This week, there were a total of 24 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, which is flat compared to the past few weeks, indicating a slow recovery in the market | Investment and Financing Weekly Report

Compiled by: Xi Angxiang

According to ChainCatcher's incomplete statistics, from January 23 to January 29, 2023, there were a total of 24 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a total financing of approximately $261.15 million. The number of financing events and the total amount remained stable compared to the previous weeks, but increased compared to a few months ago, indicating that the cryptocurrency industry is trending towards recovery.

From the perspective of sector distribution, infrastructure, social entertainment, and other categories were the popular sectors last week. There were a total of 7 infrastructure projects, with a total financing of approximately $215.5 million; 5 social entertainment projects, with a total financing of approximately $13.5 million; and 4 projects in other categories, with a total financing of approximately $25.91 million.

In terms of financing rounds and scales, early-stage projects accounted for the largest share, with 18 financing rounds ranging from $1 million to $10 million, and 9 financing rounds belonging to seed rounds. The three projects with the largest financing scale are blockchain infrastructure company Blockstream, blockchain development platform QuickNode, and Web3 infrastructure company Spatial Labs.

(This week's list of projects with financing scales between $5 million and $200 million, data source: Rootdata)

1. Infrastructure

1. NEAR ecosystem private sharding service platform Calimero Network completes $8.5 million seed round financing

NEAR ecosystem blockchain infrastructure company Calimero Network has completed $8.5 million in seed round financing, led by Khosla Ventures, Lyrik Ventures, and NEAR Foundation. This round of financing ended in December 2022, with participation from companies such as GSR, FJ Labs, and Warburg Serres.

It is reported that Calimero Network is a private sharding service platform based on NEAR, allowing companies to store information on private shards while enabling them to interact with public blockchains. The founders of Calimero, Sandi Fatic and Mario Halambek, are among the first infrastructure engineers of the NEAR protocol. (Source link)

2. Web3 social wallet Tribes completes $3.3 million pre-seed round financing, led by Kindred Ventures

Web3 social wallet Tribes announced the completion of $3.3 million in pre-seed round financing, led by Kindred Ventures, South Park Commons, and Script Capital.

Tribes founder and CEO Hish Bouabdallah revealed that this round of financing was completed last October. The Tribes wallet allows users to communicate directly through the wallet instead of using external messaging services like Discord or Twitter. Currently, its app is available on the Apple and Google app stores. (Source link)

3. QuickNode completes $60 million Series B financing at a valuation of $800 million, led by 10T Holdings

According to Cointelegraph, blockchain development platform QuickNode announced the completion of $60 million in Series B financing at a valuation of $800 million, led by 10T Holdings, LLC, with participation from Tiger Global, 776, Protocol Labs, and QED.

The new funds will be used to accelerate the company's global expansion and further enhance the capabilities of builders, laying the foundation for a decentralized, globally interconnected future and simplifying the transition from Web2 to Web3. (Source link)

4. Blockchain infrastructure company Blockstream completes $125 million in convertible notes and secured loan financing

Bitcoin and blockchain infrastructure company Blockstream announced the completion of $125 million in convertible notes and secured loan financing to expand its institutional Bitcoin mining hosting services. The company will use the proceeds from the new capital to expand its mining facilities to meet strong demand for large-scale hosting services.

It is reported that Blockstream's new round of financing did not mention the company's valuation. According to previous reports by Bloomberg, the company is seeking to raise funds at a valuation that is 70% lower than the previous round (below $1 billion). In August 2021, Blockstream completed a $210 million Series B financing at a valuation of $3.2 billion. (Source link)

5. Web3 development platform Bunzz completes $4.5 million seed round financing

Web3 development platform Bunzz has completed $4.5 million in seed round financing, with participation from gjmp, DG Daiwa Ventures, Coincheck, and Ceres. The new funds will be used to help build Bunzz's smart contract hub.

