 million seed round financing, led by Founders Fund and others

According to The Block, open-source AI platform Sentient announced the completion of $85 million in seed round financing, co-led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures, with participation from Ethereal Ventures, Robot Ventures, LD Capital, Symbolic Capital, Delphi Ventures, Hack VC, Arrington Capital, HashKey Capital, Canonical Crypto, and Foresight Ventures.

It is reported that Sentient is building open-source AI models using community contributions, aiming to compete with OpenAI. (Source link)

Distributed cloud computing company Prodia completes $15 million financing, led by Dragonfly Capital

According to The Block, distributed cloud computing company Prodia raised $15 million in a seed round financing led by Dragonfly Capital. Other participating institutions include HashKey Capital, Web3.com, Index Ventures, Symbolic Capital, OKX Ventures, EV3, Artichoke, TRGC, Folius, Tangent Capital, Southern Equity, and individual investors including Sandeep Nailwal and Balaji Srinivasan from Polygon.

It is reported that Prodia is committed to building a distributed GPU network, providing more efficient and cost-effective cloud computing services through the use of web3 infrastructure. The company plans to use this funding to expand its business, increase support for generating videos and large language models (LLM), and diversify its GPU hardware offerings. Prodia co-founder Mikhail Avady stated that Prodia's services allow clients to easily integrate AI into any application without needing to understand GPU knowledge, which sets it apart in competition with traditional cloud services like AWS. (Source link)

Solana ecosystem re-staking protocol Solayer completes new round of financing, with participation from Solana Labs co-founders

Solana ecosystem re-staking protocol Solayer announced the completion of a builder round of financing, with the specific investment amount undisclosed. Investors include Solana Labs co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, Marinade core contributor Michael Repetny, Solend founder Rooter, Tensor co-founder Richard Wu, crypto KOL Ansem, and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal. (Source link)

CARV announces completion of $10 million Series A financing, with participation from OKX Ventures

CARV announced the completion of $10 million in Series A financing, led by Tribe Capital and IOSG Ventures, with participation from Consensys, OKX Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, No Limit Holdings, Draper Dragon, Arweave, ARPA, and MARBLEX, aiming to build the largest modular data layer for gaming and AI while maximizing data innovation and ensuring individual users can gain value from sharing on the internet.

Shared sequencer network Astria completes $12.5 million financing, led by dba and Placeholder VC

According to CoinDesk, shared sequencer network Astria announced the completion of $12.5 million in financing, led by dba and Placeholder VC, with participation from RockawayX, Maven11, 1kx, Bankless Ventures, Figment Capital, Batu, and angel investors including Yuki, DCBuilder, Hasu, Will Price, and Jason Yanowitz. The new funds will be used to continue building the Astria sequencing layer and Astria Stack. (Source link)

ESG data oracle project Nubila has raised $2.5 million in financing, led by IoTeX and VeChain

The ESG data oracle project Nubila, which provides ESG data for decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), has launched a new round of financing, led by IoTeX and VeChain+ Boston Consulting Group, and has raised $2.5 million so far. OrangeDAO, MH Ventures, Future Money Group, SNZ Capital, DePINsurf, Kronos Research, Taisu Ventures, Bytetrade, WaterDrip, Deepin Lab, Assembly Partners, Cyber, Radiance Ventures, and Genopets participated.

It is reported that Nubila focuses on providing accurate ESG data for the DePIN ecosystem, aiming to leverage AI and tokenization to promote sustainability. The funds will be used to expand its ESG data network, enhance data accuracy, and increase user engagement. Nubila plans to capture key environmental data through advanced weather stations and sensor networks to improve the accuracy of ESG assessments. (Source link)

II. Gaming

Web3 gaming points protocol XOOB completes $1.6 million financing, with participation from Chromia

Web3 gaming points protocol XOOB (formerly LaunchJoy) has completed $1.6 million in financing, including $1.4 million in incubation round financing and $200,000 in Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from Chromia, Mines of Dalarnia, and My Neighbor Alice. (Source link)

Chain game Swords & Dungeons completes $5 million financing, with participation from Mirana Ventures

Web3 multi-chain MMORPG Swords & Dungeons announced the completion of $5 million in financing, with this round led by Mirana Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners, OKX Ventures, Y2Z Ventures, Matrix Partners, Folius Ventures, Mask Network, SNZ Capital, Arkstream Capital, Cloud Nine Capital, Primal Capital, Welight Capital, and Bas1s Ventures.

