Funding Weekly: 41 deals raised about $160 million, AI and GameFi ecosystems become mainstream
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Funding Weekly: 41 deals raised about $160 million, AI and GameFi ecosystems become mainstream
Between April 1 and April 7, 13 blockchain projects raised over $5 million each.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: TechFlow
According to RootData, between April 1 and April 7, 41 blockchain startups announced a total of $160.7 million in funding.
Projects that raised over $5 million include:
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Web3 social simulation game Today announced the completion of a $5 million seed round;
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Web3 gaming studio Planet Mojo announced the completion of a $5.5 million strategic financing;
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Ellipsis Labs, developer of decentralized exchange Phoenix, announced the completion of a $20 million Series A round;
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Cross-chain communication layer Zeus Network raised $8 million at a $100 million valuation;
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Web3 AI company Raiinmaker completed a $7.5 million seed round;
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Cross-chain swap protocol based on EigenLayer Gasp (formerly Mangata Finance) completed a $5 million private sale;
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Crypto asset recovery project Station70 recently completed a $5 million seed round;
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AI social platform SOAI completed a $5 million institutional angel round;
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Stablecoin issuer Agora announced the completion of a $12 million seed round;
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Web3 gaming startup Gomble Games completed a $10 million funding round;
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Multi-chain staking platform PrismaStake completed a $6 million seed round;
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Decentralized AI cloud gaming protocol DeepLink raised $8 million in a combined seed and Series A round at a $100 million valuation;
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Modular universal abstraction layer XION announced the completion of a $25 million Series A round.
Featured Projects
XION
Overview: XION is a modular universal abstraction layer built for consumer adoption, developed by Burnt. XION aims to eliminate technical crypto barriers for consumers through a toolkit including seamless fiat on/off ramps, direct credit card purchases, familiar Web2 login experiences, mobile-optimized account abstraction, and zero gas fees.
Investors: Modular universal abstraction layer XION announced the completion of a $25 million Series A round, with participation from Multicoin, Animoca Brands, and Arrington Capital.
Key Features:
1. XION will become the first blockchain to use USDC as its primary transaction currency, with all products built on XION priced in USDC.
2. Through XION's Meta Accounts, users can seamlessly interact with decentralized applications on their smartphones without needing to remember seed phrases or store private keys.
3. XION’s use cases include serving as a payment network currency, enabling asset tokenization platforms, powering NFT marketplaces, managing DAO member compensation distribution, and paying fees on data analytics platforms.
Raiinmaker
Overview: Raiinmaker is a project focused on the value of human interaction in the digital world. The "ii" in its logo represents the value of interpersonal connections. The project aims to disrupt the creator economy by empowering content creators to earn cryptocurrency through social capital.
Investors: Web3 AI company Raiinmaker completed a $7.5 million seed round co-led by Jump Capital and Cypher Capital, with participation from Gate.io Labs, MEXC Global, Krypital Group, Alphabit, Launchpool, New Tribe Capital, Coach K, Axia 8 Ventures, Sheesha Finance, Andromeda Capital, Arcanum Capital, GDA Capital, Alpha Sigma Capital, and others.
Key Features:
1. Raiinmaker is building decentralized AI tools and Web3 infrastructure to support sports, gaming, and entertainment projects. Users can train AI models via iOS or Android devices and receive rewards proportional to their impact on the AI model.
2. Raiinmaker plans to launch its mainnet in April 2024, with its native token COIIN launching shortly thereafter.
3. Users can act as independent validators on mobile or desktop devices; operate DePIN mobile nodes within the Raiinmaker app to train AI models and earn $COIIN, and stake $COIIN or other tokens (such as BTC, ETH) to earn additional rewards. Additionally, each time $COIIN is burned, validator profitability increases multiplicatively.
TODAY
Overview: TODAY is a social sandbox game leveraging AI and Web3 technologies to offer players unprecedented creativity and ownership. In TODAY, players care for NPC residents’ needs and build virtual island communities where NPCs use generative AI to reflect real-world conversations rather than pre-programmed responses.
Investors: Web3 social simulation game Today announced the completion of a $5 million seed round led by Sfermion and Big Brain, with participation from GSR, Collab+Currency, Lingfeng Innovation Fund, Compute Ventures, Builder Capital, Tommy Tran, Metavest Capital, 32 Bit Ventures, Dingaling, Grail, and Spirit DAO.
