Highlights of this issue
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 18 blockchain investment and financing events around the world last week (12.16-12.22), with a total funding of over 160 million US dollars, which was a significant decrease compared to the previous week. The overview is as follows:
- DeFi announced three investment and financing events, among which BVNK successfully raised $50 million in all-equity Series B financing, led by Haun Ventures, a giant fund focused on cryptocurrencies;
- Four investment and financing events were announced in the AI field, among which Fraction AI completed a $6 million Pre-Seed financing, which was jointly led by Spartan Group and Symbolic Capital;
- The Infrastructure and Tools track announced two investment and financing events, among which the Layer-1 blockchain Plume completed a new round of financing of US$20 million, with Brevan Howard Digital, Haun Ventures and others participating in the investment;
- In other blockchain/crypto applications , 5 investment and financing events were announced. Among them, Aave developer Avara completed a $31 million financing for the development of Lens, led by Lightspeed Faction;
- The centralized financial sector announced three investment and financing events, among which Prometheum completed a $20 million financing, which came from a group of undisclosed individuals and institutions
DeFi
British stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK has successfully raised $50 million in an all-equity Series B round of financing, led by cryptocurrency-focused giant fund Haun Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and existing investor Tiger Global. According to people familiar with the matter, BVNK is valued at approximately $750 million after this round of financing. A BVNK spokesperson declined to comment on the valuation.
According to reports, although BVNK is opening offices in San Francisco and New York and plans to launch services in the United States in January, it has been focusing on the European and Asian markets. An important part of BVNK's value proposition lies in its licenses and relationships with financial institutions, which helps to enable the flow of funds between different fiat currencies. BVNK has a virtual asset service provider license in Spain, which enables BVNK to establish partnerships with several major European banks including Barclays, BBVA, Deutsche Bank and Santander.
DeFi application layer Rujira announced that it has completed US$7 million in financing
DeFi application layer Rujira said in an official blog: "Rujira has successfully raised $7 million from a group of investors who intervened early after the merger announcement. With these funds, we have the ability to execute our plans without the need for additional funds at present. In the future, if necessary, we will be able to obtain additional funds through over-the-counter transactions to further support the development of Rujira. The completion of this round of financing also cleared a key obstacle for RUJI TGE, which is currently expected to be held in February next year. As always, this schedule is for reference only and may change. "It is reported that Rujira is the DeFi application layer on THORChain, created by the Rujira Alliance between Kujira, Levana and THORChain. It combines Kujira's DeFi tools with THORChain's liquidity and cross-chain functions to achieve seamless, bridge-free access to blockchain networks.
UTXO Stack Completes New Round of Financing, Valuation Reaches $50 Million
UTXO Stack announced the completion of a new round of financing led by UTXO Management, PAKA Fund and CMS Holdings, with a valuation of US$50 million. The financing will be used to accelerate the development of lightning network liquidity, introduce stablecoins into the Bitcoin ecosystem, and plan to launch airdrop incentives for Bitcoin liquidity providers in early January 2024, while conducting the first token generation event (TGE) on the lightning network.
AI
Fraction AI, a crypto and artificial intelligence startup focused on decentralized data annotation, has completed a $6 million Pre-Seed financing round led by Spartan Group and Symbolic Capital, with other investors including Borderless Capital, Anagram, Foresight Ventures and Karatage. In addition, angel investors such as Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal and NEAR Protocol co-founder Illia Polosukhin also participated and served as advisors.
Founded in February 2024, Fraction AI is committed to reshaping the data annotation process in a decentralized manner, using a hybrid approach that combines human insights with AI agents. Its platform mainly includes three types of participants: stakers who receive rewards by staking ETH or liquid staking tokens (such as stETH), developers who create AI agents and participate in challenges, and reviewers who participate in evaluations through the native token FRAC (LLM based on specific standard evaluation results). Fraction AI plans to launch the mainnet and native token FRAC at the end of the first quarter or the beginning of the second quarter of 2025, and has completed closed beta testing. It is expected to launch public beta testing next month, and there are more than 60,000 test users at this stage. The company is currently developing based on Ethereum, and plans to expand to NEAR and multiple Ethereum Layer 2 networks.
The decentralized AI training platform FLock announced the completion of a strategic round of financing of US$3 million, with a total financing of US$11 million. This round of financing was led by Grayscale's parent company Digital Currency Group DCG, followed by Lightspeed Faction, and participated by strategic partners such as Animoca Brands, Fenbushi Capital, Gnosis VC, GSR Ventures, OKCoin Japan, Bas1s Ventures and A41. This round of financing will enable FLock to advance the path of democratized AI model development and continue to build a decentralized AI training platform. According to reports, FLock aims to use blockchain technology to solve problems such as insufficient transparency, weak data privacy and unfair rewards for contributors in the traditional centralized AI system. Through its decentralized collaboration model, data is always kept locally without uploading to a third party. Contributors fairly share the benefits of data, computing power and feedback, giving everyone the opportunity to participate in AI development.
