Last week, there were a total of 16 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, raising approximately $255 million | Investment and Financing Weekly Report
The crypto payment platform Sati has completed a $600,000 Pre-Seed round of financing, with participation from BitcoinFi Accelerator and others; the game AI agent iAgent Protocol has completed $3 million in financing, with participation from double jump.tokyo and others; Mysten Labs has announced the acquisition of the game development platform Parasol.Organizer: Luan Peng, RootData
According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from March 3 to March 9, 2025, there were a total of 16 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a cumulative financing amount of approximately $255 million.
From the distribution of sectors, the projects that received financing are mainly concentrated in the infrastructure and AI sectors. Popular projects include the decentralized AI crypto infrastructure company Validation Cloud, MEV developer FastLane Labs, game AI agent iAgent Protocol, and the French crypto market maker and liquidity provider Flowdesk.
In addition, the cross-chain bridging protocol Across Protocol raised $41 million by selling its ACX tokens to investors to expand its ability to connect Ethereum with layer two networks. This round of financing was led by Paradigm, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, and angel investor Sina Habinian.
*(List of projects with financing greater than $5 million last week, data source: * Rootdata）
1. Infrastructure
Base Acquires Iron Fish Development Team, Excluding Any Chain or Token
According to The Block, Base has acquired the Iron Fish development team to strengthen its efforts in privacy-focused blockchain solutions. This acquisition is limited to the internal team, and Base will not acquire the Iron Fish blockchain or its native token.
This means that the acquisition will focus solely on the team's expertise, while the Iron Fish project will remain independent and unrelated to Coinbase or Base.
Validation Cloud Completes $15 Million Series A Financing, Led by True Global Ventures
According to Fortune magazine, the AI-driven crypto infrastructure company Validation Cloud announced the completion of a $15 million Series A financing, led by True Global Ventures, with participation from Cadenza, Blockchain Founders Fund, Side Door Ventures, and AP Capital. The company's valuation in this round of financing has not been disclosed.
This is the third round of financing for Validation Cloud, which has raised a total of $30.8 million since its establishment in 2017. Validation Cloud offers three main products to support blockchains based on the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Its products include token staking functionality, software to connect computers to PoS networks, and access to data analyzed by AI.
The decentralized AI network Fortytwo announced the completion of $2.3 million in Pre-Seed financing, led by Big Brain Holdings, with participation from CMT Digital, Escape Velocity Ventures (EV3), Chorus One, Mentat Group, and angel investors including Santiago R Santos, Keone Hon, Paul Taylor, and Comfy Capital.
According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Fortytwo is a multi-agent AI protocol designed to unleash scalable and efficient intelligence to meet global demand for AI. In this system, nodes validate and construct responses from one another, forming a collective intelligence that is more efficient and accurate than centralized AI models, while costing only a fraction of the latter.
Privacy Blockchain Seismic Completes $7 Million Seed Financing, Led by a16z Crypto
According to official news, the privacy blockchain project Seismic announced the completion of $7 million in seed financing, led by a16z Crypto, with participation from Polychain, 1kx, NGC, and dao5. Specific valuation information has not been disclosed, and the new funds will be used to build a private smart contract platform.
According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Seismic is an interactive shielding protocol aimed at helping users collaborate in gaming, communication, and social networks. Seismic's protocol serves as a set of sequencers that can be inserted into any chain.
The WhatsApp-based crypto payment platform Sati announced the completion of $600,000 in Pre-Seed financing, with participation from BitcoinFi Accelerator, Arcanum Capital, Draper Associates, and Boost VC. The new funds will support its efforts to introduce Bitcoin into the WhatsApp instant messaging application ecosystem, as well as cross-border transaction services based on USDC and USDT stablecoins.
DoubleZero Foundation Receives $28 Million Investment, Led by Dragonfly and Multicoin Capital
According to CoinDesk, sources revealed that DoubleZero Foundation received $28 million in its latest financing, with a valuation of $400 million, and is currently seeking more investment at a valuation of $600 million. This round of financing was led by Dragonfly and Multicoin Capital. DoubleZero declined to comment.
DoubleZero is building a global private fiber network to enhance blockchain data transmission efficiency and reduce latency. It has opened a test network to Solana validators and plans to expand to more public chains. The network integrates private lines from institutions such as Jump Crypto, RockawayX, and Latitude.
Cross-Chain Bridging Protocol Across Protocol Completes $41 Million Token Financing, Led by Paradigm
According to The Block, the cross-chain bridging protocol Across Protocol raised $41 million by selling its ACX tokens to investors to expand its ability to connect Ethereum with layer two networks. This round of financing was led by Paradigm, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, and angel investor Sina Habinian.
Hart Lambur, co-founder of Risk Labs Foundation, revealed that this round of financing will be completed in two phases, taking place in the second and fourth quarters of 2024. The token unlocking plan for investors includes multiple one-year lock-up periods, lasting until November 2025. Across Protocol is an intent-based interoperability protocol that allows users to initiate cross-chain transactions with a single request.
According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Across is an optimistic-based cross-chain bridging protocol that allows users to execute transactions between chains almost instantly. This is achieved through the use of optimistic oracles, binding relays, and single-sided liquidity pools.