Key Features:
1. Today plans to open minting for its Ancient Seeds NFT collection on April 9 and bring it to market. These NFTs will unlock exclusive in-game content and rewards, offering players unique experiences.
2. Today’s co-founder and CEO Michael O'Connor previously worked at Nintendo and SEGA; co-founder and creative director Benjamin Cleary is an Oscar winner.
3. Today will launch its alpha version in early 2025, with regular game testing conducted via Discord prior to release.
Detailed funding information by sector:
Bitcoin Ecosystem
Bitcoin L2 network Zulu Network announced the completion of a $3 million Pre-Seed round, with participation from Cryptogram Venture (CGV), D11 Labs, Web3.com Ventures, Satoshi Labs, Splinter Node Capital, Polk Street Capital, BlueRun Ventures China, Ledger Capital, Link Capital, Jingle Mining, Waterdrip Capital, K24 Ventures, and CatcherVC. Zulu Network supports both EVM and UTXO architectures and is currently building a decentralized Bitcoin cross-chain bridge to advance DeFi development within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Inscription liquidity protocol SatoshiSync announced the completion of its seed and private investment rounds, backed by Candaq Ventures, MH Ventures, Maven Capital, Covey Network, ZBS Capital, Ape Terminal, Seedify, Chainlink, LayerZero Labs, Core DAO, Rootstock, Portal, and several angel investors. Funding details were not disclosed. SatoshiSync is an inscription liquidity marketplace built by modular BTC L2 project Photon.
Bitcoin Layer 2 solution UTXO Stack completed its seed round, co-led by ABCDE Capital and SNZ Capital, with participation from CKB Eco Fund, OKX Ventures, Waterdrip Capital, Matrixport, y2z Ventures, DRK Lab, and UTXO Management. Specific funding amount was not disclosed.
DeFi
Decentralized trading platform Merkle Trade for crypto, forex, and commodities announced the completion of a $2.1 million seed round led by Hashed and Arrington Capital, with participation from Morningstar Ventures, Amber Group, Aptos Labs, Re7 Capital, and Dorahacks. This funding will allow the team to further enhance the platform’s gamification and social features, including an in-app NFT marketplace, trading battles, and copy-trading functionality. Additionally, the roadmap includes significant improvements to onboarding processes, allowing non-web3-native users to access the platform without custodial wallets.
High-performance decentralized exchange BSX completed a new funding round, with participation from Base Ecosystem Fund, Bankless Ventures, CMS Holdings, No Limit Holdings, Saison Capital, Kyros Ventures, and WWVentures.
Multi-chain staking platform PrismaStake completed a $6 million seed round to revolutionize DeFi staking.
Arbitrum-based LRTfi application AutoLayer announced the completion of a $2.5 million seed round, with participation from KuCoin Labs, Staked.vc, Morningstar Ventures, BlackEdge Capital, Poolz Ventures, Spark Digital Capital, Dewhales Capital, and over 20 angel investors. AutoLayer is developing AutoLayer V2 to achieve deeper integration within the EigenLayer ecosystem.
Cross-chain swap protocol based on EigenLayer Gasp (formerly Mangata Finance) announced a $5 million private sale at an $80 million valuation, with participation from Polychain Capital, CMS Holdings, Master Ventures, Token Metrics, and Cluster Capital. Gasp plans to launch its testnet in the coming weeks, followed by mainnet deployment and token launch. They also plan to introduce a new token named GASP and conduct an airdrop to select MGX token holders.
Solana-based liquid staking protocol Sanctum announced the completion of a $6.1 million extended seed round led by Dragonfly, with participation from THE CMS, DeFiance Capital, Genblock Capital, Jump Crypto, MARIN DIGITAL VENTURES, and others. The team will now focus on two products: Sanctum LSTs and Infinity, which aims to facilitate liquid staking on Solana and enable cost-efficient LST-LST swaps.
Blast-native lending market Seismic Finance completed a $1 million seed round, with participation from Arca, Rarestone Capital, Marshland Capital, 369 Capital, X21 Digital, @SerDAO_, and Autistic Waterfowl Venture Capita.
Ellipsis Labs, developer of decentralized exchange Phoenix, announced the completion of a $20 million Series A round led by Paradigm, with participation from Electric Capital. In a statement, the company said the funds will accelerate efforts to “create a new financial ecosystem offering competitive financial products on high-throughput blockchains,” combining DeFi’s accessibility and transparency with traditional markets’ efficiency.
