For the primary time since March 2022, enterprise capital investments in crypto startups elevated, reaching $1.9 billion within the fourth quarter of 2023. The determine represents a 2.5% rise from the third quarter, in response to a latest PitchBook report.
The expansion is in keeping with an obvious resurgence of investor curiosity in crypto startups in early 2024, spurred by the approval of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
In February, a various group of crypto startups introduced latest funding raises, together with Lava Protocol, Analog, Helika, Truflation and Omega, amongst others.
The previous two weeks have additionally seen enterprise capital agency Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) asserting a $100 million funding in Ethereum’s restaking protocol EigenLayer. The ecosystem additionally obtained funds from Binance Labs via its liquid restaking service Renzo lately.
One other $27 million was poured into the consensus layer Avail in a seed funding spherical led by Founders Fund and Dragonfly, whereas enterprise capital agency Hack VC raised $150 million to put money into early-stage crypto and synthetic intelligence (AI) startups.
Cointelegraph’s VC Roundup highlights a few of the startups that secured funding in February.
Taiko raises $15 million forward of mainnet launch
Ethereum layer-2 scaling answer Taiko has closed a $15 million Sequence A funding spherical forward of its mainnet launch. The spherical was led by Lightspeed Faction, Hashed, Generative Ventures and Token Bay Capital, with participation from earlier traders Wintermute Ventures, Amber Group and OKX Ventures, amongst others. The startup, based in 2022, has thus far raised a complete of $37 million throughout three rounds, promising to construct a decentralized layer-2 structure to help all Ethereum Digital Machine (EVM) opcodes. Taiko claims to have executed six testnets involving over a million distinctive wallets in addition to 13 million transactions.
Singularity closes $2.2 million funding for DeFi compliance
Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Singularity has disclosed a $2.2 million funding spherical led by Gumi Cryptos Capital. The startup targets institutional traders searching for compliant entry to DeFi functions and on-chain transaction confidentiality. Further traders within the spherical embody Nomura’s subsidiary Laser Digital, Eureka Companions and former traders comparable to Apollo Crypto, Digital Asset Capital Administration and Gandel Make investments. Singularity leverages Noir-based zero-knowledge circuits, a domain-specific language for Zero-Data Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Data-proving programs developed by Aztec. The know-how permits confidentiality in on-chain transactions. The most recent spherical brings Singularity’s whole funding to almost $4 million since its inception in 2022.
AltLayer secures $14.4 million in strategic funding
AltLayer, a protocol for launching native and restaked rollups utilizing optimistic and zero-knowledge stacks, has efficiently raised $14.4 million in a strategic funding spherical co-led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC. The platform affords rollup-as-a-service (RaaS), enabling builders to launch rollups. The staff additionally claims to be recreating a restaked rollups framework exterior Ethereum, constructing a decentralized verification layer that leverages Bitcoin staking in partnership with Babylon. The answer, in response to the startup, will allow customers to stake BTC on Bitcoin whereas nonetheless securing exterior networks. “With the creation of tons of of 1000’s of rollups, we should create enterprise fashions the place rollups can maintain themselves whereas delivering clear worth to the underside line of builders and end-users,” defined AltLayer’s founder Yaoqi Jia concerning the startup’s work to scale decentralized functions deployment on the Ethereum community, including that “restaked rollups are actually on the core of this imaginative and prescient.” Further traders within the spherical embody HashKey Capital, OKX Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Primitive Ventures and SevenX, amongst others.
Congratulations @alt_layer!
They’ve efficiently closed a strategic funding spherical of $14.4 million, with HashKey Capital proudly collaborating on this milestone.#HashKeyportfolionews https://t.co/mUqyW8gmUN
— HashKey Capital (@HashKey_Capital) February 22, 2024
AI-powered prediction platform PredX raises $500,000 in pre-seed spherical
PredX, a synthetic intelligence (AI)-enabled prediction market, has efficiently raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding, reaching a $20 million valuation, in response to a press release. The spherical was led by Penrose Tech, with help from Malana Ventures. Incubated by the SEI chain, PredX permits customers to commerce predictions on present tendencies and occasions, comparable to elections, and buy shares based mostly on the chance of an occasion or consequence. The startup makes use of blockchain to report all transactions for transparency and integrates AI to customise occasion options and analyze huge quantities of information on cryptocurrencies, know-how, and celebrities. PredX has additionally utilized for patents for 2 AI algorithms and is making ready to launch its testnet quickly, with plans to help the EVM ecosystem.
Ouinex raises over $4 million from neighborhood via seed and personal rounds
Digital belongings buying and selling platform Ouinex has raised over $4 million from its seed and first non-public funding rounds. The funding was solely raised throughout the Ouinex neighborhood of merchants from conventional finance, stated the corporate. The startup was based by former TradFi executives in 2022. The funds might be used to boost the platform’s options and acquire extra regulatory licenses. “Our dedication to a user-driven strategy not solely aligns with the rules of decentralization but additionally ensures that our neighborhood members should not simply traders and customers however energetic contributors in shaping the way forward for Ouinex,” stated Ilies Larbi, CEO of Ouinex.
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