VC roundup: blockchain startups secure $109.3m in major funding rounds

In this text, several crypto-related companies have announced successful funding rounds. Here’s a summary of each announcement:

This week, a total of 34 blockchain startups secured approximately $109.3 million in investments through various funding rounds, ranging from series A to grants.

This week, some of the most significant financing rounds showcased a varied assortment of groundbreaking initiatives that are expanding the horizons of web3, privacy, identity, and related fields. Let’s delve into the key funding endeavors of the past week:

Nexus Laboratories secures $25m series A round

Nexus Labs, a web3 company focusing on creating scalability and privacy solutions using zero-knowledge technology, successfully secured $25 million in their Series A funding round.

Excitedly announcing the closing of a $25 million Series A investment, jointly spearheaded by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Pantera Capital, along with contributions from Dragonfly and other esteemed investors. This funding will be instrumental in expanding Nexus 1.0 zkVM’s computational capacity to an astonishing 1 trillion Hz.
— Nexus (@NexusLabsHQ) June 11, 2024

Lightspeed Venture Partners and Pantera Capital teamed up to take the lead in the investment round, while Dragonfly Capital, Faction Ventures, and the Blockchain Builders Fund also chipped in with their contributions.

Following a prior $2.2 million seed investment in 2022, the company intends to utilize this fresh funding for advancing the creation of a novel zero-knowledge virtual machine named Nexus 1.0.

Layer3 raises $15m to change onchain identity

As a financial analyst based in New York, I can report that Layer3 secured the second largest funding round of the week, raising a total of $15 million during their Series A financing.

Collaboratively spearheaded by ParaFi and Greenfield Capital, Electric Capital and King River took part in the financing round.

As a researcher studying the blockchain industry, I can tell you that Layer3’s omnichain identity and distribution protocol simplifies user interaction and token transfer across over 25 different blockchains, reaching millions of users worldwide. Based on their announcement, this fresh funding will enable them to accelerate the adoption and development of their technology in the cryptocurrency sector.

NEAR Foundation spinout Nuffle Labs garners $13m

The NEAR Foundation officially unveiled Nuffle Labs, raising a total of $13 million in financing during the announcement.

“The goal of this undertaking is to enhance NEAR’s modular capabilities and encourage decentralized growth. It receives support through a grant from the foundation as well as investments from Electric Capital, Canonical Crypto, Fabric Ventures, and Robot Ventures, among other contributors.”

There’s plenty to be excited about: The future is right around the corner!
We’re elated to invest in @NuffleLabs, a new venture born from our existing partner @NEARProtocol.
With a $13M investment, we’re all in on their goal to boost modularity within NEAR and strengthen its ecosystem.
— Fabric Ventures (@fabric_vc) June 14, 2024

Nuffle Labs announced its intention to leverage NEAR’s efficient data availability and swift finality layer solutions to bring forth rollups and foster ecosystem growth.

Ava Protocol completes $10m seed funding

The Ava Protocol, previously named OAK Network, secured $10 million in their seed financing phase. This amount was divided into two parts: an initial investment of $5.5 million followed by an additional $4.5 million in a later seed extension round.

As an analyst, I can share that Ava Protocol, formerly known as Oak Network, has successfully closed a Seed+ funding round with a total investment of $4.5 million. Notable investors in this round include Electric Capital, Taisu Ventures, Bloccelerate, and BingX Official, among others.— TOP 7 ICO | #StandWithUkraine🇺🇦 (@top7ico) June 12, 2024

These investors, including Electric Capital, Taisu Ventures, and Shima Capital, support Ava’s goal of creating intent-focused, event-triggered autonomous transactions on Ethereum and other platforms.

This financing facilitates the creation of automated smart contracts that can execute transactions across different blockchains in accordance with specified terms.

Irys concludes $8.9m strategic round

Irys, previously known as Bundlr Network, recently secured $4.8 million in a strategic investment round, with Lemniscap taking the lead.

The startup focuses on improving on-chain data management and combating misinformation.

Having handled approximately 1.9 billion transactions, the plan is to allocate the funds towards enhancing the scalability and efficiency of blockchain infrastructure.

Symbiotic secures $5.8m for shared security protocol

As a crypto investor, I’m excited to share that Symbiotic, a promising crypto startup specializing in the development of a shared security protocol, successfully secured $5.8 million in a seed funding round this week. This investment was spearheaded by prominent venture capital firms Paradigm and cyber.Fund.

The company revealed on June 12 that it intends to allocate the funds towards expanding its business and advancing its projects. Specifically, it plans to facilitate the growth of decentralized networks and foster sovereign ecosystems by implementing customized restaking solutions.

Kima Network raises $5m in pre-seed funding

Lastly, Kima Network, headquartered in Israel, unveiled the completion of a $5 million pre-seed investment round. This financing was spearheaded by Blockchange Ventures and FinSec Innovation Lab.

Kima Network has disclosed the completion of a $5M pre-seed financing round. This funding was obtained through both equity and token investments. Some of the investors include Blockchange Ventures, Mastercard’s FinSec Innovation Lab, OVio, and Big Brain Venture Capital.
— 🇺🇦 CryptoDep #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 (@Crypto_Dep) June 12, 2024

The startup is working on connecting conventional finance methods with decentralized finance technologies using its decentralized payment system.

As a researcher, I’ve discovered that Outlier Ventures, Big Brain Holdings, and Maven Capital were among the investors in Kima’s pre-seed round. These funds will play a crucial role in enabling Kima to advance its web3 settlement infrastructure development.

Paradigm’s new $850m fund

As a crypto investor, I’ve noticed an uptick in venture capital (VC) activity in the crypto space this week. This surge in investment came following Paradigm’s announcement of a new $850 million fund specifically dedicated to investing in fledgling crypto projects. In other words, they’re looking for promising startups in the crypto world that are still in their infancy.

In early April, rumors emerged that Paradigm was planning to raise a significant fund. These reports were confirmed on June 13, establishing Paradigm as a pioneer in the upcoming wave of cryptocurrency initiatives.

The company has consistently advocated for and backed notable figures in the industry, including Uniswap, a decentralized exchange platform, Optimism, which is an Ethereum layer 2 solution, and Flashbots, dedicated to exploring MEV (Minimum Expected Value) concepts.

2024-06-15 20:38