Crypto Fundraising weekly
Dates: 11 – 17, Feb 2024

This week's biggest funding round

MetaStreet raised $25M in a funding round from Gmoney, MrBlock, Andrew Kang, DCF God, dingaling, Altcoin Sherpa, Jae Chung, 0xSisyphus, Spencer.

MetaStreet is the decentralized interest rate protocol for the Metaverse, built to autonomously grow the GDP of emerging virtual economies.

Pre-seed and Seed investment rounds

DePHY raised undisclosed amount in a Seed funding round from Blockchain Builders Fund (BBF), Foresight Ventures, IoTeX, Paramita, FutureMoney Group, Waterdrip Capital, DefinanceX, PAKA, Candaq Fintech Group.

DePHY is an all-encompassing DePIN framework designed to streamline and reduce the cost of DePIN project development. It offers open-source hardware solutions, a decentralized messaging layer, and automated tokenomics execution for DePIN projects, establishing a verifiable Web3 Infrastructure by bridging the physical world to the Web3 Space. DePHY achieves verifiability through a trust-based Device ID (DID) system, hardware wallet-level security, and decentralized P2P networking via Nostr, ensuring authenticity, security, and composability in the decentralized off-chain network for DePIN.

Drosera raised $1.6M in a Pre-seed funding round from Anagram*, Arrington Capital, UDHC, Comfy Capital, Bodhi Ventures, Metamatic, BaseDAO, Asymmetric fund, Zeal Capital, Everstake, 01node, Marin Digital Ventures, Infinite Capital, NxGen, Santiago R. Santos, Marc Weinstein, Jack Sun, Gmoney, Andrew Van der Werff, Eli Krunzke, Adam Patel.

Drosera is a decentralized incident response protocol designed to address and mitigate exploits by leveraging hidden security intents. Functioning as a security marketplace, Drosera allows protocols to set Traps, defined by smart contracts, which remain off-chain to conceal security intents, and Drosera Operators execute on-chain emergency responses when triggered by consensus.

Lava Network raised $15M in a Seed funding round from Jump Capital*, Tribe Capital*, Hashkey Capital*, North Island Ventures (NIV), Dispersion Capital, Alliance DAO (ex DeFi Alliance), Node Capital, Finality Capital, MH Ventures, Quiet Capital, GSR Markets LTD, AlphaLab Capital, Galileo, Protocol Labs, Chainlayer, Anagram, Chorus One, WAGMI Ventures, Coti Network, NetZero Capital, FunFair Ventures, Kommune, Smape Capital, Chainapsis, The Interop Podcast, Compa Capital, Waikit Lau, Santiago R. Santos, Anand Iyer.

Lava Network is the modular data access layer for blockchains, introducing specs as a modular primitive to seamlessly integrate new chains and data services. It operates as a dynamic marketplace where data consumers send requests to node operators, incentivizing reliable service provision across speed, uptime, and data accuracy while ensuring data quality through fraud and fault detection checks.

WITNESS raised $3.5M in a Seed funding round from HAUN Ventures*, Coinbase Ventures, John Adler, Tarun Chitra, Nic Carter, Scott Sunarto, Tim Beiko, Henri Stern, Elias Simos, Uma Roy, Yi Sun, Rob Witoff.

Witness is a Web3-enabled system that unlocks ownership and incentives at Web2 scale. It allows users to create verifiable provenance and issue digital ownership for data without the upfront friction or cost of blockchains, enabling developers to build traditionally scalable applications with Web3 incentives such as tokenization, universal verifiability, and financialization. Witness operates as a hybrid offchain/onchain system, consisting of the Witness API and the Witness Protocol, offering a user-friendly process for submitting data, generating proofs, and ensuring data integrity through blockchain verification.

OVERWORLD raised $10M in a Seed funding round from Hashed*, The Spartan Group*, Sanctor Capital*, Galaxy Interactive*, Hashkey Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Foresight Ventures, Signum Capital, Matrix Partners.