On-chain asset management infrastructure provider QuantAMM announced the completion of a $1.85 million pre-seed round, with participation from 8VC, Mako, Marshland Capital, 369 Capital, and TradFi and DeFi angel investors. This round follows QuantAMM’s completion of accelerator programs by Longhash and Hypernest. Chainlink also joined the cap table as part of QuantAMM’s BUILD program. QuantAMM is preparing to launch its V1 and Layer 2 solutions on the Ethereum mainnet in Q2, with partner announcements expected soon. From 2024 to 2025, QuantAMM plans to expand its product suite to include cross-chain solutions and institutional-grade infrastructure.
Multi-chain restaking protocol Master Protocol successfully completed its angel round and partial seed round at a $25 million valuation. Participants include Cogitent Venture, Token Metrics, CSP DAO, and FounderHeads. The specific funding amount has not been disclosed. Master Protocol focuses on the LSD market and multi-chain ecosystems, featuring LRT derivatives and native DeFi products. Future plans include expanding into Bitcoin L2 and Bitcoin sidechain ecosystems. Additionally, a Genesis NFT token event will be launched.
DePIN
IoTeX, an Ethereum-compatible blockchain optimized for DePIN, secured $50 million in ecosystem funding, with participation from Borderless Capital, Amber Group, Foresight Ventures, FutureMoney Group, SNZ, Metrics Ventures, EV3, and Waterdrip Capital. The IoTeX team stated this investment will drive DePIN growth and ecosystem adoption by investing in long-term staked IOTX (the DePIN token that governs and powers IoTeX DePIN), alongside the IoTeX Foundation and DePINsurf accelerator fund supporting IoTeX-based DePIN projects.
L2
Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain LightLink announced the completion of a $6.2 million seed round, with participation from MH Ventures, Nxgen, and several individual crypto investors. The new funds will help LightLink continue building its Web3 ecosystem for enterprise partners and improve proprietary technology to enable gas-free transactions for users.
Modular
Consumer-focused blockchain network XION announced the completion of a $25 million Series A round, with participation from Multicoin, Animoca Brands, and Arrington Capital. Developed by Burnt, the new funding will accelerate XION’s ecosystem development.
Modular Layer 2 blockchain Camp Network completed a $4 million seed round led by Maven 11, with follow-on investments from OKX, Protagonist, Inception Capital, Paper Ventures, HTX, Moonrock Capital, and Eterna Capital. Founders of EigenLayer, Sei Network, Selini, and other angel investors also participated. Funds will support network development ahead of the mainnet launch in June. Additionally, 20 active teams within the Camp Network ecosystem will receive funding to expand their operations. The network’s testnet will launch this month.
AI
AI social platform SOAI completed a $5 million institutional angel round co-led by Archer Capital and XForce Capital. This funding will accelerate SOAI’s technological innovation and market expansion in the AI emotional communication field. New initiatives include deepening AI emotional understanding and matching technologies, optimizing user experience, and expanding globally. SOAI is an innovative AI platform originating from Silicon Valley, aiming to shape the virtual companion industry and create personalized AI soulmates for billions worldwide.
Web3 AI company Raiinmaker completed a $7.5 million seed round co-led by Jump Capital and Cypher Capital, with participation from Gate.io Labs, MEXC Global, Krypital Group, Alphabit, Launchpool, New Tribe Capital, Coach K, Axia 8 Ventures, Sheesha Finance, Andromeda Capital, Arcanum Capital, GDA Capital, Alpha Sigma Capital, and others. Raiinmaker is building decentralized AI tools and Web3 infrastructure to support sports, gaming, and entertainment projects. Users can train AI models via iOS or Android smartphones and receive rewards proportional to their impact on the AI models.
DePIN + AI project Privasea announced on April 3 the completion of a strategic private placement, with participation from OKX Ventures, Laser Digital (backed by Nomura Securities), and Tanelabs (an incubator invested by SoftBank). Privasea provides AI-driven data security solutions, with core technology based on fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), partnered with Zama to apply it to machine learning (or AI) applications. Additionally, they have built a distributed computing network to provide powerful and scalable computing resources. They also plan to integrate their AI network with the distributed storage chain BNB Greenfield, enabling users to store data in a distributed manner with flexibility and control.
Human-AI interaction protocol Bythen completed a $3 million seed round, with participation from East Ventures, BEENEXT, ED3N, GuildFi Global, Dingaling, Grail.eth, and GiulioX. Bythen is building an AI product protocol to create autonomous, AI-powered 3D avatar agents.