Decentralized AI Payment Proxy Protocol Skynet Completes $1.2 Million Pre-Seed Round of Financing
Skynet, a decentralized AI agent payment protocol, has completed a $1.2 million Pre-Seed round of financing. This round of financing was contributed by well-known angel investors from GitHub, Polygon, Veracode and Monotype. The funds will be used to develop "The World's Resource Blockchain", a system designed to connect global resources, enabling artificial intelligence agents to autonomously perform payments and perform tasks across multiple platforms. It is reported that the Skynet interface provides AI agents with access to resources, transaction functions, and integration with decentralized applications (dApps) across multiple virtual machines (VMs). Skynet's infrastructure is built on Arbitrum's Orbit chain, providing payment and tracking mechanisms. This enables artificial intelligence agents to complete real-life tasks, including booking flights, managing accommodation, and handling financial portfolios.
Decentralized AI data chain Masa announced the completion of a new round of financing, led by Grayscale's parent company Digital Currency Group DCG, and participated by FBG Capital. The specific amount has not been disclosed. It is reported that DCG participated in its seed round of financing two years ago. The new funds will support its continued development of customizable AI frameworks and expand the AI agent ecosystem using real-time data.
DePIN
VanEck has invested $2.5 million in DAWN, a decentralized autonomous wireless network, with the investment coming from VanEck's Digital Assets Alpha fund and VanEck Ventures. VanEck revealed that this strategic financing marks "the first time that multiple VanEck funds have made a direct investment in the same company." Part of the $2.5 million will be used to expand retail participation through hardware, allowing users to create small networks for internet sharing, and allowing DAWN to expand internationally. Andrena CEO Neil Chatterjee said that with the launch of 5G and Starlink, society is moving from wired internet to fully wireless internet, and DAWN aims to take advantage of this "life change." Currently, the DAWN user base is mainly concentrated in the United States. The team's two biggest goals are achieved through its plan: on-chain revenue and home users. Chatterjee declined to disclose specific data for these two indicators, but pointed out that the team is working hard to achieve goals in the "millions" level.
Infrastructure & Tools
Plume, a fully modularized, integrated Layer-1 blockchain focused on real-world asset finance (RWAfi), has completed a new round of financing of $20 million. Brevan Howard Digital, Haun Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, Galaxy Ventures, Superscrypt, Hashkey, Laser Digital (under Nomura Group), A Capital, 280 Capital, SV Angel, Reciprocal Ventures and others jointly invested, bringing its total financing to $30 million. Plume will use the funds raised in the latest round of financing to expand from crypto-native users to traditional financial companies and asset management companies. It is reported that Plume is a fully modularized, integrated Layer-1 blockchain focused on RWAfi, providing a composable, EVM-compatible environment for accessing and managing a variety of real-world assets. Plume provides an end-to-end tokenization engine and a range of financial infrastructure partners to simplify the asset access process and achieve seamless integration of real-world assets with DeFi.
DexCheck, a crypto and NFT transaction analysis platform, completes a new round of financing, with ChainGPT Labs participating
DexCheck, a crypto and NFT trading analysis platform, announced on the X platform that it has completed a new round of financing, with ChainGPT Labs participating. The specific investment amount and valuation data have not been disclosed. The new funds are intended to be used to enhance its AI capabilities to conduct token analysis, wallet analysis, crypto whale tracking, and expand its InsightsGPT and other tools to help traders make informed decisions.
other
Web3 Social
Aave developer Avara completes $31 million financing for Lens development, led by Lightspeed Faction
Avara, developer of the Aave protocol, announced a $31 million funding round led by Lightspeed Faction. Alchemy, Avail, Circle, Consensys, DFG, Fabric Ventures, Foresight Ventures, Stellarcore, Superscript, Re7, and Wintermute Ventures participated in the round. In addition, angel investors participating in this round include Anurag Arjun, Anton Bukov, Rune Christensen, Alex Gluchowski, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, Loi Luu, Spencer Noon, and Duncan Robinson. With Lens, Avara is building a decentralized protocol that provides infrastructure for social and consumer applications. The news of this round of financing came a few weeks after Lens announced a new upgraded version of its protocol, Lens v3. Lens v3 was originally built on the Polygon blockchain. Consumer applications using Lens v2 include NFT creation and sharing application Zora, Twitter-like platforms Hey and Kaira, and sub-community-focused application Orb. With Lens v3, the company is addressing one of the biggest issues in web3 social experiments — transaction costs.
SocialFi project Metya completes strategic financing, led by CGV Capital
AI-driven SocialFi project Metya announced the completion of strategic financing, led by investment institution CGV (Cryptogram Venture), and the specific amount of financing has not been disclosed. This round of financing will help Metya deepen the layout of the Web3 social ecosystem and promote product innovation and user growth. Metya is a SocialFi project that combines AI and blockchain technology. It is the first DatingFi model and is committed to creating a borderless and efficient social experience for users through decentralized networks and cross-language functions. Metya has attracted more than 8.5 million active users. Previously, Metya has launched the smart hardware device MeAi.
