Funding Weekly: 25 deals raised $276 million, with DePIN and Bitcoin ecosystem maintaining strong momentum
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Funding Weekly: 25 deals raised $276 million, with DePIN and Bitcoin ecosystem maintaining strong momentum
Between December 18 and December 24, six blockchain projects raised over $5 million each.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: TechFlow
According to RootData, 25 blockchain startups raised approximately $276 million in funding between December 18 and December 24.
Projects that raised over $5 million include:
1. Bitcoin mining firm Stronghold Digital Mining signed a $15 million securities purchase agreement with an institutional investor;
2. Web3 fan engagement platform Medallion closed a $13.7 million Series A round;
3. Web3 growth suite Addressable announced a $13.5 million funding round;
4. Web3 infrastructure provider Web3mine completed a $6 million seed round;
5. Web3 tax startup Tres Finance secured $11 million in Series A funding;
6. Web3 financial services company Fiat Republic raised $7 million in seed funding.
Featured Projects
Grass
Overview: Grass focuses on transforming public web data into AI datasets. The new funding will be used to enhance Grass's technical infrastructure, expand its node network, and refine its data validation processes. Currently, Grass allows users to earn points by contributing unused internet bandwidth via a browser extension.
Investors: Wynd Network, the developer behind the decentralized web scraping network Grass, raised $3.5 million in a seed round led by Polychain Capital and Tribe Capital, with participation from Bitscale, Big Brain, Advisors Anonymous, Typhon V, and Mozaik.
Features:
1. Personal data no longer stays solely within platforms—users' browsing activity across the web can now be monetized.
2. Grass enables users to earn passive income by selling unused bandwidth without compromising privacy.
3. Grass uses up to only 0.3% of bandwidth at any time and does not impact users’ internet speed.
Frame
Overview:
Frame is an Ethereum L2 designed to boost NFT adoption across the Ethereum ecosystem. Frame is EVM-equivalent and supports all existing Ethereum tools including MetaMask, Foundry, Hardhat, and more. Its mainnet and native token FRAME are expected to launch on January 31, 2024.
Investors: Ethereum Layer 2 network Frame has completed a new funding round with participation from Electric Capital, Ray Chan (founder of 9gag), Luca Netz, and former Sushiswap CEO 0xMaki. Funding amount was not disclosed.
Features:
1. Frame will launch a token airdrop for active NFT traders on Ethereum over the past two years;
2. A creator fund will support creators and ecosystem participants, funded by L2 gas fees paid on Frame;
3. Existing EVM smart contracts can be deployed on Frame without any modifications.
ALEX
Overview: Alex Labs is an open-source Bitcoin DeFi platform built on the Stacks blockchain, enabling smart contracts, DeFi, and NFTs on Bitcoin. ALEX remains the largest DeFi project on Bitcoin and aims to bridge the gap between Bitcoin Layer 1 and Layer 2 to deliver a seamless Bitcoin DeFi experience.
Investors: Bitcoin DeFi platform ALEX announced a strategic investment from LK Venture, the crypto investment and research arm of Blue Harbor Interactive.
Features:
1. ALEX launched an alpha version of its Bitcoin oracle, introducing features such as BRC20 verification and index performance dashboards.
2. ALEX is the native token of Alex Labs, obtainable through DEX trading, liquidity provision, and staking. Users can voluntarily lock $ALEX for a period to earn additional $ALEX rewards.
3. Co-founder and CEO Dr. Chiente Hsu has deep fintech experience, previously serving as Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. Another co-founder, Rachel Yu, gained extensive financial industry experience at Goldman Sachs Asia and J.P. Morgan Asia.
Below are detailed funding updates by sector:
Bitcoin Ecosystem
Bitcoin ecosystem aggregation toolkit and automated asset issuance platform Biis received strategic investment from crypto investment firm CGV. Biis integrates a comprehensive tech stack, including batch distribution and consolidation of BRC20 tokens. It plans to launch a fully automated asset issuance platform supporting Free Mint, Airdrop, IDO, and other models, along with an inscription-based DAO voting system for decentralized governance. The team also intends to open-source its code in the future.
