Financing Weekly Report | 22 public financing events; Crypto Wallet Phantom announced the completion of a $150 million Series C financing, with a valuation of $3 billion

Highlights of this issue

According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 22 blockchain investment and financing events around the world last week (1.13-1.19), with a total funding of over US$450 million, a significant increase compared to the previous week. An overview is as follows:

• DeFi announced two investment and financing events, among which Global Token Exchange (GTE), a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the MegaETH blockchain, announced that it raised $10 million in three rounds of financing;
• The Web3 Games track announced two investment and financing events, among which Hyve Labs completed a $2.75 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Framework Ventures;
• Three investment and financing events were announced in the AI+Web3 field, among which Crypto x AI company Reppo Labs announced the completion of a $2.2 million financing, with Protocol Labs and others participating in the investment;
• The Infrastructure & Tools sector announced 9 investment and financing events, among which Phantom announced the completion of a US$150 million Series C financing, led by Sequoia Capital and Paradigm;
• Three investment and financing events were announced in the Others category, among which Tapestry, a social graph protocol based on Solana, completed a $5.75 million Series A financing;
• Centralized finance announced three investment and financing events. Crypto bank Sygnum announced the completion of a $58 million strategic financing led by Fulgur Ventures.

DeFi

MegaETH-based DEX GTE raises $10 million in three rounds

Global Token Exchange (GTE), a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the MegaETH blockchain, has raised $10 million in three rounds of financing. GTE co-founder Enzo Coglitore revealed that the financing included a $1.5 million Pre-Seed round, a $6.942 million Seed round, and $2.5 million in community financing from Echo. The Pre-Seed round was completed in the third quarter of 2024, the Seed round was completed in the fourth quarter, and the Echo round of financing just ended last week. GTE's venture investors include Maven 11, Wintermute, Flow Traders, Robot Ventures, IMC Trading, Guy Young of Ethena, Max Resnick of Anza, and undisclosed traders from Jump Trading.

RWA tokenization platform Brickken completes $2.5 million seed round

Brickken, a Barcelona-based RWA tokenization platform, has completed a $2.5 million seed round, with a post-investment valuation of more than $22.5 million. Participants in the seed round include Psalion, Ergodic Fund, SNZ Capital, Blue Bay Ventures, Mocha, and Hodl Ventures. According to reports, Brickken has tokenized assets worth more than $250 million in less than two years and is preparing to launch an enterprise-level AI agent. Brickken is also the official tokenization solution provider for BNBChain.

Web3 Games

Web3 gaming company Hyve Labs completes $2.75 million Pre-Seed round of financing

Web3 gaming company Hyve Labs has completed a $2.75 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Framework Ventures, with participation from Volt Capital, Builder Capital, 32 Bit Ventures and many angel investors. Hyve Labs intends to use the funds to expand its team and develop core infrastructure, such as launching a testnet chain, the first game, and other on-chain assets. It is reported that Hyve Labs has developed a game rollup built using technologies such as the decentralized data availability service EigenDA as a game launcher. The protocol also allows Hyve to be integrated into Telegram, Discord, Farcaster, and other social platforms.

BeraTone Completes $2 Million Seed Round, Led by Animoca Brands

Blockchain game project BeraTone announced the completion of a $2 million seed round of financing, led by Animoca Brands, with participation from SNZ Holding, Citizen X, Avid3, Metazero Capital and other institutions and angel investors. This round of financing will be used for team expansion, feature development and improving the gaming experience. BeraTone is a farm life simulation game developed based on Berachain, combining the blockchain's Proof of Liquidity consensus mechanism to provide players with tradable game assets and a powerful economic ecosystem. The game is inspired by "Harvest Moon", "Stardew Valley" and "Animal Crossing", and creates an attractive bear-themed virtual world through rhythm challenges, social interactions and other gameplay.