Web3 content monetization platform Promeet completes $3.1 million Pre-Seed round of financing
Web3 content monetization platform Promeet announced the completion of a $3.1 million Pre-Seed round of financing. The investment was raised through a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), but the investor was not disclosed. With the new funds, Promeet plans to expand the team, enhance platform functionality, and expand the user base. According to reports, Promeet is now online and operational, and has attracted thousands of creators. By facilitating transactions through USDC on the Polygon network, Promeet ensures that creators can get paid quickly and securely, and at lower fees than traditional platforms.
Consumer applications:
DuckChain Completes $5 Million Financing, DWF Ventures and Others Participate
DuckChain, the consumer layer of the TON ecosystem, announced the successful completion of a $5 million financing round, with investors including DAO5, Offchain Labs, Kenetic Capital, DWF Ventures, Oak Grove VC, Skyland VC, Geek Cartel, Gate.io, Presto Labs, etc. In addition, angel investors of well-known projects such as CamelotDEX and Quantstamp also participated in this round of financing. DuckChain plans to use this funding to release the on-chain potential of more than 30 million Telegram Star users through TON-based EVM solutions. At the same time, DuckChain also launched the "Yellow Duck Mission" hackathon with a total prize pool of $1 million, and partners include Wallet, Arbitrum and OnePiece Labs.
Decentralized environmental intelligence platform Silencio Network has completed a $2.5 million seed round of financing, led by Blockchange Ventures, with participation from Borderless Capital and Master Ventures, Blockchain Founders Fund, Prosper GmbH & Co. KG and Advanced Blockchain AG. It is reported that Silencio Network combines decentralized infrastructure with hyperlocal data to change industries such as urban planning, real estate and the hotel industry. By providing street noise intelligence, the platform provides governments, businesses and consumers with practical insights to shape a smarter and more sustainable environment.
Centralized Finance
Tokenized securities firm Prometheum completes $20 million in funding
Tokenized securities company Prometheum has completed $20 million in financing from a group of undisclosed individuals and institutions, bringing Prometheum's total fundraising to approximately $64.3 million. Prometheum has two subsidiaries. One is an alternative trading system expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2025. The other is a custodian that currently serves institutional investors, focusing on a few well-known crypto assets. The funds will be used to add more crypto assets and launch upcoming security tokens. Earlier news , Prometheum, a crypto company that once had a close relationship with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is facing new challenges. With Trump's election as president and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler announcing that he will leave early next year, the company's previous business model based on "crypto assets as securities" may need to be repositioned.
Cross-border payment service provider Juicyway completes $3 million Pre-Seed round of financing
Juicyway, a cross-border payment service provider based on stablecoins, announced the completion of a $3 million Pre-Seed round of financing, with participation from P1 Ventures, Ventures Platform Fund, and Future Africa. Juicyway mainly uses stablecoins and cryptocurrencies to bypass traditional intermediaries to simplify cross-border settlements and reduce transaction delays. The new funds are intended to support its provision of accessible quasi-bank and crypto wallet services, enabling seamless deposit and withdrawal services with stablecoins acting as a bridge, promoting instant settlements and reducing reliance on highly volatile currencies.
BitDCA Completes $2 Million Pre-Seed Round to Launch Bitcoin Savings App “Littlebit”
Fintech innovation company BitDCA has completed a $2 million Pre-Seed round of financing to launch a Bitcoin savings app called "Littlebit". The investors were not disclosed. According to reports, BitDCA, headquartered in the Czech Republic, was founded in 2019 and aims to simplify long-term Bitcoin investment by launching a user-friendly dollar cost averaging (DCA) solution. The Littlebit application allows users to automatically save a certain percentage of their daily expenses in Bitcoin. The company's operating plan includes entering the Czech Republic and Poland in the first quarter of 2025, followed by expansion to the UK.
Investment institutions
Big Time Studios announces $150 million Open Loot fund
Big Time Studios announced the establishment of a $150 million Open Loot Fund to promote game development on the Web3 game platform Open Loot. The fund will provide financial support, marketing and development guidance to game studios to help develop high-quality crypto games. The Open Loot platform has 1.5 million registered players, supports developers to mint and distribute digital assets through SDK, and rewards players and developers through $OL tokens. The platform has currently achieved nearly $500 million in trading volume.
Blockchain VC Verda Ventures and Opera Partner to Launch $40 Million MiniPay Fund
Blockchain venture capital firm Verda Ventures announced that it has partnered with web browser company Opera to launch a $40 million MiniPay Fund to support blockchain startups in emerging markets. Investors in the fund also include Jump Crypto, Borderless Group and Richard Parsons. Startups benefiting from the MiniPay Fund will have access to Opera's MiniPay wallet framework and build financial products around it, while also integrating related infrastructure for construction.
Web3 chess game company Immortal Games launches $2 million investment fund
Web3 chess game company Immortal Games announced the launch of a $2 million investment fund to attract gaming guilds and Web3 gaming projects to join its on-chain esports tournament platform Coliseum.
