Crypto Fundraising Summary: Week Ending August 24, 2024
During the week ending August 24, 2024, a total of 28 crypto projects collectively secured $290 million in funding. This period was marked by a notable surge in investment for Bitcoin-related initiatives. Four projects within this space, specializing in Bitcoin restaking platforms and scaling solutions, collectively raised $18.45 million.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) continued to attract significant investor interest, with three AI projects securing a combined $21.5 million. The diversity of AI applications being funded expanded during this week, with particular emphasis on solutions designed to enhance AI data processing and validation.
Web3 solutions remained a popular investment choice, with six projects in this sector raising over $89 million. The range of Web3 problems being addressed by these projects was broad, encompassing engagement and loyalty programs, oracles, and Intellectual Property (IP) solutions. Notably, one IP blockchain solution project secured a substantial $80 million investment.
Security protocols, with a specific focus on privacy, continued to receive strong funding support. Three security projects raised over $44 million during this period.
Other notable developments included the launch of a Base Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocol and a relatively quieter week for the Gaming sector.
Below is a summary of this week’s funding. Enjoy the Weekly Wrap!
Category | Project | Project Description | Money Raised this Round |
|---|---|---|---|
AI |
|
| 21,500,000 |
Process data for AI and earn rewards | 4,000,000 | ||
Open-access decentralized machine learning network for AI | 10,000,000 | ||
AI Lab specializing in event-based communication for multi-agent systems | 7,500,000 | ||
Bitcoin |
|
| 18,450,000 |
Bitcoin Payments Scalability | 2,500,000 | ||
Tokenized BTC ETH L2 High Yield | 6,700,000 | ||
Bitcoin Native Stablecoin Project | 1,250,000 | ||
Bitcoin Restaking Platform | 8,000,000 | ||
DeFi |
|
| 4,000,000 |
Base DeFi Derivatives Protocol | 4,000,000 | ||
FinTech |
|
| 5,200,000 |
On-Chain Private Credit Fund Manager | 5,200,000 | ||
Gaming |
|
| 5,000,000 |
Provider of a Blockchain-Based Fantasy Sports Platform | 1,000,000 | ||
Web3 Gaming | undisclosed | ||
Social media with GameFi platform | 4,000,000 | ||
Lending |
|
| 75,000,000 |
Crypto-Backed Loan Provider | 75,000,000 | ||
Meme Coin |
|
| 200,000 |
Simon's Cat Meme Coin | 200,000 | ||
NFT |
|
| 4,500,000 |
Member-only NFT Platform | 4,500,000 | ||
Payments |
|
| 9,800,000 |
Open-Source Payment System | 8,500,000 | ||
Bitcoin Lightning Payments | 1,300,000 | ||
Security |
|
| 44,500,000 |
Focus on Enhancing Digital Privacy | 33,000,000 | ||
ETH MEV tool | 7,500,000 | ||
Decentralized secure identity platform | 4,000,000 | ||
Trading |
|
| 13,300,000 |
Digital Asset Trading Platform | 10,000,000 | ||
Trading Platform Offering Stablecoin-Settled Crypto Options and Futures | 3,300,000 | ||
Web3 |
|
| 89,150,000 |
Web3 Token Launch Platform | 1,250,000 | ||
Loyalty Platform Aggregator | 500,000 | ||
Development studio, Web3 publisher, and creator hub | 2,000,000 | ||
Gamified Bitcoin Web3 Engagement Platform | 700,000 | ||
Web3 Oracle Provider | 4,700,000 | ||
World’s IP Blockchain | 80,000,000 | ||
Grand Total |
|
| 290,600,000 |
Bitcoin
Bitcoin scaling and functionality projects were the prominent fundings this week with four projects securing over $18m in funding. The funded amount was strong but no single project secured very large funding, indicating that there will likely be more funding in this category in the future. Increasing the utility of Bitcoin, rather than it being purely a store of value, will start to bring it in line with smart contract Layers like ETH and other L2’s.
Satlayer and Corn were this week’s Bitcoin standouts.
