Finishing: Mars Finance
According to statistics from Mars Finance, from April 13 to April 19, a total of 17 investment and financing events occurred in the crypto market, including 4 in the infrastructure field, 1 in the asset management field, 4 in the DeFi field, 1 in the chain game and NFT field, and 5 in the Web3 field. The total amount of investment and financing disclosed is about 248 million US dollars. (Note: Merlin Chain, COREx, and NavyAI did not disclose the amount of financing)
Four $10 million funding rounds, including privacy-first mobile operator Cape, Puffer Finance, on-chain financial platform Centrifuge, and crypto game studio Avalon.
Compared with last week, the number of investments and loans in the cryptocurrency market this week has decreased significantly. In the subdivision, this week's investment and financing amount is concentrated in the direction of infrastructure and DeFi.
Among VCs, IOSG Ventures and Coinbase Ventures were significantly active this week, mainly focusing on the DeFi space.
infrastructure
Aligned Layer, a decentralized verification layer, closed a $2.6 million seed round led by Lemniscap
由 Eigen Layer 提供支持的以太坊去中心化 ZK Proof 验证层 Aligned Layer 完成 260 万美元种子轮融资，Lemniscap 领投，Bankless Ventures、Paper Ventures、Sreeram Kannan、Brandon Kase、Daniel Lubarov、DCbuilder、Chainyoda、Weikeng Chen、Sami BENYAKOUB (samnode_)、Peter Fittin（SizeChad）和 Lucas Kozinski 等参投，StarkWare 和 O(1)Labs 进行战略投资。
Aligned Layer will use the funds from this round to expand its team and accelerate the launch of the Aligned Layer mainnet (expected in Q2 2024).
It is reported that the Aligned Layer aims to provide Ethereum with affordable zero-knowledge proof verification, promoting scalability and interoperability. This layer integrates multiple zero-knowledge proof systems to reduce costs, increase speed, and drive blockchain technology innovation.
Privacy-first mobile operator Cape closed a $61 million funding round co-led by A-Star and a16z
Cape, a privacy-first mobile operator, has closed a $61 million funding round co-led by A-Star and a16z, with participation from XYZ Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Forward Deployed VC and Karman Ventures, among others. Cape is a groundbreaking, privacy-first mobile operator that aims to restore control of individuals over their mobile identities. It provides premium wireless coverage with minimal data collection and promises never to monetize user data. Cape will use the funds to build a nationwide mobile network that provides premium wireless coverage and, unlike traditional carriers, does not disclose personal information such as names, social security numbers and locations.
Berachain融资增至1亿美元
Berachain recently raised $100 million, about 45% more than previously reported. According to a statement, Brevan Howard Digital's Abu Dhabi and Framework Ventures co-led the Series B funding round, with other participants including Polychain Capital, Hack VC, and Tribe Capital, among others, according to a statement. Investors support Berachain through a simple protocol of "SAFT" or future tokens. Last month, Bloomberg said Berachain had raised more than $69 million at a valuation of at least $1 billion. The company declined to provide a revised valuation.
Merlin Chain完成新一轮融资,Spartan Group和Hailstone Labs领投
Merlin Chain announced the closing of a new round of funding, led by Spartan Group and Hailstone Labs, with participation from Amber Group, Presto Labs and IOBC Ventures, for an undisclosed amount.
It is reported that Merlin Chain has facilitated more than 9 million transactions and hosted more than 70 real-time projects with a total value locked (TVL) of more than $4 billion.
Bitcoin Ordinals' retrieval protocol Ord.io close a $2 million pre-seed funding round
Bitcoin Ordinals retrieval platform Ord.io has announced the closing of a $2 million pre-seed funding round led by Bitcoin Frontier Fund and Sora Ventures.
参投方包括Eden Block、Arca、Longhash Ventures、Daxos Capital、Portal Ventures、UTXO Management、Rubik Ventures、VitalTao Capital、Antalpha Ventures、Kommune Fund、Edessa Capital、PetRock Capital、PG Capital、Shake and Bake Productions、Re7 Capital、Balaji Fund以及天使投资人等。 据悉，本轮融资用于扩展Runes协议，并加速建设。
Asset management
Stablecoin issuer Usual Labs closed a $7 million funding round led by IOSG and Kraken Ventures
Stablecoin issuer Usual Labs announced the closing of a $7 million funding round led by IOSG and Kraken Ventures, with participation from GSR, Mantle, Starkware, Flowdesk, Avid3, Bing Ventures, Breed, Hypersphere, and others. Usual Labs intends to use this latest funding to support the launch of the stablecoin USD0 on the Ethereum mainnet in the second quarter of this year.
Defi
HTX Ventures Announces Strategic Investment in COREx to Redefine the DEX Trading Experience
HTX Ventures announces strategic investment in COREx. This investment underscores the strategic value of COREx in the ever-evolving Web3 framework, aiming to revolutionize its field and open a new chapter in the DeFi space.
It is reported that COREx has completed a successful seed funding round led by the CoreDAO ecosystem, and the public funding round has also received a lot of attention. COREx is a DEX powered by CoreDAO and is positioned as the flagship product of the Core ecosystem. COREx is currently in the testnet phase and plans to release free-minted NFTs as a reward to the community.
HTX Ventures is the global investment arm of Huobi HTX, integrating investment, incubation, and research to identify the best and most promising teams in the world. At present, HTX Ventures has supported more than 200 projects across multiple blockchain tracks, and some of the high-quality projects have been listed on Huobi HTX trading.
