Funding Weekly: 23 deals raised over $167 million, GameFi and DeFi emerge as rising stars
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
Funding Weekly: 23 deals raised over $167 million, GameFi and DeFi emerge as rising stars
Between May 13 and May 19, there were 10 projects that raised over $5 million in funding.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy TechFlow
According to RootData, between May 13 and May 19, 23 blockchain startups announced funding rounds, collectively raising $161.75 million.
Projects that raised over $5 million include:
Peaq, a Layer 1 project for DePIN and machine RWA, raised $20 million via CoinList;
Gaming platform Param Labs raised $7 million;
Blockchain development platform Chainstack raised $6 million;
Intensity Lab, developer of intent-centric DeFi protocol Shogun, raised $6.9 million in seed funding at a $69 million valuation;
Anti-Sybil blockchain network Humanity Protocol announced a new $30 million round at a $1 billion valuation;
Tokenized reinsurance RWA platform Re raised $7 million in a new round;
Decentralized prediction market Polymarket completed a $45 million Series B;
Solana-based DEX Zeta Markets raised $5 million in strategic funding;
Modular and composable AI agent infrastructure layer TheoriqAI raised $6.2 million in a Super-Seed round;
Web3 social infrastructure UXLINK announced a new $5 million funding round.
Highlight Projects
Shogun
Overview: Shogun is an order flow aggregator and intelligent liquidity router for modular networks, initially launched on Cosmos. It focuses on maximizing trader-extractable value (TEV) through smart routing and hybrid execution models to deliver optimal trade outcomes.
Investors: Intensity Labs, the developer behind the intent-centric DeFi protocol Shogun, raised $6.9 million in seed funding at a $69 million valuation. The round was co-led by Polychain Capital and DAO5, with participation from Arrington Capital, Arthur Hayes’ family office Maelstrom and Build-a-Bera, and angel investors including Cobie, Ansem, Ser Shokunin, and Meltem Demirors.
Features:
1. Shogun combines the intent-execution model of market makers and centralized exchanges with on-chain execution via decentralized exchanges and passive liquidity vaults, ensuring optimal liquidity across various trading scenarios. It aims to build a Web3 equivalent of fintech infrastructure giant Plaid.
2. Shogun is a Binance Labs Season 6 incubatee, alongside Ethena Labs and NFP;
3. The Shogun protocol will launch in phases, starting with an on-chain routing tool in Q2. Its token symbol will be GUN.
Humanity Protocol
Overview: Humanity Protocol is an anti-Sybil blockchain network providing developers with a unique human identity verification mechanism while giving users full ownership of their data and identity. The protocol uses palm recognition technology as a less invasive alternative to iris scanning, accessible easily via smartphones to establish proof-of-humanity within Web3 applications.
Investors: Anti-Sybil blockchain network Humanity Protocol announced a $30 million funding round at a $1 billion valuation, led by Kingsway Capital, with participation from Animoca Brands, Blockchain.com, and Shima Capital.
Features:
1. Humanity Protocol plans to launch its testnet in Q2, currently with a waitlist of approximately 500,000 people. At launch, it will release an app capable of scanning palm prints using smartphone cameras for identity verification.
2. Founded by tech entrepreneur Terence Kwok, the protocol is guided by a Founders Council including Yat Siu, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, and Sandeep Nailwal, Co-Founder of Polygon Labs.
3. The protocol is designed to support diverse applications—from cross-chain gaming and decentralized social (DeSo), to enterprise DeFi, Fairdrops, Nation States, real-world assets (RWA), and decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN)—ensuring broad applicability and flexibility.
TheoriqAI
Overview: Theoriq, developed by ChainML, is an autonomous AI agent infrastructure layer designed to automate complex tasks. Leveraging blockchain for agent registration, payments, and security, it provides intuitive access to Web3 value drivers such as DeFi, infrastructure, restaking, and meme coins.
