Blockchain infrastructure, data analysis and BTC for DeFi attract the attention of investors
The second month of 2024 offers strong prospects for crypto venture capital. Early February saw $16 million in funding from the cross-chain protocol analog, along with another $15 million in capital allocated to the Lava protocol.
Private equity firms Deus X Capital and Bridgetower Capital have been making headlines in the alternative investment space. The companies are launching a new $250 million crypto infrastructure platform aimed at institutional investors in the Middle East.
Venture capitalists also want direct exposure to cryptocurrencies. Peter Thiel's Founders Fund is reportedly investing $200 million into Bitcoin and Ether by 2023.
Cointelegraph's VC Roundup highlights some of the startups that raised capital in the first half of February.
Lava Network raises $15 million in seed funding for its modular network
Lava Protocol has raised $15 million in a seed round led by Jump Capital, Hashkey Capital and Tribe Capital. The funding comes a few months before the mainnet launch in the spring and will be used to support the Lava module network.
The platform seeks to simplify communication between protocols through RPC requests or remote procedure calls. According to the Lava team, the current state of blockchain infrastructure is too fragmented and complex, requiring developers to trade off what they build.
“For a long time, infrastructure providers decide which chains to use – they control the keys to all the doors,” Lava founder Yair Klepper said in a statement. Developers use Lava to build anything.
Other investors in the round include Allianz, Node, North Island, Quiet, Finale, and Scattered Capital, in addition to the founders of Cosmos, Polkadot, Filecoin, Starkware, Acceler, Near, Celestia, and Cello.
We're excited to share $15 million in seed funding for Lava Protocol to build a modular data access layer for Ethereum and web3.
Introducing the next chapter to Minet: Magma.
Wallet users can earn points on @ethereum, @NEARProtocol, @Starknet, @EvmosOrg and @axelarnetwork. pic.twitter.com/RwUTDHF4F4
— Lava Network (@lavanetxyz) February 15, 2024
RW3 Ventures has secured $60 million in blockchain funding
Early stage venture capital firm RW3 Ventures has raised $60 million in capital from Raptor Group and Mubadala Capital, one of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds. The capital will be seeded by RW3's Ventures Fund I LP, which is dedicated to blockchain infrastructure and decentralized finance. The crypto VC is led by two former BitGo executives: Pete Najarian and Joe Bruzesi. The fund targets opportunities from pre-seed to Series A and focuses on groups using blockchain technology to disrupt industries and businesses with potential markets.
Helica raises $8 million from Pantera Capital, among other investors in a Series A round
Data analytics and infrastructure firm Helica has announced the closing of an $8 million Series A round led by Pantera Capital alongside Sparkle Ventures, Diagram Ventures and Sphermion. The funding supports the development of AI-powered game management products. Helica provides off-chain and on-chain analytics, LiveOps and A/B testing products for game studios. Helica is said to have reached seven figures in revenue in less than a year following a $4 million seed round led by Diagram Ventures in early 2023.
Truflation collects $6 million for inflation data
In addition to previous investors, data provider TruFlation has raised $6 million in funding from multiple investors, including Chainlink, Basic Labs, C2squared, Cogitent Ventures, Modular Capital, Abra, G20 and Four Seasons Ventures (4SV). and the Israel Blockchain Association. It collects data from independent, commercial and public sources to measure inflation on a daily basis – an alternative to monthly government data. The company provides independent indexes and data feeds by making them available on-chain through the Chainlink infrastructure.
Omega guarantees $6 million for Bitcoin-DeFi integration
Omega has secured $6 million in funding from multiple investors in three rounds, promising to generate profits for Bitcoin owners. The funding was backed by Lightspeed Faction, Borderless Capital, Bankless Ventures, Wave Digital, Blockchain.com, Blockchain Founders Fund, Kronos Ventures, XTBO Humla, Cadenza, Psalion Ventures, AlphaLab Capital, Side Door Ventures and others. The startup is developing a decentralized platform for Bitcoin (BTC) escrow, allowing users to create products through their Layer-1 Bitcoin holdings. Its beta version is scheduled to be released in the middle of the year.
