Financing Highlights | Binance Labs invests in Web3 social networking platform Sleek; a16z invests in blockchain gaming project EthXY.
According to BlockBeats statistics, there were a total of 23 financing deals last week, an increase in quantity compared to previous weeks. The total amount raised was approximately 1.654 billion US dollars, with an average financing amount of 71.913 million US dollars. The majority of the financing deals were in the digital asset management/payment sector, with a relatively high number in the infrastructure and NFT/digital fashion sectors. There was also an increase in financing deals in the social/creator economy and metaverse/GameFi sectors, while the Web3.0+AI and DeFi sectors had fewer financing deals. There were no financing deals reported in other sectors. The following chart shows the financing distribution across different sectors last week:
Metaverse/GameFi
In the field of Metaverse/GameFi, a total of 2 financings were completed with a total amount of 6.6 million US dollars, accounting for 0.4% of the total financing amount last week.
EthXY
On November 15th, the blockchain gaming project EthXY completed a $1.6 million pre-seed round of financing, with participation from angel investors including a16z CSS23 Accelerator Program, Orange DAO, Pioneer Fund, WWVentures, nonce Classic, Pepper Ventures, Founderheads, Space Whale Capital, MH Ventures, and Shad.
EthXY is committed to exploring the forefront of encrypted consumer products, with the argument that it minimizes interface friction and maximizes the satisfaction of each effort. EthXY's latest product is built on top of Telegram chat using a poker combat mechanism to create an MMORPG, hoping to expand the possible limits through the chat interface. When users chat, they will see dynamic visualizations of their characters; when they start fighting, they will see their character fighting against another person's character.
EthXY believes that one of the key factors in a playable game is the ability to pick up and put down easily, while minimizing time impact. The most playable games are those that can be played in one's free time during the day, such as during a commute, while waiting at the airport, or during work breaks. For users, they are simply interacting with chat, while under the hood, they are playing all games on the chain. It is thanks to Base's rich developer support and low transaction costs that EthXY is able to build this innovative experience.
Bazooka Tango
On November 17th, according to TechCrunch, game studio Bazooka Tango completed a $5 million financing round, led by Bitkraft Ventures, with participation from RW3 Ventures, Sfermion, Foresight Ventures, and Builder Capital.
Bazooka Tango is a game studio founded by former Rockstar and Riot developers. The company was founded by Bo Daly and Stephan Sherman in 2019, both of whom are veterans in the AAA gaming industry and the masterminds behind the multiplayer online battle arena game "Vainglory". "Vainglory" was developed and published by Daly and Sherman's previous game company, Super Evil Megacorp. The new funding will be used to help Bazooka Tango expand its team of a dozen or so people and launch three new games currently in development.
Currently, Bazooka Tango is collaborating with Immutable to develop an immersive multiplayer game called Shardbound that combines elements of trading card games (TCG), tactical exercises, and digital collectibles. Shardbound was originally initiated by Spiritwalk Games in 2015, but had no success. Bazooka Tango intends to revive the game and bring new features that players may enjoy. In the game, players can choose from five types of commanders, and Bazooka Tango has also introduced "victory points" that players can collect by hitting the "victory crystal" generated by the player in the second round. The first person to get 10 victory points wins. Bazooka Tango hopes to "expand the game content through seasonal releases." Other upcoming features include deck building, leaderboards, and more expanded gameplay. As Shardbound is a free game, Bazooka Tango's business model relies on player retention and in-app purchases.
NFT/Digital Fashion
In the NFT/digital fashion field, a total of 3 financings were completed with a total amount exceeding 17.5 million US dollars, accounting for 1.06% of the total financing amount last week.
Taproot Wizards
On November 16th, according to TechCrunch, Taproot Wizards, a project focused on Bitcoin under Ordinals, announced the completion of a $7.5 million financing round. The round was led by Standard Crypto, with participation from Geometry, Collider Ventures, StarkWare, UTXO Management, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, Masterkey, and Newman Capital.
Taproot Wizards aims to revive the culture of building and innovating on Bitcoin. The project has a limited edition of 2121 Wizard NFTs, which symbolizes the total supply of Bitcoin at 21 million. Currently, less than 1% of Taproot Wizards' Ordinals have been minted. Co-founder of Taproot Wizards, Udi Wertheimer, stated that they do not publicly release the pace of minting to avoid hype quickly fading away. Instead, they hope to find people who are truly committed to the mission, rather than just those who are focused on JPEG images.