SatLayer, a platform for Bitcoin restaking built on the Babylon protocol, secured $8 million in a pre-seed funding round. The round was co-led by Hack VC and Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Franklin Templeton, OKX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Amber Group, Big Brain Holdings, CMS Holdings, and others. Satlayer aims to broaden BTC's role as economic collateral and utility beyond the Bitcoin ecosystem. Babylon Labs Bitcoin restaking technology (pioneered by Eigen Layer) introduces a novel method of shared security, allowing networks to tap into the security of other blockchains and with Satlayer being the first Bitcoin restaking platform, it is positioned well to capitalize on this innovation. Being backed by notable crypto VC firms, helps too.
Corn, an Ethereum Layer-2 network that utilizes hybrid tokenized Bitcoin (BTC) as gas and provides Super Yield to its users, launched after raising $6.7 million in seed funding, led by Polychain Capital. Notable investors in the seed round also include Binance Labs, Framework Ventures, and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal.
Corn adopts Curve inspired veTOKENOMICS, where on each block, the Corn network allocates yield then directs it to protocols chosen by $CORN stakers. This allows $CORN stakers to support and reward those protocols which uphold the values and culture that Bitcoin and Corn together. This structure gives power back to applications which add value to the network and motivates builders to be on Corn and more importantly, stay on Corn.
Ark Labs has completed a $2.5 million pre-seed funding round, led by Tim Draper and Draper Associates. Focused on making Bitcoin payments faster and cheaper. They use a layer-two protocol called Ark to take transactions off the main Bitcoin network, reducing costs and speeding up payments. This makes it easier for people to use Bitcoin for everyday transactions without dealing with complex setups.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI applications being funded continued to broaden their use case. Funding was secured for solutions designed to enhance AI data processing and validation. Three AI projects secured a combined $21.5 million.
YeagerAI, the company behind the decentralized AI network GenLayer, secured $7.5 million in seed funding led by North Island Ventures, with contributions from Node Capital, Arrington Capital, ZK Ventures, WAGMI Ventures, BlockBuilders, Arthur Hayes’s family office Maelstrom, and several angel investors.
YeagerAI is developing “intelligent contracts,” which are blockchain-based systems that use large language models connected to the internet to perform tasks. GenLayer employs a unique delegated proof-of-stake algorithm, which randomly selects a lead validator to propose an output. This output is then voted on by four other validators connected to different large language models. If the majority supports the output, the transaction is processed.
This technology allows developers to create applications that can adapt to changing conditions such as weather and financial markets. By integrating AI with blockchain, YeagerAI aims to address industry challenges like the need for human intervention and limited access to real-world data, ultimately enabling more adaptive and efficient applications.
Fetch.ai launched the Fetch.ai Innovation Lab in San Francisco to support startups utilizing its technology. Fetch.ai is a platform that combines artificial intelligence (AI) with decentralized technology. It allows developers to create and deploy AI applications and services using smart, independent programs called AI agents. These agents can perform various tasks for individuals, businesses, and devices. Fetch.ai aims to make AI more accessible and useful by providing tools and infrastructure to build innovative AI solutions.
DIN, the first modular AI-native data pre-processing layer, has completed a $4 million pre-listing funding round, raising its total funding to $8 million. DIN is a platform designed to help people process data for AI and earn rewards. It offers a modular AI-native data pre-processing layer, allowing users to contribute to the AI data economy. The platform aims to empower users by providing tools and opportunities for community involvement, ensuring sustainable yield and enhancing the utility of AI data processing.
Web3
Six projects in the Web3 space raised over $89 million. Due to the broad nature of the application to Web3, the projects were varied and included engagement and loyalty programs, oracles, and Intellectual Property (IP) solutions. One IP blockchain solution project secured an enormous $80 million investment.
Category | Project | Project Description | Money Raised this Round |
|---|---|---|---|
Web3 |
|
| 89,150,000 |
Web3 Token Launch Platform | 1,250,000 | ||
Loyalty Platform Aggregator | 500,000 | ||
Dev studio, Web3 publisher and creator hub | 2,000,000 | ||
Gamified Bitcoin Web3 Engagement Platform | 700,000 | ||
Web3 Oracle Provider | 4,700,000 | ||
World’s IP Blockchain | 80,000,000 |
Starting with Story Protocol. The Story Protocol Foundation secured $80 million in a Series B funding round spearheaded by A16z Crypto. This latest funding boosts the company’s total raised to $140 million, following a previous $54 million round also led by A16z Crypto. Story Protocol brands itself as “the world’s IP blockchain” and uses blockchain technology to manage intellectual property (IP) rights. They aim to protect content creators from being exploited by big tech companies and artificial intelligence. By tokenizing IP, they ensure fair and efficient management of these rights in a market worth trillions of dollars. A significant amount raised by a prominent investor ensures it is one to watch.
