October 1, 2024
Here’s your Weekly Wrap of all things crypto funding, ending September 28, 2024.
This week's crypto funding landscape was characterized by a reduction in funding and number of projects being funded.
A total of $173 million in disclosed funding was raised across 20 projects. This represents a material decrease from the previous week and is also lower than the average weekly funding trend of $270m and 29 projects, which correlates to a drop of 30-35% from the average.
Infrastructure & L1 projects raised the most funds with $120m raised by five projects. DePIN projects were the next most populous in the funding landscape this week, with four projects collectively raising $15.67 million. While DeFI raising $16m across three projects.
A project of note was the funding of a DeSci project, which raised $5m. A relatively new segment which shows promise.
Overall, this week's funding activity continued the theme of funding for more traditional blockchain projects, as opposed to niche projects.
Below is a summary of recorded project receiving funding this week.
Category General | Organization Name | Project Description | Money Raised this Round |
|---|---|---|---|
AI |
|
| Undisclosed |
AI training and development platform | Undisclosed | ||
Bitcoin |
|
| Undisclosed |
new class of Bitcoin Layer 2 | Undisclosed | ||
DeFi |
|
| 16,000,000 |
Liquid restaking on Cardano | 2,000,000 | ||
Central Liquidity hub on Movement | 4,000,000 | ||
FHE-based consensus solution | 10,000,000 | ||
DePIN |
|
| 15,670,000 |
Solana DePIN scaling spatial computing | 10,800,000 | ||
3D mapping platform | 4,000,000 | ||
DePin Infrastructure for AI | Undisclosed | ||
AI DePIN | 870,000 | ||
DeSci |
|
| 5,000,000 |
Decentralized science project | 5,000,000 | ||
Energy |
|
| 3,500,000 |
Middleware Software for the Energy Industry | 500,000 | ||
AI-powered carbon accounting software | 3,000,000 | ||
FinTech |
|
| 1,100,000 |
Crypto accounting and tax reporting | 1,100,000 | ||
Gaming |
|
| 6,000,000 |
an RPG/sim hybrid game | 6,000,000 | ||
Infrastructure |
|
| 106,400,000 |
Berkeley Compute | Decentralized compute network for AI | 5,000,000 | |
Scaling Blockchain Network | 100,000,000 | ||
Decentralized front-end solution | 1,400,000 | ||
Fiat-to-Stablecoin Digital wallet | Undisclosed | ||
Layer 1 |
|
| 14,000,000 |
L1 interoperable network | 14,000,000 | ||
Wallet |
|
| 6,000,000 |
Home button recommender for all things on-chain | 6,000,000 | ||
Grand Total |
|
| 173,670,000 |
Let’s look at some of these project categories in detail, starting with Infrastructure.
Infrastructure
Infrastructure projects can skew funding raises due to the significant investment some projects receive and this is highlighted with Celestia raising $100m of the $106m for the Infrastructure category.
Celestia Foundation, a modular data availability network, announced a $100 million funding round led by Bain Capital Crypto, with contributions from Syncracy Capital, 1kx, Robot Ventures, Placeholder, and others, bringing their total funding to $155 million. Since Mainnet Beta, Developers have launched over 20 rollup chains and Celestia data blobs now account for over half of the data published by rollups. The funding will be used for further development of their infrastructure and ecosystem.
Berkeley Compute, a Decentralized compute network for AI, raised $5M in Pre-Seed funding from Chia Network. The funding comes in the form of Chia Network transferring 340,604 XCH over 3 months. The funding will support the development and expansion of their platform, enabling Berkeley Compute to onboard more GPU providers and serve a wider range of AI applications. Quite a material raise for a small team.
EarthFast, a secure decentralized front end solution, raised $1.4M in pre-seed round led by Nascent and The General Partnership. EarthFast enables projects to easily build and host decentralized apps, offering a scalable, secure, and high-performance alternative to traditional cloud platforms. Originally starting as a community project in 2022 under the name Armada Network, their first product is a frontend hosting solution that allows projects to transfer the responsibility of updating and deploying sites to a DAO, governance contract, or any other on-chain entity.
Layer 1
Initia, a blockchain project focused on creating a Layer 1 network and a system for “interwoven optimistic rollups,” has secured $14 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Theory Ventures, with participation from Delphi Ventures and Hack VC. This Series A round increases Initia’s total funding to $22.5 million, which includes a $7.5 million seed round earlier this year and a pre-seed investment from Binance Labs last October. Initia is a blockchain network designed to integrate multiple modular networks through a system of interwoven rollups. It combines a foundational Layer 1 blockchain with Layer 2 infrastructure, allowing for secure and efficient scaling.