Overworld, the game development studio, is partnering with blockchain games publisher Xterio to create a web3 free-to-play action-RPG Overworld with anime-inspired artwork. The studio focuses on incorporating NFTs and digital ownership as optional features, aiming to enhance the gaming experience and foster community growth.

Watches io raised $1.9M in a Pre-seed funding round from Lemniscap*, Builder Capital, Soft Holdings, Darkside Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Marin Digital Ventures, Non-Fungible Technologies, Astaria, SOL Big Brain, SoftMoney, Justin Bram, Kiet, Regan Bozman, Mike Zajko, Taranveer Sabharwal, Steven Shi, Matt Spataro, Kadin Donohue, Jack Sun.

Watches io is the first end-to-end tracking and trading ecosystem for luxury watches, operating as a Web3-based peer-to-peer marketplace. With smart contract-powered features, it allows users to monitor real-time market data, explore diversification opportunities, and seamlessly engage in buy/sell transactions for their watch portfolios, transforming watches into tradable assets with blockchain and NFT integration.

Analog raised $16M in a Seed funding round from Tribe Capital*, NGC Ventures (NEO Global Capital), Wintermute, GSR Markets LTD, Near Foundation, Orange DAO, Samara Asset Group, Balaji Srinivasan, NxGen.

Analog is a sovereign blockchain built on Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus algorithm, with the Timechain as its core—a robust and immutable ledger that enables seamless dApp communication and data exchange in a decentralized manner. Analog's approach and omnichain structure allow it to interact with multiple networks, making it versatile for various cross-chain applications and providing fast, accurate, and provable data for DApps development in the Web3 ecosystem.

Other investment rounds

Ethena Labs raised $14M in a Strategic  funding round from Dragonfly Capital*, Brevan Howard Digital*, Maelstrom*, PayPal Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Binance Labs Fund, Deribit, Gemini Frontier Fund, Kraken Ventures.

Ethena is a startup developing the first-ever ‘internet bond’ and a new Ethereum-based stablecoin USDe that achieves stability by hedging price exposure through shorting Ethereum using perpetual swaps, while their savings bond offers individuals worldwide a dollar-denominated savings instrument with the benefits of decentralized finance.

Ethena Labs raised undisclosed amount in a  funding round from Binance Labs Fund*.

Ethena is a startup developing the first-ever ‘internet bond’ and a new Ethereum-based stablecoin USDe that achieves stability by hedging price exposure through shorting Ethereum using perpetual swaps, while their savings bond offers individuals worldwide a dollar-denominated savings instrument with the benefits of decentralized finance.

NFPrompt raised undisclosed amount in a  funding round from Binance Labs Fund*.

NFPrompt is a platform that utilizes AI to simplify NFT creation, allowing anyone to effortlessly turn their ideas into unique NFTs without needing artistic skills or complex blockchain knowledge. The platform fosters inclusivity in the Web3 art space by enabling community-driven interactions, rewards, and a seamless integration with blockchain for minting creations.

Shogun raised undisclosed amount in a  funding round from Binance Labs Fund*.

Shogun is an intent-centric DeFi protocol focused on maximizing Trader Extractable Value (TEV) through optimized orderflow and complete chain abstraction. Shogun's cross-chain market making modules, such as the DIMM (decentralized interchain market maker), simplify liquidity management and offer a superior user experience for traders and LPs, utilizing IBC and interchain accounts for dynamic rebalancing and automated strategies.

Helika raised $8M in a Series A  funding round from Pantera Capital*, Sparkle Ventures, Diagram Ventures, Sfermion, Spencer Tucker, Damon Gura, Marc Alloul.

Helika is a Web3 gaming analytics platform offering industry-leading solutions to assist studios in building, growing, and optimizing games. It provides comprehensive tools for user acquisition, marketing, game management, and on-chain analytics, allowing game studios to make informed, data-driven decisions and optimize performance from inception to maturity.

Sphinx raised $2M in a  funding round from Archetype, Nascent, Volt Capital.

Sphinx is a deployment solution that enhances confidence and security in the smart contract deployment process. With a focus on gasless deployments and trustless execution through Gnosis Safe, Sphinx eliminates manual work, enhances security in CI processes, and empowers teams to iterate rapidly on complex smart contract deployments across various chains.

