A total of 16 public financing events occurred in the crypto market last week, with a total of approximately US$86.7 million raised | Investment and Financing Weekly Report
Reprinted from chaincatcher
01/13/2025·1MOrganized by: Luan Peng, RootData
According to incomplete statistics from RootData, between January 6 and January 12, 2024, a total of 16 public investment and financing events occurred in the blockchain and encryption industry, with a cumulative financing of approximately US$86.7 million.
From the perspective of track distribution, the projects that received financing are mainly distributed in the infrastructure and Defi tracks. Popular projects include trusted AI technology company Rena Labs, encrypted data platform SoSoValue , on-chain gaming ecosystem SEED , and DePIN startup Starpower .
In addition, the game-focused L2 blockchain ZKcandy completed US$4 million in financing from Wemix Pte. Ltd., Animoca Ventures, Spartan Group, Perlone Capital, Presto Labs, Flowdesk, Prometheuz, Lecca Ventures, Efficient Frontier, and investors from Stacks, Analog, Angel investors from Mittaria and other projects participated.
(List of projects that raised more than $5 million last week, data source: Rootdata )
1. Infrastructure
According to official news, the AI + DePIN project Privasea has completed Series A financing at a valuation of US$180 million, with a total of US$15 million raised in three rounds. Investors include GSR, Amber and Echo, and early investment institutions include Binance Labs, OKX Ventures, and Nomura's Laser Digital and Gate Labs, etc.
It is reported that Privasea has released the DeepSea test network Beta on January 6. This financing will be used to accelerate the deployment of the main network DeepSea and the research and development of related intelligent agents, and promote the development of human-computer interaction and intelligent agent interaction.
According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, [Privasea](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Privasea?k=NjI2MQ== "Decentralized privacy computing infrastructure") is an AI + DePIN project focused on building a decentralized privacy computing infrastructure. The company's mission is to provide efficient, user-friendly fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) solutions tailored for web2 and web3 environments with a focus on machine learning (ML) applications.
AI-driven RWA L2 network Novastro completes US$1.2 million in seed round financing, led by Woodstock
According to Beincrypto, the AI-driven RWA Layer2 network Novastro announced the completion of a US$1.2 million seed round of financing, led by Woodstock, with participation from Faculty group, Double peak group, Cogitent, X21 and Sam Tapaliya.
According to reports, Novastro is an artificial intelligence-driven real-world asset (RWA) Layer 2 chain that integrates MoveVM and EigenLayer AVS. The network is designed to provide Ethereum-level security while leveraging the efficient scalability of the Move language. Support tokenized revenue applications in RWA and DeFi fields. Its core framework is built around the RUSD stablecoin, which is designed for the tokenization and trading of real-world assets.
Aligned Foundation completes $1 million in community financing
The Aligned Foundation, a decentralized zero-knowledge proof verification layer, tweeted that it has completed $1 million in community financing.
Aligned Layer is a ZK verification layer developed on top of EigenLayer. This will make the verification of any SNARK proof cost-effective, leveraging the security of Ethereum validators without the limitations of Ethereum. As Eigen Layer AVS, it promises to provide an affordable verification and multifunctional proof system for L2 and bridges, meeting critical needs in the blockchain ecosystem.
Trusted AI company Rena Labs completes US$3.3 million in seed round financing, led by Paper Ventures
According to The Block, trusted AI technology company Rena Labs completed a $3.3 million seed round of financing, led by Paper Ventures, with participation from several investment institutions including Lightspeed Faction, Eterna Capital, Lyrik Ventures, Mapleblock Capital, Selini Capital and Keyrock.
Rena Labs plans to use this financing to expand its team, attract developers and industry experts, and strengthen the research and development of its abstract middleware Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). This technology aims to build an infrastructure for trusted AI applications on the chain, enabling intelligent systems to achieve trust and verifiability by default while ensuring user digital sovereignty.
ZKcandy, a L2 blockchain focused on games, completed US$4 million in financing from Wemix Pte. Ltd., Animoca Ventures, Spartan Group, Perlone Capital, Presto Labs, Flowdesk, Prometheuz, Lecca Ventures, Efficient Frontier, and others from Stacks, Analog, Mittaria, etc. Angel investors of the project participated.
The funds will be used to build an EVM gaming ecosystem based on Telegram, work with intellectual property holders, expand the partner network, develop gaming AI agents, and prepare for the mainnet launch in the first half of this year. ZKcandy is developed and operated by iCandy, a subsidiary of Lemon Sky Studios.
According to RootData, ZKcandy is a layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum that utilizes zero-knowledge proofs to speed up transactions and reduce fees. By processing off-chain transactions and leveraging Ethereum’s security, ZKcandy enhances scalability, ensuring faster, more cost-effective transactions while maintaining compatibility with the Ethereum ecosystem.
2. Defi
Berachain ecosystem liquidity aggregator Ooga Booga announced the completion of a strategic round of financing of US$1.5 million, which will be used to accelerate its next phase of development in the Berachain ecosystem. This round of financing was led by Primal, with participating institutions including CitizenX, Quantstamp, Rubik, ViaBTC Capital, TempleDAO, etc. Several angel investors participated, including individual investors from Infinex, GMX, Saison Capital, Movement Labs, etc.