It is reported that Bunzz aims to simplify the complex development process by providing commonly used contracts as development modules and encapsulating the preparation of nodes and the startup of development environments. Since its launch 11 months ago, over 8,000 dApp developers have used Bunzz, and the platform is also a finalist in Singapore's Web3 accelerator program Icetea Lab. (Source link)

6. Web3 infrastructure company Spatial Labs completes $10 million seed round financing, led by Blockchain Capital

Web3 infrastructure company Spatial Labs has completed $10 million in seed round financing, led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from Jay-Z's Marcy Venture.

It is reported that Spatial Labs is a web3 infrastructure company focused on improving the metaverse and commerce. According to ChainCatcher previous reports, Spatial Labs completed $4 million in pre-seed round financing on November 30, 2022. (Source link)

7. Sui ecosystem wallet Ethos completes $4.2 million financing, with participation from Mysten Labs

Sui ecosystem wallet Ethos has completed $4.2 million in seed round financing, led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Boldstart Ventures, with participation from Tribe Capital, Matrix Port, AllianceDAO, and Sui network developer Mysten Labs. (Source link)

2. Social Entertainment

1. Web3 content platform StoryCo completes $6 million seed round financing, led by Collab + Currency and Patron

Web3 content platform StoryCo has completed $6 million in seed round financing, led by Collab + Currency and Patron, with participation from Floodgate Ventures, Blockchange Ventures, Sfermion, Flamingo DAO, angel investors Lloyd Braun, Sabrina Hahn, Packy McCormick, GMoney, and other executives from talent agencies WME and UTA.

It is reported that StoryCo was previously known as Story DAO, and the platform connects creators with consumers outside the traditional Hollywood ecosystem based on blockchain, allowing audiences to collaborate on stories. Its official website avoids most Web3 terminology, referring to NFTs as StoryPass, which holders can access the project's treasury, including NFT sales, IP licensing revenue, and royalties. StoryCo founders Justin and JP Alanis are next-generation media entrepreneurs. (Source link)

2. Japanese virtual IP company Brave Group completes approximately $2.3 million financing, with participation from Animoca Brands Japan

Japanese virtual IP company Brave Group announced the completion of 300 million yen (approximately $2.3 million) in financing, with participation from Animoca Brands' strategic subsidiary Animoca Brands Japan. So far, Brave Group's total financing has reached 3.04 billion yen (approximately $23 million).

It is reported that Brave Group was established in 2017 to expand its local IP business in the metaverse and accelerate global development. In June 2022, Brave Group completed $10 million in financing, with participation from Dawn Capital and OSAKA GAS. (Source link)

3. Web3 virtual gift platform Gifto completes $2.5 million financing, with participation from Poolz Ventures

Web3 virtual gift platform Gifto has completed $2.5 million in financing, with this round of financing invested by Poolz Ventures.

It is reported that Gifto is a project supported by Binance Launchpad, aiming to establish a protocol for gifting items such as electronic greeting cards, PFPs, generative art, or NFTs in the form of red envelopes to friends and family. (Source link)

4. Web3 community incentive startup ValuesCo completes $2.7 million financing

Web3 community incentive startup ValuesCo announced the completion of $2.7 million in seed round financing, with participation from Web3 funds Flori Ventures, Metaweb Ventures, OWN Fund, and angel investors including Celo President Rene Reinsberg.

ValuesCo (formerly Socialstack) creates a community-driven rewards ecosystem for brands, creators, and non-profit organizations, enabling Web3 communities to design and launch social tokens without coding or blockchain knowledge. It also allows users to create wallets instantly via phone/email login, with its products built on Ethereum, Polygon, and Celo blockchains, transforming marketing and community interactions into participatory experiences. (Source link)

5. Metaverse startup Forma Vision completes strategic round financing, with participation from Accenture Ventures

Metaverse startup Forma Vision has completed a strategic round of financing, with Accenture Ventures participating, although the specific investment amount has not been disclosed.