Stork Network, a web3 oracle provider, has secured $4.7 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by Lightspeed Faction and Lattice. Stork Network is a platform that provides decentralized, reliable, and unique data for developers and protocols. Their main product, the Open Data Market, connects data publishers with decentralized applications and other data consumers, making it easier and more cost-effective to access on-chain data.
Nexus Interactive, a Web3 development firm, raised $2 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round with contributions from key industry players such as Animoca Brands, Jump Crypto, Maven Capital, GameFi Ventures, Sky Vision Capital, Aquanow, OIG (Oracles Investment Group), Virtuals IO, Atesis Capital, Enzac Research, Avocado Guild, Good Games Guild, RR2 Capital, and others.
Nexus Interactive has developed two flagship games and IPs, achieving over 1 million games played and nearly $2 million in revenue and has three main components to its offering. Nexus Play, an in-house development studio crafting virtual worlds with unique gameplay and web3 economies; Nexus Build, a web3 publisher that supports outstanding developers and game titles; and Nexus Share, AI-driven user-generated content and community programs that expand the ecosystem and allow users to benefit from the value they create. The entire ecosystem is powered by a single token, NXI, which consolidates value, attention, and liquidity within Nexus Interactive’s extensive network. With strong backing from notable investors, a one to monitor.
Security
Security continues to see consistent funding for projects which enhance the blockchain. Three projects raised $44.5m across diverse use cases.
Category | Project | Project Description | Money Raised this Round |
|---|---|---|---|
Security |
|
| 44,500,000 |
Enhancing Digital Privacy | 33,000,000 | ||
ETH MEV tool | 7,500,000 | ||
Decentralized secure identity platform | 4,000,000 |
Fabric Cryptography, a Silicon Valley hardware startup, secured $33 million in Series A funding, co-led by Blockchain Capital and 1kx, to develop new data privacy-focused computing chips. The company is developing the Verifiable Processing Unit (VPU), the world's first massively parallel processor designed specifically for cryptography. This chip aims to enhance the performance and flexibility of cryptographic workloads, such as zero-knowledge proofs and fully homomorphic encryption. By integrating a cryptography-native instruction set, the VPU accelerates complex mathematical operations, making it a powerful tool for secure and private computation. Fabric Cryptography's mission is to create a more trustworthy digital world by providing cutting-edge technology that ensures data privacy and security.
Sorella Labs, a crypto startup focused on addressing Ethereum’s maximal extractable value (MEV) issue, secured $7.5 million in seed funding led by Paradigm and joined by Uniswap Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Robot Ventures, and Nascent. Ethereum’s maximal extractable value (MEV) issue relates to the profits that validators or bots can gain by manipulating transaction orders within a block. Sorella Labs aim to mitigate practices like front-running, sandwich attacks, and arbitrage that can increase costs for DeFi users and create unfair advantages for those with more resources.
zkMe, a decentralized identity startup utilizing zero-knowledge technology, secured $4 million in seed funding led by Multicoin Capital, with support from OKX Ventures and Robot Ventures. zkME serves as a general-purpose identity layer for web3 applications requiring identity verification and compliance systems. It allows users to verify their credentials without sharing personal data, ensuring privacy and compliance with regulations. The platform supports Web3 applications by enabling identity verification and compliance systems, making it easier for businesses to meet regulatory requirements while maintaining user privacy.
Conclusion
The crypto fundraising landscape remains dynamic, with investors showing sustained interest in a variety of projects. The week ending August 24, 2024, highlighted a growing trend towards Bitcoin-related initiatives, AI applications, and Web3 solutions. Security protocols, particularly those focused on privacy, also continue to attract significant investment. While the DeFi and Gaming sectors experienced relatively less activity during this period, it is clear that the broader crypto ecosystem is poised for continued growth and innovation.
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