Concrete Protocol (Blueprint Finance) raised $7.5M in a  funding round from Hashed*, Tribe Capital*, Portal Ventures*, SALT fund, Hypersphere, Lightshift, Awesome People Ventures, Kronos Research, Veris Ventures, Avalanche, WWVentures, Canonical Crypto, Picks and Shovels (Picks & Shovels), Hyperithm, Terra Nova, Julia Lipton.

Concrete is an appchain designed to enhance on-chain debt and credit, offering higher yields, liquidation protection, and advanced predictions within the decentralized finance (DeFi) space developed by Blueprint Finance. As the native base protocol for generating credit products and derivatives, Concrete addresses the missing link in on-chain finance, aiming to become a foundational element for a new class of credit, debt, and structured products in the crypto industry.

Exverse raised $3M in a Private  funding round from Cogitent Ventures*, Cointelligence Fund*, Moonrock Capital*, KuCoin Labs, Epic Games, Seedify, ChainGPT, NxGen.

Exverse is a free-to-play Web3 FPS game designed by a team with extensive gaming industry experience. Spanning three planets—Social, Quest, and Battle, built on Epic's Unreal Engine 5 and incorporating blockchain technology, Exverse aims to balance enjoyable, realistic gameplay while prioritizing skill over pay-to-win mechanics, allowing players to stake tokens for rewards and engage in an ever-expanding universe with user-generated content.

Ultiverse raised $4M in a Strategic  funding round from IDG Capital*, Animoca Brands, P2 Ventures (Polygon Ventures), Morningstar Ventures, Manta Network, DWF Ventures, Taiko, ZetaChain, Jacob Ko.

Metaverse startup that is working on connecting blockchain applications with virtual worlds that use tokens to incentivize activities and community building within its ecosystem. Ultiverse is an integrated platform combining AAA social gaming, NFTs, DeFi and DEXs all in one. Ultiverse aims at building the next-generation Metaverse connecting Web3 with an immersive VR-compatible virtual world.

Architect raised $12M in a  funding round from BlockTower Capital*, Tioga Capital Partners*, ParaFi Capital, CMT Digital, Coinbase Ventures, A Capital, Third Kind Venture Capital (3kvc), SV Angel, Twelve Below, SALT fund.

Architect is a financial technology firm specializing in high-throughput, low-latency infrastructure for both traditional and tokenized assets. With expertise across diverse assets, decades of industry experience, and a focus on future-proof solutions, Architect empowers exchanges, trading firms, hedge funds, and professional investors to navigate the evolving landscape of digital asset markets.

Fordefi raised $10M in a  funding round from Electric Capital*, Paxos, Alchemy Ventures.

Fordefi is the financial technology company developing Institutional MPC wallet & security platform. Fordefi’s first product is a DeFi-focused wallet built for institutional investors and crypto-native funds working with decentralized applications.

Hydro Protocol raised undisclosed amount in a  funding round from Injective, Vessel Capital, Moonhill Capital, SkyVision Capital, Exnetwork Capital, Taureon, Quantstamp, Black Dragon, Trinito, Verse2, PAKA, Coinseeker, CSP DAO, DoraHacks, ODIG.

Hydro Protocol is an infrastructure platform on the Injective Network, providing optimized yield and liquidity strategies through its Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSD) and Real World Assets (RWA) products. It introduces a unique Real Yielding Asset (RYA) to enhance LSDFi strategies and aims to be a pioneering force in the growth of LSDFi on the Injective Network.

IntentX raised $1.8M in a Strategic  funding round from Selini Capital*, Orbs, Mantle Network, Mirana Ventures, Kronos Research, Manifold.

IntentX is a OTC derivatives exchange introducing perpetual futures trading through a next-gen intent-based architecture and cutting-edge technologies like LayerZero. Offering 180+ tradable pairs, it brings omnichain deployment, lower fees, and enhanced liquidity, challenging both on-chain and centralized solutions.

* fund, that lead investment round