Bitcoin DeFi platform ALEX announced a strategic investment from LK Venture, the crypto investment and research arm of Blue Harbor Interactive.
DeFi
Liquidity restaking network Rio Network completed its seed round, co-led by Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, and Breyer Capital. Funding amount was not disclosed. Rio Development offers liquidity restaking services.
Coded Fi Ltd announced the acquisition of cross-chain liquidity protocol Chainge Finance at a valuation of $47 million. Following the acquisition, Chainge founder Dejun Qian will join the Coded Fi Ltd board alongside Najam Kidway and Mike Lempres.
TON ecosystem launchpad TonUP announced completion of a private funding round with participation from Antalpha, MEXC Venture, Waterdrip Capital, New Tribe Capital, Nxgen Capital, MixMarvel DAO Venture, and y2z Venture. Specific funding amount was not disclosed. Proceeds will support product development and market expansion.
Layer1
Algorand fork chain Voi Network announced completion of its seed round with participation from early Algorand investors Arrington Capital and Sonic Boom Ventures. Led by Chris Swenor, co-founder of blockchain development platform Reach and Algorand DEX HumbleSwap, Voi forks only the open-source code of Algorand, not the entire chain. Voi will issue its own token unrelated to ALGO ownership. The project allocates 75% of its token supply to ecosystem growth and has attracted nearly 500 testnet nodes.
Layer2
Ethereum Layer 2 network Frame announced a new funding round with participation from Electric Capital, Ray Chan (founder of 9gag), Luca Netz, and former Sushiswap CEO 0xMaki. Funding amount was not disclosed. Frame will conduct a token airdrop for active NFT traders on Ethereum over the past two years. The mainnet and native token FRAME are expected to launch on January 31, 2024.
DePIN
Wynd Network, developer of decentralized web scraping network Grass, raised $3.5 million in a seed round led by Polychain Capital and Tribe Capital, with participation from Bitscale, Big Brain, Advisors Anonymous, Typhon V, and Mozaik. Grass specializes in converting public web data into AI datasets. The new funding will strengthen Grass’s technical infrastructure, expand its node network, and improve data validation. Users currently earn points by sharing unused bandwidth via a browser extension.
Web3 cloud computing platform 4EVERLAND raised $2 million in funding with participation from Arweave, WaterDrip Capital, Bing Ventures, Forward Research, Web3.com Ventures, Arweave SCP Ventures, GTS Ventures, and Hillstone. Powered by blockchain technology, 4EVERLAND integrates various DePIN protocols to provide developers with accessible, efficient, and low-cost storage, networking, and computing capabilities. It aims to help developers transition smoothly from Web2 to Web3 and build a user-friendly Web3 cloud computing platform.
Gaming
Immutable X-based MMA management game MetaFight received a strategic investment from Animoca Brands, gaining access to Animoca’s blockchain partnerships and expertise to expand operations and enhance gaming services.
Game developer Nexon announced a $100 million Web3 fund for its blockchain gaming ecosystem MapleStory Universe, aiming to build a Web3 gaming economy encompassing blockchain MMORPGs, mobile games, developer SDKs, and sandbox platforms. The initiative seeks to create lifelong storylines for its over 180 million registered users using blockchain and NFTs. Additionally, MapleStory Universe plans to integrate Polygon Supernets in March 2024, enabling large-scale online players to earn and trade NFT items.
DM2C Studio, developer of the multi-chain digital ecosystem Seamoon Protocol, raised $2.3 million through convertible token bonds, led by Galaxy Interactive, with participation from Shima Capital, Bitfinex, MARBLEX, SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS, Planetarium Labs, Mask Network, and DeFimans. Seamoon Protocol plans to launch "DM2 Verse" on Oasys Layer 2 and introduce blockchain gaming initiatives.