Investors: ChainML, developer of the modular and composable AI agent layer TheoriqAI, has closed a $6.2 million Super-Seed round led by Hack VC, with participation from Foresight Ventures, HTX Ventures, Figment Capital, Inception Capital, Antalpha Ventures, HASH CIB, NewTribe Capital, Stateless Ventures, Bitscale Capital, Construct Ventures, Hypersphere, IOSG Ventures, LongHash Ventures, HashKey Capital, SNZ Holding, Chainlink, NxGen.lens, and several angel investors.
Features:
1. Theoriq enables intelligent agents to perform tasks across Web3 domains such as DeFi, infrastructure, restaking, and meme coins, with direct interaction with on-chain data.
2. Theoriq’s AI agents can leverage multiple information sources—including social media, community feedback, and on-chain data—to execute diverse tasks like document reading, sentiment analysis, and investment planning.
3. ChainML plans to launch Theoriq’s testnet this summer, with mainnet expected later this year.
Funding Details by Sector:
Bitcoin Ecosystem
Bitcoin lending protocol Zest Protocol announced a $3.5 million seed round led by Tim Draper, with participation from Binance Labs, Flow Traders, and Trust Machines. The protocol leverages Nakamoto upgrades on Bitcoin’s Layer 2 stack and bridged asset sBTC (pegged 1:1 to BTC) to create fully native lending services on Bitcoin.
Layer 1
Anti-Sybil blockchain network Humanity Protocol announced a $30 million funding round at a $1 billion valuation, led by Kingsway Capital, with participation from Animoca Brands, Blockchain.com, and Shima Capital.
DeFi
Solana-based DEX Zeta Markets raised $5 million in strategic funding led by Electric Capital, with participation from Digital Asset Capital Management (DACM), Selini Capital, and Airtree Ventures. Angel investors include Solana’s Anatoly Yakovenko, Helius’ Mert Mumtaz, Tensor’s Richard Wu, and Pyth’s Genia Mikhalchenko.
Fuel-based DeFi protocol Spark announced a $1.5 million pre-seed round with participation from Fuel Network, Curiosity Capital, chainyoda, Unicorn Factory Ventures, and P2 Ventures.
OKX Ventures announced an investment in Pencils Protocol, currently the largest native DeFi project in the Scroll ecosystem. As a one-stop yield aggregator and auction platform on Scroll, Pencils integrates Launchpad, unified asset aggregation and distribution, and leveraged yield features to maximize user asset utilization.
TON-based decentralized AMM STON.fi announced a new funding round with participation from CoinFund. Specific terms were not disclosed. The funds will strengthen operations and expand financial services for Telegram users, enabling cross-chain crypto trading without bridging or wrapping.
Intensity Labs, developer of intent-centric DeFi protocol Shogun, raised $6.9 million in seed funding at a $69 million valuation, co-led by Polychain Capital and DAO5, with participation from Arrington Capital, Arthur Hayes’ family office Maelstrom and Build-a-Bera, and angel investors including Cobie, Ansem, Ser Shokunin, and Meltem Demirors.
GameFi
Metaverse project Baby Shark Universe announced a seed round at a $34 million valuation. Investors include Animoca Brands, CREDIT SCEND, Sui Foundation, Comma3 Ventures, Creditcoin, GM Ventures, Neuler, Notch Ventures, X+, and Planetarium. Funds will support development and global marketing.
Anime gaming metaverse Sekuya announced $1.6 million in funding on X, led by SingularityDAO, with participation from OIG Capital, GAINS Associates, NewTribe Capital, SEED THRIFT VENTURES, Bigger Than Race VC, and angel investors Casiraghi Mario A., SingularityNET, R1n, and W3GG.
Anomaly, an AI-powered zero-gas Layer 3 network for gaming and Telegram users, raised $1.45 million in an oversubscribed Pre-Seed round. Investors include Decasonic, Shima Capital, BreakOrbit, and Round13 Capital. Zeneca, Web3 luminary and founder of The 333 Club, also made a strategic investment.
Multimedia gaming ecosystem CROSS THE AGES (CTA) announced $3.5 million in equity funding led by Animoca Brands, with participation from Sebastien Borget of The Sandbox and Nicolas Jeuffrain of Tenergie. With $15 million raised previously, total funding including community fundraising now reaches $23.5 million.