According to RootData , Ooga Booga is a decentralized exchange aggregator based on Berachain that searches multiple different exchanges to find the cheapest cryptocurrency transactions for traders.
Encrypted data platform SoSoValue completed US$15 million in financing, led by Hongshan and others
Encrypted data platform SoSoValue has completed US$15 million in financing at a valuation of US$200 million, led by Hongshan, SmallSpark, Mirana Ventures and Safepal. This round brings the total funding raised to nearly $20 million.
The company plans to use the new funds to continue launching new investment products as part of its SoSoValue Index Protocol. The protocol uses smart contracts to automatically purchase digital assets and package them into encapsulated tokens.
According to RootData, SoSoValue is a one-stop financial research platform for cryptocurrency investors, providing investors with real, high-quality macro market information and assisting investors in conducting more effective investment research. It also provides news and research on an AI-based classification system and connects macroeconomic data with cryptocurrency markets.
3. Games
On-chain gaming ecosystem SEED has received investment from Sui Foundation
The on-chain gaming ecosystem SEED has received strategic investment from the Sui Foundation. The focus of this cooperation is to build a next-generation on-chain gaming ecosystem that combines sustainability, scalability and innovation.
SEED has transformed from a Telegram applet into an on-chain gaming ecosystem based on mass messaging services. With the help of VR, AI and real on-chain logic, the next version of SEED will provide an immersive gaming experience connected to the blockchain.
4. Creator Economy
Web3 AI creator platform Oh completed a US$4.5 million seed round of financing, with participation from Tangent, Big Brain Holdings, Kosmos Ventures, Tagus Capital and Bodhi Ventures. The company plans to use the funding to expand its product offerings and reshape the digital creator economy.
The creator platform’s main product, OhChat, enables the creation of AI-powered “digital twins” for online creators. The platform plans to launch its utility token in the first quarter of 2025, which will be deployed on the Solana blockchain alongside all of the protocol’s on-chain assets.
According to RootData , Oh is an artificial intelligence infrastructure and product for digital creators that supports the ownership of personalized, interoperable artificial intelligence characters, thereby unlocking huge profit opportunities within and outside the ecosystem. Anyone can build and own a supermodel, and creators can have their own digital twin and monetize their likeness without the restrictions of other creator platforms (receiving 80% of the character’s net revenue).
5. Others
Sol Strategies Inc., a Canadian listed company focused on investing in the Solana ecosystem, announced a private placement financing of CAD 27.5 million, with ParaFi Capital committing to fully invest. The funds will be used to expand SOL reserves, expand validator business and daily operations.
This financing includes convertible bond units, each unit contains convertible bonds with a face value of CAD 1,000 and 400 warrants, with an annual interest rate of 2.5%. The conversion price and the exercise price of the warrants are both CAD 2.50/share. The convertible bonds can be redeemed at 112% of the face value plus accumulated interest after three years, and delivery is expected to be completed on January 16, 2025.
DePIN startup Starpower completes US$2.5 million in financing, led by Framework Ventures
DePIN startup Starpower announced the completion of US$2.5 million in financing, led by Framework Ventures, with participation from Solana Ventures and Bitscale Capital.
Starpower is a decentralized energy network that connects energy devices such as air conditioners, electric vehicle chargers and batteries. It provides usage-based algorithms that improve energy efficiency, save electricity bills and reduce energy system volatility by coordinating device charging and discharging.
Solayer announces acquisition of blockchain analytics company Fuzzland
Solana re-pledge platform Solayer tweeted that it has acquired blockchain analysis company Fuzzland. The combined team will focus on Solayer infiniSVM (hardware-accelerated SVM chain for Solana extension), optimizing Solana validator (to increase throughput and Maximizing returns for sSOL holders) and dynamic analysis, formal verification and real-time protection of SVM.
Fuzzland created the smart contract hybrid fuzzer Ityfuzz, which powers many of today's Web3 security companies.
Coinbase acquires browser product Roam.xyz
Roam.xyz announced that it will join Coinbase. Roam founding team members Xen Baynham-Herd (CEO), Ali Fathalian (CTO) and John Granata (CPO) will join Coinbase to accelerate the company's development of on-chain consumer business.
Roam.xyz is committed to building a mobile browser that adapts to the future blockchain Internet. The Roam team stated that the browser product they built has been widely recognized by the community, and they are very proud to provide users with a new on-chain experience. Now, with the addition of Coinbase, the Roam team will focus on building products that support the new open financial system.
TONCASH announces strategic investment from TON Ventures
Telegram cryptocurrency cashback and rewards platform TONCASH has received strategic investment from TON Ventures. TONCASH is currently actively expanding in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.
Ben Usinger, CEO and co-founder of TONCASH, said: "This investment deepens our collaboration with Telegram and The Open Network, allowing us to provide the best online shopping and rewards experience for Web3 users. With strategic support from TON Ventures Next, we are driving the adoption of on-chain payments, engaging millions of users with innovative cashback mechanisms, and redefining how brands connect with customers in the Web3 space.”
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