Additionally, the Web3 asset data platform RootData shows that Swords & Dungeons is a highly playable P2E DeFi MMORPG. It combines traditional game PvE, PvP, GvG systems with the P2E game model of the Web3.0 era and advanced DAO governance concepts. Players enter a complex and dangerous metaverse as heroes, tasked with defeating evil creatures to become stronger and master powerful void powers. They collaborate with other players to integrate floating islands and the land below, bringing peace to the shattered void world. (Source link)

MMO game Cambria completes $2.5 million seed round financing, led by 1kx and BITKRAFT Ventures

MMO game Cambria announced the completion of $2.5 million in seed round financing, led by 1kx and BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from Delphi Ventures co-founder Piers Kicks, Hype Investments founder hype, Delphi Ventures co-founder Tommy, and BACKED co-founder Alex Brunicki.

The raised funds will be used to create an "MMO" network game inspired by "Runescape," featuring large-scale on-chain stakes.

According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Cambria is a risk-oriented MMO game inspired by Runescape, with significant on-chain stakes. In the game's first iteration, Gold Rush, players must engage in both economic and real-time PvP to acquire Blast Gold and ETH, competing for dominance in the game. (Source link)

On-chain social gaming platform MonkeyBit completes $2 million seed round financing

According to Coinspeaker, on-chain social gaming platform MonkeyBit announced the completion of $2 million in seed round financing, led by Middle Eastern Web3 fund 3KBTC Capital, with participation from Hongyi Labs and other funds.

It is reported that MonkeyBit is dedicated to providing innovative interactive experiences for GameFi players, creating a new on-chain social entertainment ecosystem. The new funds will be used to further develop a decentralized social gaming platform and tools for game creators. MonkeyBit has launched a global ambassador recruitment program. (Source link)

III. DeFi

Programmable derivatives protocol Plaza completes Pre-Seed round financing, led by Anagram

Programmable derivatives protocol Plaza Finance announced the completion of Pre-Seed round financing, with the specific financing amount undisclosed, led by Anagram, with participation from Interop Ventures, Cosmostation, and others. (Source link)

Token and NFT launch platform Monad Pad announces completion of $945,000 seed round financing, with participation from Sneaky Ventures

Token and NFT launch platform Monad Pad announced on X that it has completed $945,000 in seed round financing, with participation from CMS, CSPDAO, CapitalZephyrus, vvvdotnet, FOMO, exnetworkcap, Sneaky Ventures, Legion Ventures, and others.

Additionally, the Web3 asset data platform RootData shows that Monad Pad is a token and NFT launch platform built on Monad, empowering creators, investors, and collectors. (Source link)

Bitcoin re-staking protocol Lombard completes $16 million seed round financing, led by Polychain Capital

According to The Block, Bitcoin re-staking protocol Lombard has completed $16 million in seed round financing, led by Polychain Capital.

Lombard will use this funding to expand its Bitcoin re-staking ecosystem and develop in conjunction with the Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon. Lombard releases liquidity by issuing liquidity and yield-bearing staked Bitcoin tokens LBTC.

Additionally, the Web3 asset data platform RootData shows that Lombard was established in April 2024, dedicated to unlocking the potential of Bitcoin as a dynamic financial tool by connecting Bitcoin with DeFi. Lombard enables yield-generating BTC to move across chains without fragmenting liquidity, paving the way to become the largest catalyst for bringing net new capital into DeFi. Its flagship product LBTC is a yield-bearing, cross-chain, liquid Bitcoin backed 1:1 by BTC. (Source link)

Sun Protocol announces completion of first round of seed financing, with participation from Moore Foundation and DFG

Sun Protocol announced the completion of its first round of seed financing, with participation from Moore Foundation and DFG. This round of financing will be used for market capitalization funding and to support developers in building the Sun Protocol ecosystem.

Sun Protocol brings together the main technical architecture of Web3 and dapps on the same network, allowing users to fully experience all behaviors of Web3 within the Sun Protocol framework. (Source link)

IV. RWA

Blockchain fintech company FreeBnk completes $3 million financing, led by Founderheads

Blockchain fintech company FreeBnk announced the completion of $3 million in financing, led by Founderheads, with participation from ChaiTech Ventures, LVT Capital, Lavender Capital, and others.