AI

NULS receives $3.4 million in funding led by Ape Terminal to advance its transformation to AI

Blockchain infrastructure platform NULS announced on X Platform that Ape Terminal has officially completed the acquisition of NULS and pledged to invest $3.4 million to promote artificial intelligence innovation in the NULS ecosystem. This investment marks the strategic transformation of NULS, focusing on promoting artificial intelligence applications in the ecosystem. According to reports, NULS is a blockchain infrastructure platform headquartered in Singapore that provides cross-chain consensus, multi-chain mechanisms and smart contract support. The Parachain architecture and ChainBox functions provided by NULS currently integrate cross-chain interoperability of more than 40 mainstream blockchains, and it is the first public chain network to support multiple assets such as BTC/ETH as gas fees.

Crypto x AI company Reppo Labs raises $2.2 million

Crypto x AI company Reppo Labs announced the completion of US$2.2 million in financing, with participation from Protocol Labs, CV VC, CMS Holdings, etc., part of which was raised on Echo.xyz. The new funds will be used to develop key infrastructure to enable permissionless collaboration between data owners and AI developers and agents on niche data sets. According to reports, Reppo Labs was spun off from Protocol Labs Venture Studio in March 2024. Reppo is a permissionless network that facilitates seamless collaboration between AI developers and data owners through co-ownership of intent and intellectual property (IP). Reppo introduced "Pods", which are sovereign human-machine collections that act as reasoning DAOs, allowing individuals or groups to manage and monetize AI assets.

AI-driven cryptocurrency analysis platform Mind AI completes $1.2 million in strategic financing

AI-driven cryptocurrency analysis platform Mind AI announced the completion of a strategic financing of US$1.2 million, with participation from aixcb, Castrum Istanbul, Dewhales, SMO Capital, Metazero Capital, X21 Digital, Lunar Labs Capital, Zephyrus Capital, AlfaCatalyst, Decubate, Maven Capital, Unreal Capital, GAINS Associates, Coinvestor Ventures, Kef Ventures, Carbon Browser, Danxia Capital, and Unicorn Ventures. According to reports, Mind AI is a cryptocurrency analysis platform that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide investors with insights into the digital asset market, with the goal of converting social signals into profitable trading decisions driven by artificial intelligence.

Infrastructure & Tools

Crypto wallet Phantom completes $150 million Series C financing with a valuation of $3 billion, led by Sequoia Capital and Paradigm

Crypto wallet Phantom announced the completion of a $150 million Series C financing round, with a valuation of $3 billion. This round of financing was jointly led by Sequoia Capital and Paradigm, with other investors also participating. It is reported that Phantom plans to use the new funds to accelerate the popularization of cryptocurrencies and promote its transformation into the world's largest consumer financial platform. Since its launch in 2021, Phantom has had 15 million monthly active users, supported 85 billion on-chain transactions, and managed $25 billion in self-custodial assets. In 2024, Phantom strengthened security and infrastructure construction by acquiring Bitski and Blowfish. In the future, Phantom will increase investment in social functions and peer-to-peer payments to further simplify the user experience.

Crypto startup 1Money completes $20 million seed round of financing, with Hack VC and others participating

Crypto startup 1Money has completed a $20 million seed round of financing to build the Layer1 network "1Money Network" designed for stablecoin payments. More than a dozen participants in this round of financing include F-Prime Capital, Galaxy Ventures, Hack VC, Kraken Ventures, MoonPay Ventures, and Bankless Ventures. Brian Shroder, co-founder and CEO of the startup, said in a statement: "1Money will make stablecoin payments more convenient and practical for everyday use cases, from paying friends to making e-commerce purchases and remittances."

Crypto wallet technology company Dfns completes $16 million financing, led by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ

Paris-based crypto wallet technology company Dfns has completed a $16 million financing led by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ. Other investors include market makers Wintermute, Motive Partners, Bpifrance, and Motier Ventures, the family office of the owner of Galeries Lafayette Group. According to reports, Dfns was founded in 2020. The technology developed by the company allows developers to more easily build and securely manage digital asset wallets. Its customers include Fidelity International, Zodia Custody, and Bridge, a stablecoin company acquired by Stripe last year. The startup plans to expand its headcount from the current 25 to 35 people. It raised $13 million in 2022.