Taproot Wizards is inspired by the original Bitcoin wizard Reddit meme from ten years ago, which depicted a bald wizard wearing a purple robe and holding a wand, accompanied by striking hand-drawn art. Taproot Wizard intentionally designed their NFTs in this way as a tribute to the classic meme of the Bitcoin community - the Bitcoin wizard. In addition to commemorating the classic image of the Bitcoin community's wizard, Taproot Wizard also believes that the Taproot upgrade of Bitcoin is significant for Bitcoin NFTs, which is why they included the word "Taproot" in their project name.
Through the Taproot Wizard, Udi Wertheimer wants to express that Bitcoin should not only be used for simple transactions, but can also achieve more functions through technological upgrades, and NFT is just one of them. By subverting, community building, and rebuilding the rebellious spirit that has long existed in BTC, a new wave of interest and innovation in Bitcoin can be stimulated. To achieve this, Udi Wertheimer believes that Bitcoin minimalists need to put down their high-handedness and prejudices, and accept that blockchain can be used for more than just simple transactions.
Related reading: "An Analysis of Bitcoin Meme NFTs: What is Taproot Wizard paying tribute to and expressing?"
Artifact Labs
On November 17th, Artifact Labs, a Web3 company under the South China Morning Post, completed a $2 million Pre-Seed round of financing. RW3 Ventures and IOSG Ventures led the investment, with participation from Raptor Group, Cypher Capital, and HerculesDAO, among others. In May of this year, Artifact Labs completed a $3.25 million financing round, with Blue Pool Capital leading the investment and Animoca participating.
Artifact Labs was founded in 2023 and launched an innovative approach to monetizing users in games and other mobile applications. The platform provides players with a unified, user-owned profile, addressing challenges posed by privacy restrictions and geographic regulations, enabling publishers to significantly increase their cost per thousand impressions. It facilitates meaningful one-on-one interactions between brands and gamers at key gaming moments while respecting user privacy. Major AAA game publishers as well as small and medium-sized game publishers are adopting Artifact's solution. This round of funding will be used to expand the business and recruit developers.
On March 16th of last year, the South China Morning Post split its NFT series business into a new company called "Artifact Labs", while continuing to serve as a shareholder of "Artifact Labs" and seeking third-party capital to promote company growth. The NFT is created based on the Flow blockchain developed by Dapper Labs, and the content series is based on the front page of the South China Morning Post on major historical events such as the 1997 Hong Kong handover, bird flu outbreak, Asian financial crisis, and Princess Diana's death.
NFT/Digital Fashion Other Financing Includes:
On November 14th, Modhaus, a South Korean blockchain-based K-pop startup, announced the completion of an $8 million Series A funding round. The round was led by US venture capital firm Sfermion, with participation from SM Culture Partners, Laguna Investment, KDDI Open Innovation Fund III, and Foresight Ventures.
Modhaus was founded in December 2021 and used its non-fungible token (NFT) voting system to form the K-pop girl group tripleS, which has over 1.74 million subscribers on YouTube. On Modhaus' COSMO app, fans can purchase NFT photo cards that can be used as voting tokens. Modhaus states that by collecting NFT format photo cards of their favorite idol members, fans can earn utility tokens and participate in group-related decisions such as member activities, lead songs, and album cover shoot locations. Modhaus aims to introduce more blockchain-based applications in the Korean entertainment industry.
DeFi
There were a total of 1 financing in the DeFi field, with a total amount exceeding 2.2 million US dollars, accounting for 0.13% of the total financing amount last week.
Rho Labs
On November 16th, Rho Labs, founded by former Chief Product Officer of Copper, Alex Ryvkin, announced the completion of a $2.2 million Pre-Seed round of financing. The round was led by Speedinvest, with participation from Keyrock, Re7 Capital, Daedalus Collective, and Copper CEO Dmitry Tokarev.
Copper's former Chief Product Officer, Alex Ryvkin, launched Rho Labs in 2022. Alex has worked in capital markets and fintech for over a decade, serving as a sales trader, derivatives structurer, and CEO of a startup. Rho Labs is building the Rho Protocol, a crypto derivatives trading platform that offers on-chain trading services based on specific and traditional interest rates. Its trading market is expected to launch a beta version on the Arbitrum chain by the end of this year.
