H1 Institutional Investment Data Analysis and Strategy Sharing: Prioritizing Founding Team Capabilities Ahead of Mass Adoption and the Real Bull Market
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H1 Institutional Investment Data Analysis and Strategy Sharing: Prioritizing Founding Team Capabilities Ahead of Mass Adoption and the Real Bull Market
Animoca Brands made the most investments in the first half, with OKX Ventures following closely behind.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Fu Ruheshi, Odaily Planet Daily
The year 2024 is already halfway through, and the crypto industry has taken an epic step forward—from the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. at the beginning of the year to Hong Kong's authorization of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. The U.S. is also nearing breakthrough progress on spot Ethereum and Solana ETFs, marking a historic integration of crypto assets into mainstream finance.
Within the native crypto market, Bitcoin continues to break new all-time highs; meme coins have shaken off their bearish fate and emerged as hubs of wealth creation in the first half of the year; the Bitcoin ecosystem saw further development last year, with numerous Layer-2 projects emerging around Bitcoin’s mainnet; and the rise of DePIN as a new primitive has ignited renewed enthusiasm for infrastructure.
Which projects captured the most attention in the primary market during the first half of this year? AI + blockchain stands unchallenged as the top trend—whether it’s AI-driven foundational networks or AI-related tools, both have drawn strong capital interest. When envisioning the future of Web3, AI has likely become one of its most representative features.
Amid such significant overall advancements, what sparks might ignite in the primary market?
In this article, Odaily Planet Daily examines institutional investments in the primary market, offering a detailed overview of major representative institutions’ investment activities in the first half of 2024 (a more comprehensive analysis of funding amounts will be included in our upcoming Q2 recap). We’ve also had the privilege of speaking with representatives from OKX Ventures, ArkStream Capital, and Foresight Ventures about the current market phase, their investment preferences, and underlying strategies.
Categorization of Invested Projects by Institution
The chart below highlights representative Web3 investment firms, primarily ranked by the number of investments made in the first half of the year. Based on business models, target users, and service types, Odaily Planet Daily has categorized the funded projects into five major sectors: Infrastructure, Applications, Technical Service Providers, Financial Service Providers, and Others.
Animoca Brands
Infrastructure: Futureverse, E Money Network, ARPA, Humanity Protocol, Lava Network, Shiba Inu, Berachain, Monad, XION, peag, Myshell, 0G, PolyHedra, Beoble, io.net, KIP Protocol, Root Protocol, Nubit;
Applications: Redacted, Saltwater, Zeek Network, The Sandbox, GoPlus Security, Stashh, Cookie3, TRALA, CARV, Kuroro Beasts, OpenSocial, IVX, Pencils Protocol, Aria, Param Labs, Cross The Ages, Baby Shark Universe, Blade Games, Puffverse, Iskra, DARKTIMES, Wild Forest, Puffer Finance, Sharpe Al, Planet Mojo, Illuvium, Rollie Finance, eesee, Imaginary Ones, Matr1x, Ultiverse, WELL3, Pixelmon, AOFverse;
Technical Service Providers: Sapien;
Others: Bondex*2, Co-Museum;
OKX Ventures
Infrastructure: Merlin Chain, B2 Network, Zeus Network, 0G, Sonic, codatta, GoPlus Security, Cysic, Monad, Arch Network, ZKM, Carv, Movement, Lumoz, UTXO stack, Privasea, Camp Network, Sophon, FLock.io, Bitlayer, MyShell, Nubit, Meson Network, DLC.Link, Eclipse, io.net, Taiko, BounceBit, Ether.Fi, Delphinus Lab, Ethena, PolyHedra;