Gaming platform Param Labs raised $7 million, led by Animoca Brands, with participation from Delphi Ventures and Cypher Capital. Param Labs aims to build a game ecosystem governed by its native PARAM token, which is soon to be launched.
Web3 football gaming project FantaGoal announced $3 million in funding on X, with participation from IDG Capital, OptaJoe, KuCoin Ventures, and Chain Capital. Additionally, Sportsbet.io and Whale.io provided an extra $400,000 in sponsorship. FantaGoal (FG) aims to build the world’s largest football community by tightly integrating football with blockchain, bringing new value and experiences to millions of fans, and boosting engagement through token rewards and other innovations.
SocialFi
Web3 social infrastructure UXLINK announced a new $5 million funding round led by SevenX Ventures, INCE Capital, and HashKey Capital. To date, UXLINK’s total funding has exceeded $15 million.
Web3 community chat app Gamic announced it has successfully raised $1.8 million across multiple rounds. The project received incubation from Binance Labs and development support from Fundamental Labs, with funding from Polygon Ventures, Gate.io, Mapleblock, Mulana, Double Peak Group, Momentum6, DWeb3 Capital, LD Capital, and others. Additional angel investors include Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, Krypto’s Fund, Onega Ventures, Ugo Aronu (co-founder of Xend Finance), and Vijay Pravin (founder of bitsCrunch). Gamic aims to provide a new interactive platform for the Web3 space.
Web3 social focus app Focus Tree announced a $2 million seed round led by Sfermion, with participation from Volt Capital, Psalion VC, StarkWare, Typhon Ventures, and Foresight Ventures. Focus Tree is building a social focus application designed to help millions put down their phones. The first phase of its community airdrop will begin in 72 hours.
AI
Modular and composable AI agent infrastructure layer TheoriqAI announced a $6.2 million Super-Seed round led by Hack VC, with participation from Foresight Ventures, HTX Ventures, Figment Capital, Inception Capital, Antalpha Ventures, HASH CIB, NewTribe Capital, Stateless Ventures, Bitscale Capital, Construct Ventures, Hypersphere, IOSG Ventures, LongHash Ventures, HashKey Capital, SNZ Holding, Chainlink, NxGen.lens, and several angel investors.
RWA
Tokenized reinsurance RWA platform Re raised $7 million in a new round led by Electric Capital. The project previously raised $14 million in seed funding in late 2022 and aims to support $200 million in premiums by year-end.
DePIN
Peaq, a Layer 1 for DePIN and machine RWA, announced it raised $20 million through its native token sale on CoinList from May 9 to May 16. Over 145,000 community members participated, resulting in over $36 million in oversubscription. The funds will accelerate the growth of the peaq ecosystem and further consolidate ecosystem and community initiatives.
Infrastructure
ZK project Hylé raised $2.6 million in a round led by Framework Ventures, with participation from Cherry Crypto, Fabric Ventures, First Capital, and Heartcore Capital. This brings Hylé’s total funding to $3.4 million and company cash reserves to around $5 million.
Blockchain development platform Chainstack raised $6 million, with participation from SBI Ven Capital, Sygnum, Azimut Group, and Unicorn Factory Ventures. Chainstack provides tools and services enabling developers to build, deploy, and scale blockchain applications without managing underlying infrastructure.
Polymarket spokesperson stated the decentralized prediction market has raised $70 million across two rounds, most recently a $45 million Series B led by Founders Fund. Earlier, General Catalyst helped raise $25 million in a Series A. Supporters include Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
CeFi & Others
Raven, a crypto proprietary trading firm founded by three former Wintermute employees, announced a $2.7 million seed round led by Hack VC, with participation from Wintermute Ventures and several undisclosed angel investors. Hack VC partner Roshun Patel joined Raven’s board. Founded in January 2023 by Kostov, along with former Wintermute DeFi lead and senior software architect Yuri Myronovych and former DeFi engineer Ivaylo Kirilov, Raven aims to “make the best trade at the best time.” With new funding, Raven plans to expand operations across more CEXs and DEXs.
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
深潮TechFlow