Rho Labs supports secure and transparent on-chain transactions, including encryption of specific rates such as collateral and funding rates, as well as traditional rates such as SOFR. In addition to cryptocurrency-specific rates, Rho Labs will also allow trading with traditional rates, such as the Libor alternative Secured Overnight Financing Rate. Rho aims to create a highly capital-efficient market for specific cryptocurrency rates, such as collateral, digital asset lending, and financing rates, in order to provide the same advantages to institutional cryptocurrency traders.
Social/Creative Economy
There were a total of 3 funding rounds in the social/creator economy sector, with a total amount of over 11.2 million US dollars, accounting for 0.68% of the total funding amount last week.
Sleek
On November 17th, according to The Block, Web3 social network platform Sleek completed a $5 million seed round of financing, with participation from Binance Labs, Shima Capital, Spartan Group, Symbolic Capital, Market Across, and Big Brain Holdings. This round of financing was achieved through a Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT). Sources say that Sleek's valuation in this round of financing is $50 million.
Kakarot
On November 14th, Kakarot, a modular zkEVM launched by Starknet, announced the completion of its second round of financing. Stake Capital Group and LongHash Ventures led the investment, with participation from Eterna Capital, Fenbushi Capital, OKX Ventures, Foresight Ventures, and others. The amount of financing in this round has not been disclosed.
Blockchain.com
On November 15th, Blockchain.com, a cryptocurrency financial services company, announced the completion of a $110 million E-series strategic financing round. The round was led by Kingsway Capital, with participation from Baillie Gifford, Lakestar, LSVP, GV, Access Industries, Moore Capital, Prudence, Freeman Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Pledge Ventures.
In addition, Kingsway founder and CEO, long-time crypto investor and expert Manny Stotz, and Lakestar partner Nicolas Brand have joined the board of directors of Blockchain.com. According to sources cited by Bloomberg, the company's valuation has dropped to below $7 billion after being valued at $14 billion in March 2022. Kingsway Capital also led another undisclosed round of financing for Blockchain.com in October 2022, which ended in the third quarter of last year.
It is reported that Blockchain.com is a global leading cryptocurrency infrastructure platform for both consumers and institutions. Since its establishment in 2011, Blockchain.com has gained the trust of over 90 million wallets and more than 40 million verified users, facilitating over $1 trillion worth of cryptocurrency transactions.
Kinetix Network
On November 16th, according to CoinDesk, decentralized cross-chain trading platform Kinetix Network announced the completion of a round of strategic financing worth millions of dollars, led by Factor and Gnosis Chain.
Kinetex simplifies the sending and receiving of encrypted assets, including NFT, by automatically executing the exchange process through relay nodes, eliminating the need for online presence throughout the entire process. By utilizing innovative advanced routers, Kinetex can simplify the execution of complex multipart exchanges and find the fastest and most profitable route.
With the help of multi-chain Gasless technology, Kinetex has simplified the process of exchanging or transferring assets from different networks, allowing users to pay gas fees with various cryptocurrencies. It is reported that Kinetix plans to release its public testnet on Gnosis Chain in early next year, which is expected to last for three months. The testing phase aims to identify errors and improve user experience.
Infrastructure remaining financing includes:
On November 16th, the decentralized privacy protocol Hinkal Protocol completed a $4.1 million financing round, with Draper Associates leading the investment and Psalion, NGC Ventures, Aquanow, No limit Holdings, Orange DAO, and DraperDragon participating. The protocol uses stealth addresses, shielded pools, and DID to achieve the lowest privacy cost and high compliance level for mature DeFi traders.
In addition, Kinto has stated that the project received a pre-seed investment of $1.5 million earlier this year from Kyber Capital Crypto. According to official information, Kinto is a Layer 2 network built on the OP Stack, aiming to become the first KYC Layer 2 that can support both modern financial institutions and decentralized protocols.
On November 13th, the decentralized data composability protocol Glacier Network completed a $2.9 million seed round of financing. The round was participated by Foresight X, UOB Venture Management, Signum Capital, Cogitent Ventures, and Gate Labs. Glacier has received support from multiple grants such as PermaDao from the Arweave ecosystem, Stanford Boundless Hackathon, Aptos Grant Dao, and Foresight X Accelerator.