Applications: Zeek Network, UniSat, DEXTools, OpenSocial, Pencils Protocol, BlockBooster, Blade of God X, Bedrock, L3E7, Wild Forest, Thruster, Tomo, Cellula, StakeStone, UXLINK, AltLayer, NAVI Protocol, Portal Network, Renzo Protocol;
Technical Service Providers: 0x Scope;
Others: DeBoX, BeWater;
Cogitent Ventures
Infrastructure: TNA, Chakra, NatixNetwork, Tevaera, Zeko, BonusBlock, peag, Bitlayer, Nubit, BEVM, Tanssi Network, Flash Protocol, Ten, Cosmology, Humanity Protocol, Beoble, Entangle;
Applications: XProtocol, Stage, Elys Network, IVX, RunesFi, Zaros, RunesTerminal, xSwap, Crestal, Mitosis, SHADOW WAR, Creator.Bid, MerlinStarter, Master Protocol, Moongate, Satoshi Protocol, GAM3S.GG, BitRealms, Metalcore, Silencio, Exverse, Truflation, Lends, Velar, SkyArk Chronicles;
MH Ventures
Infrastructure: Entangle, Particle Network, AgentLayer, PlayAI, Parasail, Blockless, Crestal, TNA, Aizel Network, XION, Nubit, BEVM, AlLayer, Morph, io.net, Privasea, Humanity Protocol, Lava Network, Merlin Chain, Analog, OMEGA, Bitlight Labs, Hivello;
Applications: Param Labs, xSwap, Creator.Bid, Avalon, Gull Network, SatoshiSync, Gomble Games, Satoshi Protocol, Openstamp, Blockus, ChronoForge, Imaginary Ones, Velar;
Technical Service Providers: Lightlink;
Others: Synnax;
Big Brain Holdings
Infrastructure: Entangle, Exabits, Sphere, Initia, Ten, Zeus Network, MegaETH, Sonic, Nubit, Natix Network, Shiba Inu, Mayan, Monad;
Applications: BitFlow, Synonym Finance, Overworld, Watches.io, GLIF, Utila, BitRealms, Planet Mojo, Gomble Games, Parallel, ZKasino, Decent.land, kima Network, Pixelverse, XOCIETY, IVX, Aria, Arch Network, EYWA, Mitosis, L3E7, Plena Wallet, Inference Labs, TODAY;
Technical Service Providers: Safary;
The Spartan Group
Infrastructure: Morph, XION, Zeus Network, Berachain, Merlin Chain, Particle Network, Nubit, Zentry, API3;
Applications: The Bornless, Pallet Exchange, MetaCene, Metalcore, Karma3 Labs, Overworld, Pixelmon, Forgotten Playland, Saros Finance, illuvium, Sophon, Parallel, peaq, Alex, Gomble Games, Planet Mojo, Redacted, XOCIETY, Supervillain Labs, Aria, L3E7, Puffverse, Wild Forest, UnchartedCentrifuge, Avalon;
Technical Service Providers: Cookie3;
Foresight Ventures
Infrastructure: Merlin Chain, Ether.Fi, DePHY, io.net, Humanity Protocol, Morph, XLink, MyShell, Shiba Inu, Glacier Network, Avail, Parasail, TheoriqAl, Movement, Avalon, Cellula;
Applications: SoulLand, Pixelmon, PublicAl, Overworid, Oyl, KiloEx, Alex, Gomble Games, Blade Games, L3E7, Decent.land, Rango, Pixelverse, Focus Tree, Mitosis, Puffverse;
Financial Service Providers: Agora;
HashKey Capital
Infrastructure: ORA, Particle Network, GoPlus Security, Avail, Babylon, Cysic, Tevaera, Othentic, Berachain, B2 Network, Lava Network, Lumoz, Mystiko.Network, PolyHedra, Cosmology, Karma3 Labs, Humanity Protocol, Delphinus Lab, HackQuest, Beoble, AltLayer, FuzzLand;
Applications: Halo, UXLINK, Bladerite, Puffverse, Aark Digital, Overworld, Lightcycle, bitsCrunch, Fetcch;
Technical Service Providers: 0x Scope;
GSR
Infrastructure: Lava Network, Ethena, Taiko, Inco Network, Analog, Fhenix, Owito Finance, Monad, Myshell;
Applications: Altitude, The MysterySociety, Kiln, Arcade ARC, Kelp DAO, UXUY, Mitosis, Usual, Puffer Finance, LILLIUS, TODAY, Arrow Markets, Midas, EarlyFanS, Elixir;
Technical Service Providers: 0x Scope, SoSo Value;
Financial Service Providers: Cube.Exchange, M^0, D2X, ClearToken;
Others: Ink Finance;
DWF Labs
Infrastructure: Analog, Beoble, DeMR, Lumia, Zentry, API3, Tevaera, Klaytn, peaq, GraphLing Chain, Flash Protocol, Ten;
