Dates: 21 – 27, Jan 2024 This week’s most impressive capital infusion:
This week’s funding frenzy saw Sygnum soaring to new heights as they raised a whopping $40M in a strategic funding round from Azimut. But that was just the beginning. From pre-seed to seed, the digital asset industry was buzzing with excitement as new startups secured investments and set their sights on revolutionizing the world of finance.
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Meanwhile, BitFlow raised $1.3M in a pre-seed round from notable investors like Portal Ventures and Bitcoin Frontier Fund. Their decentralized exchange (DEX) for Bitcoin promises to address liquidity challenges in the ecosystem and offer a user-friendly platform built on Bitcoin rails.
B² Network, with their innovative Bitcoin Layer-2 solution, raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round from a powerhouse of investors including Hashkey Capital, OKX Ventures, and IDG Capital. Their goal? To enhance transaction speed, reduce costs, and expand application diversity for Bitcoin, making it a versatile platform for financial services and decentralized applications.
Synonym Finance, a cross-chain credit layer for DeFi professionals, also made a splash with their $1.5M seed funding from Borderless Capital, Robot Ventures, and other prominent names in the industry. Their use of cross-chain technology allows users to access liquidity and borrow volumes across different ecosystems, bridging the gap in the underdeveloped cross-chain lending sector.
Not to be outdone, KEKKAI raised $1.5M in a seed round from Decima, Bixin Ventures, and other top investors, positioning themselves as a security company specializing in Web3 anti-fraud products. Their mobile app acts as a digital guardian for safe crypto transactions, making it a must-have for anyone exploring the Web3 world.
Masa, with their vision of a decentralized “Google” for the AI era, raised $5.4M in a seed round from Anagram, Blizzard, and other industry leaders. Their Zk-data marketplace and network prioritize privacy and incentivize an open economy for personal data, with features like Masa Analytics and Growth campaigns.
The Bagel Network also caught the attention of investors, securing $3.1M in a pre-seed round from CoinFund, Protocol Labs, and other top players. Their decentralized data platform aims to address the issue of concentrated data ownership in the machine learning domain, promoting collaboration and accessibility for data scientists and AI engineers.
Ingonyama, a semiconductor collective focused on designing accelerators for advanced cryptography, raised a staggering $21M in a seed round from IOSG Ventures, Walden Catalyst, and others. Their cutting-edge hardware accelerators for Zero Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) will undoubtedly play a significant role in expanding the applications of this cryptographic technique.
Dinari, with their dShare Platform offering access to real-world asset backed tokens, raised $10M in a seed round from prominent investors like Balaji Srinivasan and Alchemy Ventures. Their platform provides transparent blockchain transactions, immutable proof of ownership, and the ability to transact with your crypto wallet, bringing traditional securities into the world of Web3.
But it wasn’t just startups making headlines this week. Friends With Benefits (FWB), a global community of cultural creators in the web3 space, secured $3M in a seed round from none other than Andreessen Horowitz. With their $FWB tokens, members fund and govern community initiatives, bridging the gap between technology and culture in the Web3 world.
And last but certainly not least, Zorp (Nockchain) raised $5M in a seed round from Delphi Digital, North Island Ventures, and other notable investors. With their proof-of-useful-work blockchain and ZKVM technology, they aim to provide high-throughput capabilities and evolve into a parallel world economy with a focus on provable security and computational freedom