Blast-based AI agent AgentFi announced the completion of its first funding round led by Generative Ventures. Proceeds will strengthen team building, especially in R&D and marketing. Meanwhile, AgentFi has already launched its first product on the Blast mainnet. Leveraging the ERC-6551 standard, the product offers automated on-chain trading and yield-generating services via wallet-bound NFTs to a broad user base.
GameFi
Web3 battle royale game MetaDOS developer DOS Labs completed $2.45 million in funding. Investors include Kangaroo Capital, AZA Ventures, Brainbox, GD10 Capital, and Avalon Wealth Club. MetaDOS is currently being built on Avalanche’s subnet, DOS Chain. The initial version of MetaDOS has already been released on Steam, with the full game launching in May.
Web3 gaming startup Gomble Games completed $10 million in funding, with participation from Binance Labs, Spartan, Hashed, Shima Capital, Animoca Brands, Altos Ventures, IOSG Ventures, Foresight Ventures, and BigBrain Holdings. Gomble Games focuses on developing casual blockchain games, prioritizing core gameplay enjoyment over monetary incentives. Additionally, the company plans to establish a participatory DAO, further blurring the lines between players and creators by giving users a voice in marketing, game development, and other business aspects.
Decentralized AI cloud gaming protocol DeepLink raised $8 million in combined seed and Series A rounds at a $100 million valuation, with participation from Gobi Ventures, Hycons, DBC, and ROCK Ventures. DeepLink Protocol leverages AI, blockchain, and streaming technology to deliver ultra-low latency (1ms) and 8K resolution gaming experiences. The team has also developed DeepLink software based on the protocol, currently serving over 500,000 users across more than 100 countries.
Web3 gaming studio Planet Mojo announced the completion of a $5.5 million strategic financing round led by Animoca Brands, Merit Circle, and Courtside VC, with participation from Spartan Group, Citizen Capital, Sfermion, Big Brain Holdings, EVG, Republic, NGC Ventures, Readyplayer DAO, Alchemy, Momentum 6, Skyvision Capital, RW3 Ventures, Collab + Currency, Polkastarter, Metavest Capital, Symbolic Capital, Everyrealm, and Fourth Revolution Capital, bringing total funding to $10.5 million.
Cross-chain AI game Cellula completed a $2 million Pre-Seed round co-led by SevenX Ventures and OKX Ventures, with participation from Mask Network and Foresight Ventures. New funds will support multi-chain deployment, new game development, and team operations. Cellula’s first game, “Game of Life,” will launch on mainnet on April 15, with a joint airdrop campaign alongside BNB Chain. The brand will also be upgraded, with expanded product matrix and reward mechanisms.
Web3 social simulation game Today announced the completion of a $5 million seed round led by Sfermion and Big Brain, with participation from GSR, Collab+Currency, Lingfeng Innovation Fund, Compute Ventures, Builder Capital, Tommy Tran, Metavest Capital, 32 Bit Ventures, Dingaling, Grail, and Spirit DAO. Proceeds will be used to further develop its generative AI-powered smart NPCs and no-code creator tools.
SocialFi
Multi-chain one-click SocialFi project Young Protocol announced on April 1 the completion of a Pre-Seed round at an $8 million valuation, with undisclosed funding amount. Eureka Meta Capital led the round. Young Protocol stated its community will launch within April. Young Protocol is a multi-chain SocialFi protocol designed to reduce interaction costs and enhance social experiences, using its multi-chain and cross-chain bridge technologies to enable users to interact with projects across different public chains with a single click. The technology will be applied to the social platform Young, introducing a “social-to-earn” model.
Crypto culture platform and social expression layer Sofamon announced the completion of a seed round, with undisclosed amount. Participants include Polychain, Seed Club Ventures, Inception Capital, and Cygaar. This funding will help drive a new dimension of social expression in crypto.
Meme
Lens Protocol cultural token BONSAI developer MadFi announced the completion of a $1 million angel round led by PTC Crypto, with participation from Social Graph Ventures, Avara, and a group of angel investors. BONSAI tokens will enable Lens Protocol creators to monetize through collectible content, feed-based token exchanges, gamified staking, and novel advertising models.