Applications: Ultiverse, TokenFi, Prom, Artfi, Yuliverse, Milady, Parasail, Kelp DAO, Shogun, Scallop, Alex, Nebula Revelation, Juice Finance;
Technical Service Providers: NuLink;
Financial Service Providers: Double, LazyBear;
Others: DeBox;
Amber Group
Infrastructure: Ethena, io.net, Merlin Chain, Berachain, Babylon, Layer3, Taiko, Fhenix, ZKM, Monad, Reya Network, AlLayer;
Applications: Ether.Fi, Pixelmon, Kodiak, DappOS, Backpack, Metalcore, Mitosis, Bedrock, Anichess, MerinStarter, Merkle Trade, Parallel;
Technical Service Providers: 0x Scope, Carbcoin, Tensorplex Labs, Elixir;
Financial Service Providers: Woo Network;
Cypher Capital
Infrastructure: Humanity Protocol, Hivello, Beoble, Arch Network, Shiba Inu, Berachain, Flash Protocol, XLink;
Applications: Imaginary Ones, Shuffle, ZeroLend, Pixelmon, Velar, bitsCrunch, Kasu, BracketX, Kelp DAO, CARV, Gomble Games, BlockGames, CAM3S.GG, Aark Digital, Raiinmaker, Ooga Booga, Juice Finance, Madworld, Pallet Exchange, UXLINK, NFTG, Scallop;
Polychain Capital
Infrastructure: Bitfinity Network, AltLayer, Berachain, Nubit, Babylon, Cysic, Clique, Eclipse, Sahara, Talus, ORA, Botanix, Milkyway, Movement, Ritual, Gasp, PolyHedra;
Applications: Superform, Squid, Drift Protocol, Canza finance, Particle, DappOS, Monkey Tilt, Pac Finance, Shogun, Tomo, Stream Finance, Sofamon;
Coinbase Ventures
Infrastructure: Polymer, WITNESS, Mountain Protocol, Arcium, Turnkey, Othentic, Avalon, Monad, Umoja;
Applications: LogX, Portal Network, Conduit, Farworld, Squads, Neynar, El Dorado, Paragraph, Agora, Puffer Finance, Midas, BOB, Reya Network, Stack;
Binance Labs
Infrastructure: Zircuit, Movement, BounceBit, Privasea, Babylon, Ethena;
Applications: Memeland, BracketX, infrared, Rango, AeVO, Zest Protocol, UXUY, Milkyway, StakeStone, Cellula, Deriwio, QnA3 GPT, NFPrompt, Shogun, Puffer Finance, Renzo Protocol;
SevenX
Infrastructure: ORA, AltLayer, io.net, Particle Network, Avail*2, REVOX, Azuro, Monad, Karma3 Labs, Delphinus Lab, Adot;
Applications: ArenaX Labs, L3E7, UXLINK, Cellula, Sophon, MetaCene, Renzo*2;
Technical Service Providers: Safary;
Others: eesee;
a16z Crypto
Infrastructure: NEBRA, Espresso Systems, Optimism, EigenLayer, Nodekit;
Applications: Neynar, Farcaster, Kiosk, MyPrize, Madworid;
Financial Service Providers: OpenTrade;
Others: Kiki World, Friends with Benefits;
ArkStream Capital
Infrastructure: ARPA, Nubit, BEVM, io.net, Merin chain, Nibiru;
Applications: Kelp DAO, MerinStarter;
Technical Service Providers: Blockus;
Paradigm
Infrastructure: Conduit, Symbiotic, Babylon, Monad, Succinct, Axiom;
Applications: Farcaster, Phoenix;
LD Capital
Infrastructure: Babylon, DeMR;
Applications: Decent.land, Fetcch, Bored Slot;
Others: Gamic;
Investment Rationale from Institutions
Beyond events and data aggregation, Odaily Planet Daily interviewed representatives from several institutions mentioned above to discuss the current market cycle, investment preferences, and strategic logic.
Odaily Planet Daily: What stage of the cycle is the current Web3 market in?
OKX Ventures: To understand the industry cycle, we need to consider three perspectives:
Industry entering the mainstream: The crypto market cap remains around $2 trillion. The inclusion of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in global financial markets signifies accelerating convergence between crypto and traditional finance.
Improved startup environment: VC funding inflows are growing. According to statistics, Q2 2024 saw over $3 billion in fundraising, a 28% increase quarter-on-quarter. Investment institutions are becoming more active. Top-tier founders with elite industry and academic backgrounds continue to join, injecting fresh talent into the ecosystem.