Layer 1 |
|
| 14,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
L1 interoperable network | 14,000,000 |
DeFI
A smaller number of DeFI projects received funding this week with just three projects raising $16m. The diversification of DeFI funding was broad, with a focus on specific chains and FHE solutions. Below is a summary of these projects.
DeFi |
|
| 16,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
Liquid restaking on Cardano | 2,000,000 | ||
Central Liquidity hub on Movement | 4,000,000 | ||
FHE-based consensus solution | 10,000,000 |
Helix Labs, a Liquid Restaking protocol beyond ETH, raised $2 m in Pre-Seed from Tribe Capital, EMURGO Ventures, Taureon Capital, LD Capital, and Double Peak Group. The company plans to use the funds to enhance its operations and development efforts. Helix Labs is a protocol that focuses on maximizing yield opportunities for non-ETH Layer 1 asset holders through restaking. They aim to enhance the utility of tokens and provide liquidity services to emerging Layer 3 ecosystems. They have a focus on Cardano’s ADA ecosystem.
Meridian, a decentralized liquidity marketplace and liquid staking protocol on the Movement network, secured $4m iin seed funding co-led by ParaFi Capital and Borderless Capital. Aiming to become the main liquidity and yield center of the Movement ecosystem, Meridian will help partner protocols build deep liquidity efficiently while providing users with secure and productive yield on their assets. Currently live on testnet, the protocol is set to launch with Movement’s mainnet, marking a key milestone for the Move ecosystem.
Mind Network successfully secured $10 million in a Pre-A funding round to expedite the development of their FHE infrastructure and strengthen their contributions to AI and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks. Among the notable investors are Animoca Brands, Arkstream Capital, Cogitent Ventures, G Ventures, MH Ventures, Master Ventures, Moonhill Capital, SwissBorg Ventures, and IBC Group. Mind Network is a decentralized platform designed to secure data, smart contracts, and AI on Web3 using advanced encryption technologies. It employs a patented zero-trust framework based on Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP) and Adaptive Fully Homomorphic Encryption (AFHE) to ensure high-performance encryption for data storage and computation.
DePIN
DePIN projects continue to receive strong support and funding with four projects raising a disclosed $15.67m. Any scenario where current incumbents have a near monopoly on particular services are being invested in, for example, AI and world mapping, Below is an overview of highlighted projects.
DePIN |
|
| 15,670,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
Solana DePIN scaling spatial computing | 10,800,000 | ||
3D mapping platform | 4,000,000 | ||
DePin Infrastructure for AI | Undisclosed | ||
AI DePIN | 870,000 |
Mawari Network, a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) built on Solana and specializing in spatial computing, has secured $10.8 million in a strategic funding round. The round was co-led by Anfield Ltd, Borderless Capital, and 1kx. Mawari’s total capital raised to $17.3 million, following a $6.5 million raise in February 2023. Mawari is a company that specializes in delivering high-quality, real-time 3D content for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications. They achieve this through their advanced streaming technology, which minimizes latency and enhances interactivity. Mawari’s platform supports popular development environments like Unity and Unreal Engine, making it easier for developers to create immersive experiences.
MeshMap, a decentralized 3D mapping initiative, has successfully raised $4 million in a recent funding round from a16z CSX, Colosseum, Lattice, Escape Velocity, and GSR. MeshMap is a tool that helps visualize and manage networks, especially those using mesh technology. MeshMap creates a live map showing where these devices are, how strong their connections are, and how they interact with each other.
DeSci
The DeSci space is an emerging sector and AminoChain secured $5m from a16z, a prominent crypto VC firm.
DeSci |
|
| 5,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
Decentralized science project | 5,000,000 |
AminoChain aims to enhance medical data collection by incorporating blockchain technology to ensure ownership, transparency, and consent. The project is developing a decentralized biobank and a Layer 2 network to facilitate data sharing among medical institutions while maintaining patient privacy. It aims to streamline pre-clinical research by allowing users to query and manage their sample collections while maintaining ownership of their assets and intellectual property. By tokenizing stem cells and other biosamples, AminoChain creates incentives for donors and fosters collaboration among researchers.
Conclusion
This week's crypto funding landscape saw a significant decline compared to previous weeks. The total funding raised and the number of projects funded both decreased substantially. While infrastructure and Layer 1 projects still dominated the funding landscape, there were also notable investments in DePIN and DeSci projects. This trend suggests a continued preference for more traditional blockchain projects over niche ones this week.
A central focus of investor activity in the cryptocurrency space is the evaluation of new crypto projects to invest in, particularly those with huge potential. This blog provides insight into what new ventures are benefiting from venture capital support (VC funding in crypto). These new crypto projects, funded by professional investors, can dictate the next narrative in crypto and the next big crypto movers.
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