It is reported that users can create holographic images of characters, objects, and environments in the metaverse using Forma Vision, and its real-time streaming service allows people to meet and work in immersive 3D spaces as they would in real life. Accenture launched its flagship metaverse product "Metaverse Continuum" platform last year, and this latest strategic investment aims to help Accenture accelerate its enterprise metaverse business expansion. (Source link)

3. Others

1. Digital asset solution platform Asset Reality completes $4.91 million seed round financing, led by Framework Ventures

London-based digital asset recovery solution Asset Reality has completed $4.91 million in seed round financing, led by Framework Ventures, with participation from TechStars, SGH Capital, and Outrun Ventures founder Chris Adelsbach.

It is reported that Asset Reality is an end-to-end solution for complex assets, providing services and tools for public and private sector companies to investigate, manage, and recover assets. Asset Reality will use this round of financing to triple its engineering team and expand its operations and growth management team. (Source link)

2. Metaverse e-commerce Emperia completes $10 million Series A financing, with participation from Sony Innovation Fund and others

Metaverse as a Service (MaaS) platform Emperia announced the completion of $10 million in Series A financing, with participation from Sony Innovation Fund, Stanford Capital Partners, Base10 Partners, Daphi, Concept Ventures, Background Capital, and others.

It is reported that the metaverse platform built by Emperia can create immersive virtual shopping experiences for brands in the retail industry and build metaverse stores. Its partners currently include luxury giants such as Bloomingdales, Dior, and Lacoste. (Source link)

3. Web3 air quality data company PlanetWatch completes $3 million financing, with participation from Algorand

According to investorsobserver, Web3 air quality data company PlanetWatch announced the completion of a new round of financing of $3 million through a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) and bank loans, led by Borderless Capital, with participation from Algorand Inc. and the Algorand Foundation, with two French banks providing additional liquidity through loans.

It is reported that this round of financing is between seed round financing and subsequent Series A financing. PlanetWatch primarily analyzes and sells air quality data using smart contracts and Web3 business models, and the company plans to use the new funds to strengthen its technical infrastructure, expand its monitoring network, promote business development initiatives, and build the world's largest decentralized air quality monitoring network based on the Algorand blockchain. (Source link)

4. Web3 incubator Tané completes $8 million financing, with participation from B Dash Ventures and others

According to globenewswire, Web3 incubator Tané announced the completion of $8 million in new financing, with participation from DEEPCORE Inc., XTech Ventures Co. Ltd, DeNA Co. Ltd, B Dash Ventures Inc., and a number of individual investors.

It is reported that Tané is distributed across Dubai, New York, and Tokyo, currently led by managing partner Ikuma Mutobe, primarily investing in seed and early-stage Web3 startups and projects, providing guidance in entrepreneurship, finance, engineering, and business development, with a focus on crypto areas including infrastructure (Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains), privacy and cross-chain solutions, security, consumer applications, token economics, DAOs, NFTs, and DeFi. (Source link)

4. DeFi

1. Cryptocurrency trading platform OpenEx completes multi-million dollar seed round financing, led by TKX Capital

Cryptocurrency trading platform OpenEx announced the completion of multi-million dollar seed round financing, led by TKX Capital, with participation from Web3 venture capital Agallochum Capital.

It is reported that OpenEx is supported by former OKX CEO and former Huobi Group CFO Shufei (Chris) Lee and Agallochum Capital. The platform adopts a B2B2C membership model, providing a native order flow management model with high entry barriers common in traditional finance and the cryptocurrency industry to its members, as well as other services such as consulting, teaching, content creation community, and trading assistance. (Source link)

2. Multi-chain custody platform Tholos completes $1.5 million pre-seed round financing

Multi-chain custody platform Tholos has completed $1.5 million in pre-seed round financing, led by North Island Ventures, Lattice Capital, Chainforest, and Dispersion Capital, with participation from Reverie, Alex Zhang, Blockworks co-founder Mike Ippolito, Layer3 founder Brandon Kumar, 369 Capital, Guild founder RAZ, Delphi Digital researcher Can Gurel, FWB treasury director Vasanth Thiruvadi, Arnav Pagidyala, and others.