The new financing will be used to enhance its user interface and application experience, especially for new users. The company focuses on tokenizing RWA and providing crypto financial services, with its technology based on multi-party computation (MPC) security to ensure the protection of users' digital assets. (Source link)

AI+RWA project Compute Labs completes $3 million Pre-Seed round financing, led by Protocol Labs

According to The Block, AI+RWA project Compute Labs announced the completion of $3 million in Pre-Seed round financing, led by Protocol Labs, with participation from Blockchain Coinvestors, MH Ventures, OKX Ventures, HashKey Capital, CMS, P2 Ventures, ArkStream Capital, Symbolic Capital, Ambush Capital, Amber Group, Oak Grove Ventures, and co-founders of NEAR Protocol and Solana Foundation.

Compute Labs will use this funding to expand its core team and advance the development of the AI computing tokenization protocol Compute Tokenization Protocol (CTP) and the first round of H100 GNFT pre-sales in mid-July. It is reported that Compute Labs is incubated by NVIDIA Inception VC Alliance, providing investors with AI computing returns through the development of enterprise-level AI computing tokenization protocols CTP and GPU Restaking solutions. The AI computing tokenization protocol CTP is now live on the Solana testnet, with the mainnet expected to launch in Q3 and the TGE to be completed by the end of the year.

According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Compute Labs is a computing tokenization protocol designed to financialize AI, achieve direct exposure to computing assets, and create computing derivatives, enabling investors to easily profit from computing (the currency of the future). (Source link)

V. Mining Companies

Crypto mining company Iris Energy has raised $413.4 million through stock issuance

According to MinerMag, Australian crypto mining company Iris Energy announced that it has raised $413.4 million through stock issuance since mid-May. This funding will fully support the company's expansion plans after the Bitcoin halving event in 2024, aiming to achieve a growth plan for 2024 (including a hash rate of 30 EH/s and a data center capacity of 510 MW). This financing was completed through the company's market offering (ATM) plan from May 15 to June 28, selling a total of 39.8 million shares.

Combined with previously raised funds, Iris Energy has raised approximately $714 million in the first half of this year, including $257 million in equity financing in the first quarter and an additional $44.8 million from March 31 to May 15. (Source link)

VI. Others

Consensys acquires Wallet Guard, specific amount undisclosed

According to The Block, Consensys has acquired the crypto security application Wallet Guard to help enhance the security of MetaMask, with the specific amount undisclosed.

As part of the deal, the entire Wallet Guard team will join Consensys, which plans to integrate Wallet Guard's browser extension and security engine features to further protect MetaMask users' wallets, digital assets, and data from theft, scams, and fraud. (Source link)

Smart contract blockchain machine learning platform onaji completes $2.5 million pre-seed round financing, led by Stratos

Smart contract blockchain machine learning platform onaji has completed $2.5 million in pre-seed round financing, led by Stratos, with participation from Maven11, Uniswap Labs Ventures, IOSG Ventures, and others.

It is reported that onaji has established a platform for training and deploying AI models that can autonomously participate in DeFi on Ethereum and Layer 2. (Source link)

On-chain reputation scoring protocol Ethos Network completes $1.75 million Pre-Seed round financing

On-chain reputation scoring protocol Ethos Network announced the completion of $1.75 million in Pre-Seed round financing, with participation from 59 community investors and no VC involvement. Ethos will soon launch on Base. (Source link)

Web3 security company Mamori completes $5 million seed round financing, led by Blockchain Capital

According to The Block, Web3 security company Mamori announced the completion of $5 million in seed round financing, led by venture capital firm Blockchain Capital, with participation from Velocity Capital and Web3.com, as well as angel investors including Grigore Rosu, Daniel Lubarov, Alex Watts, Bo Du, Shujia Liang, Micheal Heinrich, and Antonio Viggiano.

It is reported that Mamori is dedicated to enhancing Web3 security by developing an algorithm capable of discovering issues in blockchain software. (Source link)

Sony acquires Amber Japan, entering the cryptocurrency trading field

According to Wu Blockchain, Sony Group has acquired Amber Japan, entering the cryptocurrency trading platform sector. Sony's business currently includes gaming, music, cameras, and more, with a market value exceeding $100 billion. Previously, Singapore-based market maker Amber Group acquired the regulated Japanese cryptocurrency trading platform DeCurret in early 2022 and renamed it Amber Japan.

According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, the cryptocurrency trading platform Amber Group completed a $200 million financing at a valuation of $3 billion in February 2022, with participation from Temasek, Sequoia China, Pantera Capital, and Tiger Global Management. (Source link)