NFT Platforms
Web3 utility platform Moongate announced the completion of a $2.7 million seed round led by Titan Fund under CMCC Global, with participation from Token Bay Capital, Penrose Ventures, RNR Capital, Cogitent Ventures, GBV Capital, PHD Capital, Coingecko, Synthetix, Dolphin Browser, and others. The team also received ecosystem grants and support from Arbitrum, Polygon, Avalanche, and BNB Chain. Funds will be used to develop a modular Web3 engagement layer for real-world activations. Building on its success disrupting the ticketing industry, the company aims to extend its impact to other fields, leveraging blockchain and AI to transform interactive experiences.
Digital product platform Legitimate completed a $4.3 million seed round led by Lemniscap, with participation from Draper Associates, Sfermion Factor VC, and angel investors VERBAL and Jeff Miyahara. Legitimate enables projects to embed various digital content—such as exclusive audio and video, text, digital collectibles, and mobile apps—into physical goods using Legitimate’s LGT tags.
On-chain emerging culture company Spotlight announced the completion of a $2 million Pre-seed round led by Folius Ventures. The team also revealed transaction data for its Spotlight Market platform’s first partner project, Matr1x Fire, showing the platform currently handles 85% of the project’s daily cross-chain asset trading volume. Spotlight aims to enhance on- and off-chain asset liquidity through gamified mechanics while focusing on emerging cultures. Its founding members come from top-tier emerging asset trading platforms and have extensive global IP management experience. The official platform NFT will be launched soon.
Infrastructure
Crypto asset recovery project Station70 recently completed a $5 million seed round led by Matt Walsh and Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Notation Capital, Semantic Ventures, SCB 10X, and CoinShares. Station70 also announced the launch of its first product, Bunker—a disaster recovery platform for crypto assets aimed at simplifying private key backup and recovery. Over the next few weeks, Station70 will conduct beta testing of Bunker with multiple clients before releasing a generally available version. Station70 is an institutional-grade recovery infrastructure for self-custodied crypto assets, with partners including Fireblocks.
Cross-chain communication layer Zeus Network raised $8 million at a $100 million valuation, led by Mechanism Capital, with participation from OKX Ventures, Animoca Ventures, Big Brain Holdings, Lemniscap, The Spartan Group, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, Stacks co-founder Muneeb Ali, and Mechanism Capital founder Andrew Kang. Zeus Network is a cross-chain interoperability layer built on the Solana Virtual Machine. Currently in testnet phase, the mainnet is expected to launch in June or July.
Tools
AI-powered blockchain risk management platform Lockchain.ai completed a $4.6 million seed round led by Lerer Hippeau, with participation from Arrington Capital, Valhalla Ventures, Arca Fund, RSEventures, Sonic Boom Ventures, and White Star Capital.
BNB Chain-based AI-powered trading management platform XRADERS announced the completion of a $2.1 million Pre-Seed and seed round, with participation from FBG Capital, GM Ventures, MARBLEX, Basics Capital, Icetea Labs, Asteroid Capital, Marshland Group, DigiStrats, Alpha Protocol VC, and GBV. Also participated.
Web3 on-chain rewards protocol BonusBlock announced the completion of $2.3 million in funding, with participation from Laser Digital, iAngels, Cogitent Ventures, NewTribe Capital, Faculty Group, Kyros Ventures, ZBS Capital, Rarestone Ventures, LVT Capital, Momentum 6, Purechain Capital, Burnt (XION), Eclipse Fi, and a group of angel investors. BonusBlock uses white-label solutions to attract verified, high-quality, provable users, helping projects identify more reliable Web3 user engagement data. The BonusBlock on-chain marketplace will launch in early April.
Web3 asset data platform RootData announced the completion of a $1.25 million seed round led by NLVC, with participation from Boya Interactive, Bonfire Union Ventures (Mask Network’s fund), Sending Labs, Skyland Ventures, GoPlus, Basic Capital, Rebase D. Ventures, UniSat, SeeDAO, Gavin (founder of Orbiter Finance), Shawn Shi (co-founder of Alchemy Pay), and Jackson (co-founder of 0xScope). Funding will primarily support product development and market expansion.
CeFi and Others
Stablecoin issuer Agora announced the completion of a $12 million seed round led by Dragonfly, with participation from General Catalyst and Robot Ventures. Agora was co-founded by Van Eck and crypto veterans Drake Evans and Joe McGrady. Its stablecoin is backed by cash, U.S. Treasuries, and overnight repurchase agreements.
AI-powered enterprise security and compliance platform Web3Firewall completed a $2.5 million pre-seed round led by Laser Digital (supported by Nomura), gumi Cryptos Capital (gCC), and SPEILLLP (a member of Susquehanna International Group).
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