It is reported that Tholos is a fully multi-chain platform that enables organizations to hold assets and interact with dApps on all major blockchains. Covering EVM and beyond, organizations using Tholos will be able to manage assets across chains, access different ecosystems, and interact natively with any blockchain application. (Source link)

3. Web3 investment management platform Presail completes $150,000 financing, with participation from Axie Infinity founders and others

Community-driven Web3 investment management platform Presail, based in Oslo, Norway, has completed $150,000 in financing, with participation from Trung Nguyen (CEO), Viet And (CTO), Aleksander Leonard Larsen (COO), and Jeffrey Zirlin (Growth), among others.

Previously, according to crypto data platform RootData, Presail completed €3.8 million in seed round financing last September, led by SNÖ Ventures, with participation from Kraken Ventures, Weekend Fund, and angel investors including AngelList Venture CEO Avlok Kohli, AngelList Venture product director Jessica Day, and Sky Mavis/Axie Infinity COO Aleksander Leonard Larsen. (Source link)

5. NFT

1. NFT decentralized trading platform EZswap completes $1 million pre-seed round financing

According to official updates, NFT decentralized trading platform EZswap announced that it has completed $1 million in pre-seed round financing.

It is reported that EZswap is a community-driven multi-chain NFT decentralized trading platform that currently supports Ethereum and Polygon. The EZswap code has been audited by security company Beosin, and it is announced that the official product will be launched at the end of January, along with a joint public market activity with Galxe and Polygon. (Source link)

2. ForChain Labs completes $2 million seed round financing to develop DIY minting NFT project FUC

Web3 startup ForChain Labs has completed $2 million in seed round financing, which will be used to develop and operate a DIY minting NFT project called Fortune Unicorn Club (FUC).

It is reported that FUC allows users to choose features independently during the minting process, providing users with over 500 features to combine their NFT avatars. ForChain Labs hopes that users can use the DIY-Mint method to incorporate their personality and stories into each FUC virtual image. (Source link)

6. Gaming

1. Game studio Voldex receives Series A financing, led by A16z

A16z led the Series A investment in game studio Voldex, with specific amounts not disclosed, and Dune Ventures and Makers Fund continuing to participate, along with new investors such as POW Interactive and Mitch Garber's Lalotte Ventures.

It is reported that Voldex improves the quality of UGC gaming platforms like Roblox and Minecraft by acquiring and enhancing existing games. A16z's Andrew Chen and Jack Soslow stated, "The large and growing user base of these platforms, along with Voldex's deep understanding of the UGC gaming space, positions Voldex for significant growth in the coming years." (Source link)

7. Tools & Information Services

1. Web3 data access platform Edgeln completes $400,000 financing

Web3 data access platform Edgeln announced the completion of $400,000 in financing, with participation from angel investors including Mike Dinsdale from Akkadian Ventures, Mike Borozdin from Google, and Jeremy Clover from Circle.

It is reported that EdgeIn provides verified on-chain and off-chain dataset access services for Web3 companies, projects, and teams, contributing to the decentralized Web3 data ecosystem, unlike Pitchbook and Crunchbase. Its platform has currently attracted data from over 15,000 companies and projects, with approximately 50,000 Web3 companies and projects indexed, and 4,000 active investor profiles. The company expects to launch API access services for the complete dataset in February this year. (Source link)

2. Crypto integration platform Hatchfi completes $1.2 million pre-seed round financing, with participation from Delta Blockchain Fund and OrangeDAO

According to PR Newswire, crypto integration platform Hatchfi announced the completion of $1.2 million in pre-seed round financing, with participation from Delta Blockchain Fund, OrangeDAO, Golden.com CEO Jude Gomilla, and other angel investors.

Hatchfi helps users seamlessly connect crypto accounts to any application, just like connecting bank accounts, including accounting and tax applications, investment platforms, crypto lending applications, financial tracking applications, and even crypto social applications. Unlike other integration platforms, Hatchfi has no connection limits or synchronization credit issues, similar to linking bank accounts through Plaid.

It is reported that the company is preparing for subsequent seed round financing. (Source link)