Glacier aims to create a composable, modular, and scalable Layer2 data-driven network for large-scale decentralized applications, and to promote the creation of trustless data primitives for decentralized applications (Dapps) based on decentralized databases (DDBs). With the L2 Rollup solution, Glacier has built a programmable and composable multi-chain data network, and developers can use NoSQL GlacierDB to manage data in Arweave, Filecoin, and BNB Greenfield.
In the field of digital asset management/payment, a total of 6 financing transactions were completed with a total amount exceeding 1.4845 billion US dollars, accounting for 89.75% of the total financing amount last week.
Menlo Ventures
Fnality
On November 14th, Fnality, a fintech company focused on tokenizing traditional financial assets, announced the completion of a $95 million (77.7 million pounds) Series B financing round. The round was led by Goldman Sachs and French bank BNP Paribas, with participation from DTCC, Euroclear, Nomura Securities, and WisdomTree.
Fnality, formerly known as the Utility Settlement Coin project, is committed to achieving cash on-chain and delivery versus payment (DvP) in wholesale banking by using shared ledgers. Fnality CEO Rhomaios Ram stated that this financing reflects the financial industry's demand for blockchain-based settlement solutions supported by central bank currencies to bridge traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) in wholesale markets. Mathew McDermott, head of Goldman Sachs' digital asset division, called Fnality a "key driver" of the growing trend of asset tokenization, and its blockchain technology provides institutions with a reliable way to handle various potential use cases such as cross-border, cross-currency instant payments, collateral liquidity, and securities trading.
CFX Labs
On November 15th, American fintech company CFX Labs announced the completion of a $9.5 million seed round of financing. This round of financing was participated by Shima Capital, Decasonic, Antalpha, CMT Digital, Corazon Capital, Kraken Ventures, New Form Capital, and Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust. The funds from this round of financing will be used to expand its stablecoin payment and remittance network based on the Solana blockchain.
It is reported that CFX Labs' payment network allows people to use the company's proprietary stablecoin fxUSD and the Solana (SOL) blockchain as a payment channel for transactions, sending and receiving legal US dollars to countries such as India, Mexico, and Nigeria overseas. Customers can also initiate remittances from physical convenience stores across the United States, including Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid. When users deposit cash, they will receive digital dollars in the company's MoveMoney embedded wallet.
数字资产管理/支付其余融资包括：
translates to
Digital asset management/payment and other financing including:
On November 19th, OMTrade, a cryptocurrency trading platform, completed a $6 million seed round of financing. The round was led by Find Satoshi Lab, Folius Ventures, and Incuba Alpha, with participation from KSK Fund and a star-studded lineup of investors including Web3 founders, Web2 entrepreneurs, hedge fund managers, and traders.
OMTrade is currently testing its Alpha version. The core team members have past experiences including being Forbes' 30 under 30 consecutive entrepreneurs, full-stack developers who have led over 20 DeFi/NFT projects, and the main architect of the futures trading department of a top 5 ranked trading platform in the world.
Find Satoshi Lab's Chief Revenue Officer, Mable Jiang, stated that "OMTrade represents a new frontier in cryptocurrency trading, dedicated to cultivating an organic community where everyone can learn and invest together, enabling a wider audience to achieve financial freedom."
On November 15th, Superstate, a blockchain-based asset management company, completed a $14 million financing round. The round was led by CoinFund and Distributed Global, with participation from Arrington Capital, Breyer Capital, CMT Digital, Department of XYZ, Folius Ventures, Galaxy Digital, HackVC, Modular Capital, Nascent, and Road Capital Management.
Superstate focuses on developing regulated and compliant investment tools using public blockchains accessible to US investors. The company is led by Robert Leshner, founder of DeFi lending platform Compound, and has designated funds for team expansion, creating private funds for institutional investors, and developing a framework for tokenized public funds.
On November 15th, digital asset brokerage company VersiFi announced that it has received $10 million in funding from Hunting Hill Global Capital. Martin Garcia, former Managing Director and Co-Head of Trading and Loans at Genesis Global, has joined VersiFi as Co-CEO and will lead the expansion of this digital asset brokerage company's services.
Web3+AI
There were a total of 1 financing in the Web3+AI field, with a total amount exceeding 6 million US dollars, accounting for 0.36% of the total financing amount last week. This includes:
Welcome to join the official BlockBeats community:
Telegram Subscription Group: https://t.me/theblockbeats
Telegram Discussion Group: https://t.me/BlockBeats_App
Official Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/BlockBeatsAsia
Related Articles