WalletConnect developer Reown completes $13 million Series B financing, led by USV and 1kx

Reown announced the completion of a $13 million Series B financing, led by Union Square Ventures (USV) and 1kx, with other investors including SC Ventures, SBI Holdings, Shopify Ventures, Kraken Ventures, etc. To date, Reown has raised a total of $38 million. As the developer of WalletConnect Network, Reown focuses on improving the on-chain user experience (UX). This round of financing will be used to accelerate the development of its core products AppKit and WalletKit to simplify the user interaction process on the blockchain.

Merit Systems closes $10 million in funding to solve open source developer incentive problem

Merit Systems, headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, announced the completion of a $10 million seed round of financing, led by Andreessen Horowitz's crypto fund and Blockchain Capital. Merit is committed to solving the long-standing "attribution problem" by establishing a protocol that provides fair attribution and reward mechanisms for open source developers, allowing users to pay software creators directly. Merit was co-founded by Sam Ragsdale, Ryan Sproule and Mason Hall, and is currently valued at $55.5 million. A wider product version is expected to be launched at the end of February. The company is located in the Domino Sugar Factory office building in Brooklyn and plans to add seven employees in the coming months to create a team culture based on on-site collaboration.

Cross-chain infrastructure SYNTHR has completed $10 million in financing, with NGC Ventures and others participating

The cross-chain infrastructure SYNTHR announced that it has completed five rounds of financing and raised a total of US$10 million, with participation from Kronos, NGC Ventures, Morningstar Ventures and others. In addition, the project has also received 11 grants.

Bitcoin infrastructure Alpen Labs completes $8.5 million strategic financing, led by Cyber ​​Fund and others

Alpen Labs, a financial infrastructure on the Bitcoin chain, announced the completion of a strategic financing of US$8.5 million, led by DBA and Cyber ​​Fund. Ribbit Capital, Castle Island Ventures and Geometry are the largest investors in its seed round of financing, and they once again supported Alpen in this round of financing. This round of funds will help it accelerate the development of Bitcoin ZK Rollup "Strata" and release it to the mainnet in 2025. According to reports, Strata will be launched as an open platform to expand and promote the use of Bitcoin, which will unlock many practical functions for Bitcoin: simple self-custody, intuitive and privacy-protecting payments, interoperability, Bitcoin-backed lending and stablecoins, and many other on-chain applications. Strata will be open to the public from next month with the upcoming test network.

EarnOS Completes $5 Million Seed Round to Promote a New Privacy-First Advertising Model

EarnOS announced the completion of a $5 million financing round led by EV3 Ventures, with participation from Animoca Brands, GD1, Laser Digital, and strategic partners including Burnt XION, Mysten Labs, and Opacity Network. EarnOS aims to disrupt the traditional advertising model by allowing brands to directly reward users’ interest and interaction with stablecoins while protecting user privacy through zkTLS technology. It is based on the XION wallet-free blockchain, simplifies the complexity of Web3, and creates a more user-friendly crypto advertising solution for mainstream users. EarnOS plans to promote mutual trust and transparent cooperation between users and brands in the digital economy through the upcoming crowdfunding system and privacy protection features.

Web 2.5 infrastructure company Torram completes $710,000 Pre-Seed round of financing

Web 2.5 infrastructure company Torram announced the completion of a $710,000 Pre-Seed round of financing, with participation from Draper Associates, Blockchain Founders Fund, Boost VC, Side Door Ventures, Deep Ventures, MH Ventures, Silvermine Capital and Trive Digital.

other

social contact:

Solana Ecosystem Social Graph Protocol Tapestry Completes $5.75 Million Series A Funding, Led by Union Square Ventures and Fabric Ventures

Tapestry, a social graph protocol based on Solana, has completed a $5.75 million Series A financing round, which was jointly led by Union Square Ventures and Fabric Ventures, with participation from Stellation Capital, Slow Ventures, and Foresight Ventures. This round of financing values ​​Tapestry's equity at $35 million and the token network at $70 million, bringing the total financing amount to $12.5 million. Tapestry focuses on providing infrastructure with integrated social functions for blockchain applications, using Solana's state compression technology to reduce costs. The team plans to expand to other blockchain ecosystems, such as Aptos and Monad, and adopt a freemium model to provide services to developers, while exploring future data reading and writing protocol charging models.