Applications
Formless, developer of the decentralized media application Share Protocol, raised over $2.2 million in a pre-seed round with participation from a16z crypto, Contango Digital Assets, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, Beacon Accelerator, WAGMI Ventures, MH Ventures, and Knights Capital. The funds will support the development of the SHARE protocol, powering next-generation products and experiences in the multi-owner digital economy.
Academic Labs received investment from HTX Ventures. Academic Labs is a platform leveraging AI and Web3 technologies to enhance education. This investment will expand onboarding opportunities for new Web3 users and increase native user engagement through its unique token and NFT systems. Academic Labs is launching three innovative NFTs: Learner NFT, Achievement NFT, and Educator NFT, and will soon unveil new products and host events.
Web3 fan platform Medallion closed a $13.7 million Series A round co-led by Dragonfly and Lightspeed Faction. Funds will introduce early-access benefits such as previewing unreleased music and presale tickets, along with exclusive member perks like video premieres. Artists will also gain the ability to sell exclusive and limited-edition digital collectibles/NFTs, including poster bundles and trading cards.
NFT Platforms
NFT platform Moove Protocol, jointly launched by Two3 Labs and CowCow, completed its seed round led by Morningstar Ventures, with participation from ZBS Capital, Alpha Protocol Ventures, Let's Go Ventures, NXGen, Antiga Capital, and prominent angel investor Vijay Pravin Maharajan (bitsCrunch).
Infrastructure
On-chain crypto treasury management protocol Fyde Treasury raised $3.2 million in a seed round led by OP Crypto Ventures, with participation from Arrington Capital, Big Brain Holdings, and Merit Circle. Fyde Treasury offers a secure “liquid treasury” solution where users deposit digital assets, retain ownership, and enhance performance.
Web3 tax startup Tres Finance closed an $11 million Series A round led by Lightspeed’s new fund Faction, with participation from New Form, Boldstart Ventures, Cyber Fund, and Ambush Capital. Tres provides accounting, auditing, reporting, and other financial services for Web3 companies.
Web3 infrastructure provider Web3mine, which supports open-access storage and computing networks, raised $6 million in a seed round led by 1kx, with participation from Protocol Labs and PL Ventures. Web3mine aims to enable collective coordination of capital and hardware to build open, high-performance, and resilient computing infrastructure for everyone.
Others
DID marketplace aggregator GoDID announced a new funding round at a $30 million valuation, led by NGC. Funding amount was not disclosed. GoDID offers bulk search, registration, trading, and management of various DID domains.
Web3 financial services company Fiat Republic raised $7 million in a seed round with participation from Kraken Ventures, Fabric Ventures, Arca, Inovo.vc, Pretiosum Ventures, and existing investors Speedinvest, Credo Ventures, and Seedcamp. The new capital will drive growth and expansion, including strategic hiring, strengthened banking partnerships, and entry into new markets.
Web3 growth suite Addressable announced a $13.5 million funding round with participation from BITKRAFT Ventures. The company will integrate new advertising networks including Reddit and support additional blockchains to ensure precise campaign performance.
Zoomer News announced its acquisition by data visualization platform VeloData. Zoomer News will continue normal operations while gradually integrating with Velo.
Australian Bitcoin miner Arkon Energy closed a $110 million funding round led by Bluesky Capital Management, with participation from Kestrel 0x1 and Nural Capital. $80 million will be allocated to U.S. expansion, and $30 million to an AI cloud services project at a 30MW data center in Norway.
Publicly traded Bitcoin miner Stronghold Digital Mining announced a $15 million securities purchase agreement with an institutional investor. Stronghold plans to use the proceeds to increase its mining fleet and advance its carbon capture initiatives. Earlier this year, Stronghold partnered with Cantaloupe Digital, a subsidiary of Canaan Inc., to enhance its hashing power.
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