2. DeFi
YZi Labs Announces Investment in Decentralized AI Laboratory Tensorplex Labs
According to official news, YZi Labs announced that it has invested in the decentralized AI laboratory Tensorplex Labs, with specific amounts not disclosed.
Tensorplex Labs is a decentralized AI laboratory that builds applications, infrastructure, and tools using decentralized technologies (such as Tensorplex Dojo, Backprop Finance, etc.) to enhance AI development and use cases.
According to CoinDesk, the Berachain ecosystem liquidity staking protocol Infrared has completed $14 million in Series A financing led by Framework Ventures. Including a previous $2.25 million strategic round led by Binance Labs and a $2.5 million seed round, Infrared's total financing has now reached $18.75 million.
Infrared will provide liquidity staking solutions for Berachain's native tokens BGT and BERA. After users stake the native tokens to earn validator rewards, they will receive liquidity staking tokens iBERA, which can generate additional yields in other DeFi protocols. Additionally, Infrared has become the first project supported by the Berachain Foundation incubator "Build a Bera," which was announced earlier this year to seek collaborative startup projects.
Michael Anderson, co-founder of Framework Ventures, stated, "We believe Infrared's protocol will unlock a significant amount of productive capital within the broader Berachain ecosystem while maximizing efficiency and yield. This will enable developers on the Berachain framework to innovate in new ways."
According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Infrared Finance is an application based on Berachain's liquidity proof consensus mechanism. The application redesigns liquidity staking in the context of a three-token architecture and BGT's unique soul-binding element. The protocol maximizes value for stakeholders through its infrastructure-level PoL treasury and iBGT liquidity staking derivatives, leveraging BGT's social aggregation.
MEV Developer FastLane Labs Completes $6 Million Financing, Led by Figment Capital and DBA
According to official news, MEV developer FastLane Labs announced the completion of $6 million in financing, led by Figment Capital and DBA, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Robot Ventures, Hashkey Capital, and CHORUS ONE. The new funds will be used to create a comprehensive liquidity staking token on Monad.
FastLane Labs is dedicated to building a long-term MEV ecosystem on Monad, allowing users, dApps, and stakers to benefit from it.
Previously, in May 2023, FastLane Labs completed $2.3 million in financing, led by Multicoin Capital.
3. AI
The game AI agent iAgent Protocol announced the completion of $3 million in financing, with participation from Japanese blockchain gaming company double jump.tokyo, IBC Group, PG Group, Alliance, Cointribune, and others. The new funds will support its efforts to build an "infrastructure layer" for on-chain AI agents, allowing gamers to utilize decentralized GPU computing power to train their AI agents and earn token incentives.
4. CeFi
Metaplanet Completes Approximately $87 Million Financing to Increase Bitcoin Holdings
According to Metaplanet's announcement, the company has completed a large-scale exercise of subscription rights for the 13th and 14th series of stocks through a third-party directed issuance, raising approximately 12.97 billion yen (about $87 million).
This financing was supported by EVO FUND, and part of the funds has been used to redeem the previously issued 7th series of ordinary bonds early. Metaplanet plans to use these funds to continue increasing its Bitcoin holdings to strengthen its digital asset investment strategy.
The French crypto market maker and liquidity provider Flowdesk has completed $52 million in Series B follow-on financing, with 80% being equity financing and approximately 20% ($10.2 million) being debt financing. The equity financing was led by European investment firm HV Capital, with participation from Eurazeo, Cathay Innovation, and ISAI VC, while the debt financing portion was provided by funds managed by BlackRock. HV Capital also gained a board seat at Flowdesk.
Flowdesk plans to use this round of funding to expand its business, including launching a dedicated crypto credit business and establishing an office in the UAE. The company's co-founder and global CEO Guilhem Chaumont stated that debt financing is a strategic choice for the company to optimize its balance sheet while maintaining sustainable growth and avoiding equity dilution. Flowdesk previously completed $50 million in Series B financing in January 2024, with a valuation exceeding $250 million.
Flowdesk was founded in 2020 and its main business includes market making, liquidity provision (including crypto ETFs), OTC trading, brokerage services, and financial management.
5. Others
Validation Cloud Completes $15 Million Series A Financing, Led by True Global Ventures
According to Fortune magazine, the AI-driven crypto infrastructure company Validation Cloud announced the completion of $15 million in Series A financing, led by True Global Ventures, with participation from Cadenza, Blockchain Founders Fund, Side Door Ventures, and AP Capital. The company's valuation in this round of financing has not been disclosed.
This is the third round of financing for Validation Cloud, which has raised a total of $30.8 million since its establishment in 2017. Validation Cloud offers three main products to support blockchains based on the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Its products include token staking functionality, software to connect computers to PoS networks, and access to data analyzed by AI.
Mysten Labs Announces Acquisition of Game Development Platform Parasol
Mysten Labs, the company behind Sui, announced the acquisition of the game development platform Parasol, with specific acquisition amounts not disclosed.
Parasol is an end-to-end platform that enables game developers to integrate blockchain infrastructure into their games.