Oh Completes $4.5 Million Seed Round and Plans to Launch Its Token on Solana in Q1 of This Year

Innovation platform Oh has completed a $4.5 million seed round of financing, and plans to empower the creator economy through the integration of AI and Web3 technologies. This round of financing was led by well-known institutions such as Tangent, Big Brain Holdings, and Kosmos Ventures, and angel investors such as Yan Liberman of Delphi Ventures participated in the support. Oh focuses on providing disruptive solutions for creators and users through the personalized capabilities of AI and the decentralized and anti-censorship characteristics of Web3. Its core products include AI-driven OhChat, with users in 174 countries, and in the future, it will also launch "superModels" - the next generation of AI digital creators with dynamic interaction and social capabilities.

AI-driven Web3 social platform Metya completes new round of financing, with participation from TIDO Capital and others

AI-driven Web3 social platform Metya announced the completion of a new round of financing, with investors including TIDO Capital, Candaq Ventures and Oasis Labs. Metya is an innovative Web3 platform that integrates DePIN infrastructure, AI Agent technology and on-chain social protocols. The platform combines AI and blockchain technology to provide personalized social experience and value-driven interaction. The upcoming AI Agent function will further enhance the intelligence and fun of user interaction on the chain.

Centralized Finance

Crypto Custody Company Komainu Completes $75 Million Funding, Blockstream CEO Joins Board of Directors

Komainu Holdings Ltd., a crypto custody company backed by Nomura Holdings, announced that it has raised $75 million from Blockstream Capital Partners. The financing will be used to support Komainu's global expansion plans after obtaining regulatory approval and integrate the collateral management and tokenization technology developed by Blockstream Corp. In addition, Blockstream CEO Adam Back will join Komainu's board of directors to further strengthen the cooperation and technical integration between the two parties.

Crypto Bank Sygnum Completes $58 Million Strategic Financing, Valuation Exceeds $1 Billion

Sygnum, a crypto bank headquartered in Switzerland and Singapore, announced the completion of a strategic financing of US$58 million, with a valuation exceeding US$1 billion, officially joining the ranks of unicorns. The financing was led by Fulgur Ventures, which focuses on Bitcoin technology, and new and old investors and team members participated in the financing. The funds will be used to expand the product portfolio (with a focus on Bitcoin technology), enhance compliance capabilities, expand institutional infrastructure, and explore strategic acquisition opportunities. Sygnum plans to strengthen its European business and establish a regulated institution in Hong Kong. The bank currently manages more than US$5 billion in assets and serves more than 2,000 customers from 70 countries. In 2024, Sygnum achieved full-year profitability, with total transaction volume increasing by more than 1,000% year-on-year.

AI-driven crypto exchange VOOX receives $50 million investment from Pinnacle Capital

AI-driven crypto exchange VOOX announced that it has received a $50 million investment from Pinnacle Capital. This round of financing will be mainly used for infrastructure construction, strengthening security measures, and strengthening marketing efforts to attract users. At the same time, VOOX will accelerate its integration with artificial intelligence and actual needs. In addition, Pinnacle Capital will provide strategic guidance to ensure that VOOX meets key regulatory compliance requirements while optimizing its business model for sustainable growth. According to reports, VOOX Exchange is an AI-driven crypto exchange founded in 2022 and headquartered in Singapore. The platform offers cryptocurrency spot trading, margin trading, futures trading, copy trading, and AI trading strategies designed to optimize user returns.