Mass user adoption: Over the past few years, blockchain infrastructure has improved significantly. Ethereum, Layer 2s, and high-performance public chains now offer friendly development environments and abundant blockspace. User-facing applications in gaming, social, and Telegram ecosystems are enabling seamless entry into crypto. AI apps, intents, and account abstraction are lowering learning barriers. We stand on the brink of a mass application breakout, and we remain long-term optimistic.
ArkStream Capital: We believe we are currently in the early bull market phase, with further substantial upside potential driven by U.S. monetary easing.
Foresight Ventures: I believe the main upward wave of this crypto bull market has not yet begun. After the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin has effectively detached from the broader crypto market and become more akin to a U.S. equity asset. The capital inflows into Bitcoin ETFs are unlikely to spill over into other crypto sectors. However, I expect that as rate cuts approach and industry penetration increases, the market will start seeing renewed capital inflows in the second half of the year.
Odaily Planet Daily: At this stage, how many new projects do you evaluate weekly? Which sector or theme are you particularly bullish on recently, and why?
OKX Ventures: Our team evaluates 100–200 projects per week. OKX Ventures invests across all sectors—including AI, GameFi, DeFi, Web3, NFTs, Metaverse, and blockchain infrastructure—with over 300 projects funded to date. Investment allocation breakdown: Infrastructure (40%), DeFi (20%), Gaming (15%), Web3 (15%), NFTs & Metaverse (10%). In this cycle, we are focusing on three key areas:
More efficient infrastructure: Faster, cheaper, and more scalable infrastructure remains critical—such as parallel execution represented by MegaETH and Monad. Additionally, differentiated infrastructure like AI-specific blockchains, privacy solutions via FHE, and more ZK-based infrastructure.
Innovative DeFi products: DeFi already has proven business models and user bases. The future lies in multi-chain expansion, decentralization, integration of more RWA assets, derivatives, and greater efficiency.
Onboarding Web2 users: While Web3 user growth is strong, it still lags behind massive Web2 industries like AI, gaming, social media, and streaming. There is vast room for growth. Key examples include AI and Telegram: ChatGPT has attracted nearly 200 million users, showing natural synergy between AI and crypto. Telegram, with 900 million active users—one of the top 20 daily active apps globally—has brought $7 billion in TVL to TON, and Ton.app already hosts 874 projects. These platforms will bring millions of Web2 users into blockchain.
ArkStream Capital: Our investments and research in the first half focused on three areas: BTC ecosystem, Ethereum scaling and restaking, and AI+DePIN. We’ve also made targeted moves in niche fields like FHE, data storage, and chain abstraction.
Foresight Ventures: It’s hard to quantify exactly how many projects we review weekly—we’re certainly looking at dozens. Currently, we’re paying close attention to AI crypto, consumer apps, Telegram ecosystem, and institutional platforms.
Odaily Planet Daily: What aspects of teams and products do you prioritize most?
OKX Ventures:
Team innovation and technical capability: OKX Ventures emphasizes deep assessment of a team’s technical expertise and innovative capacity, seeking teams that can push frontiers in finance, gaming, AI, FHE, ZK, and cryptography. Teams must have solid technical foundations and creative thinking.
Product market potential and uniqueness: Products must address clear market needs and demonstrate strong user potential, standing out in a crowded landscape through differentiation and innovation. In today’s hyper-competitive environment, products must not only meet demand but also lead narratives.
Team execution and growth ability: Beyond innovation, teams must execute—turning ideas into real products and successfully bringing them to market. OKX Ventures looks for teams capable of adapting quickly to market shifts, effectively marketing their product, and achieving rapid business growth—executing a strong go-to-market strategy.
Commitment to long-term industry development and compliance: Teams must actively engage with regulatory standards and compliance. This is crucial for sustainable operations amid evolving global regulations. OKX Ventures favors projects and teams that contribute positively to the healthy, compliant growth of the blockchain industry.
In summary, OKX Ventures places strong emphasis on team innovation, technical skill, execution capability, and product market potential and differentiation, while prioritizing long-term project viability. These factors collectively shape our evaluation framework.
ArkStream Capital: We begin with thorough mapping within our preferred sectors, covering virtually every relevant project. From there, we identify those with disruptive innovation and compelling narratives, evaluating team capabilities including product delivery, iteration speed, data growth, team composition, marketing, and community engagement. After comprehensive competitive analysis and due diligence, we proceed with investment.
Foresight Ventures: Founding teams must possess strong vision and organizational ability. The product itself must feature truly unique innovation.
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