Thruster, a Blast eco-DEX project, closed a $7.5 million seed round led by Pantera Capital
Blast eco-DEX project Thruster closed a $7.5 million seed round at a valuation of $70 million, led by Pantera Capital, with participation from OKX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, ParaFi Capital, Manifold Ventures, and Arche Fund (formerly Coin98 Ventures).
Puffer Finance完成1800万美元A轮融资，Brevan Howard Digital、Electric Capital领投
Puffer Finance 完成 1800 万美元 A 轮融资，由 Brevan Howard Digital 和 Electric Capital 领投，Coinbase Ventures、Kraken Ventures、Lemniscap、Franklin Templeton、Fidelity、Mechanism、Lightspeed Faction、Consensys、Animoca、GSR 以及数位天使投资人参投。
Centrifuge完成1500万美元A轮融资,ParaFi Capital和Greenfield领投
On-chain financial platform Centrifuge has announced the successful closing of a $15 million Series A funding round that will be used to accelerate the widespread adoption of institutional DeFi. The round was co-led by ParaFi Capital and Greenfield, with participation from IOSG Ventures, Circle Ventures, Arrington Capital, The Spartan Group, Wintermute Ventures, and others. The new funds will be used primarily for product development, on-chain utility building, ecosystem growth, and talent acquisition.
Since its inception in 2017, Centrifug has bridged the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance (DeFi) by building a secure, compliant, and high-end platform. To drive on-chain utility, Centrifuge plans to build an institutional-grade RWA lending marketplace on the Base chain and integrate with Coinbase Verification to allow institutions to quickly and securely access real-world assets (RWAs). The marketplace will provide instant liquidity and borrowing power for real-world assets without giving up compliance or regulatory requirements.
NFT/Chain Travel
Crypto game studio Avalon closed a $10 million funding round led by Bitkraft and others
Crypto game studio Avalon announced the closing of a $10 million funding round led by Bitkraft and Hashed, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Spartan Capital, LiquidX, and Momentum6, among others, and it is reported that the studio plans to release a massively multiplayer online game.
Web3
Web3 AI创企Inference Labs完成230万美元Pre-Seed轮融资，Delphi Ventures等领投
Web3 AI startup Inference Labs announced the closing of a $2.3 million Pre-Seed round led by Digital Asset Capital Management, Delphi Ventures, and Mechanism Capital, with Big Brain Holdings, BitScale Capital, Edessa Capital, ID Theory, Metropolis DAO, Mozaik Capital, Newman Capital, Seed Club Ventures, and several angel investors participated. This investment will further optimize Inference Labs' innovative approach to AI, with a focus on developing an efficient AI verification network with Proof of Inference consensus, in addition to helping the team grow and fast-track product development to catalyze the entire ecosystem.
Solana链上AI模型训练平台NavyAI完成种子轮融资,X Ventures等参投
Solana's on-chain AI model training platform NavyAI announced on the X platform that it has completed a seed round of funding, with the participation of X Ventures, AlfaDAO, and Moni, with the specific amount and valuation not disclosed.
NavyAI is a blockchain layer dedicated to AI model training and self-learning, providing cost-effective solutions to reduce AI bias, allowing users to access and train virtual AI models through decentralized GPU resources to improve AI accessibility and unbiased innovation.
Web3 startup Zeko Labs closed a $3 million pre-seed funding round led by YBB Capital
Zeko Labs, the company behind Zeko Protocol, a cross-chain zero-knowledge scaling protocol, has closed a $3 million pre-seed funding round led by YBB Capital, UOB Venture Management, and Signum Capital, with Autonomy Capital, Cogitent Ventures, GBV, Tenzor Capital, 3Commas Capital, ArkGrow, AVID3, Cryptonauts, Nox Holdings, NxGen.xyz, SkyVision Capital (SVC) and Presto Labs participated. In addition, the funds will be used to expand the team, accelerate product development, and motivate the ecological team. It is reported that Zeko Protocol is a cross-chain zero-knowledge scaling protocol built on top of Mina.
SendingNetwork, a DePIN project, closed a $7.5 million funding round with participation from Nomad Capital and others
DePIN project SendingNetwork announced the closing of a $7.5 million funding round with participation from Nomad Capital, Symbolic Capital, Balaji Srinivasan and others. SendingNetwork, a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) project focused on web3 communications, has raised a total of $20 million to date.
other
Blockchain research firm Nebra raised $4.5 million, led by Nascent and Bankless Ventures
Nebra, a blockchain and zero-knowledge proof research firm, announced the closing of a $4.5 million funding round led by Nascent and Bankless Ventures, with participation from Tim Beiko of the Ethereum Foundation, Kartik Talwar of ETHGlobal, Nick White of Celestia, and Sandy Peng and Haichen Shen of Scroll.
Superlogic, a corporate loyalty platform, closed a $7.6 million strategic round of funding with participation from Amex Ventures and others
Superlogic, an enterprise-grade loyalty platform, announced the closing of a $7.6 million strategic round of funding with participation from Amex Ventures, Sangha Capital, 10SQ Capital, Nima Capital, Actai Unicorn Fund, Chainlink Capital, and others, bringing the total funding to date to $15 million, with early investors including Warner Music Group, Mirabaud, Galaxy Interactive and Liquid 2 Ventures. Superlogic leverages blockchain to tokenize traditional reward points and convert redeemable product and service experiences into "digital badges" to help brands effectively manage their loyalty programs, including payments giant American Express.