Venture capitalists are pumping more money into fewer deals.
That’s according to the latest VC report from London-based analytics firm, GlobalData. The trend is especially evident in the U.S. where total VC funding raised by startups improved by 2.4% year-over-year from January to July. However, there was a 41% decline in VC deal volume.
Still, the U.S. “continues to lead the global VC landscape with a significant gap” over its peers (i.e., China, Europe) leading both in deal count and funding value, driven by a surge in deals exceeding $100 million.
Venture rounds in the crypto sector rarely reach that level. This year’s exceptions include Berachain, the bear-themed blockchain platform, which secured $100 million in funding, and Farcaster, a decentralized social protocol, raising $150 million in a series A round.
Still, crypto startups continue to attract plenty of investor love, and this past week was no different. According to crypto fundraising tracker, Crypto Fundraising, over $141 million was raised between Aug. 25 and Aug. 31.
Below we look at a few standouts (not including the funding rounds with undisclosed amounts).
Bridge, $58 million
- Bridge, a global stablecoin payment network, has raised $58 million in funding thus far, including $40 million in fresh capital.
- Sequoia, Ribbit and Index are among its backers, according to Fortune, which broke the story.
- The startup, co-founded by former Square and Coinbase executives Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, now counts Coinbase among its customers — the other being SpaceX.
Edge Matrix Chain, $20 million
- Edge Matrix Chain, which specializes in multi-chain artificial intelligence infrastructure, collected $20 million in a round led by Amber Group and Polygon Venture.
- One Comma, Kapley Judge and Associated Corporations, Cyberrock Venture Fund, Candaq Fintech Group, Hameem Raees Chowdhury also joined the effort.
- Edge Matrix hopes to put the funds toward a Layer 1 blockchain and, ultimately, introduce a new DeFi asset class backed by tokenized real-world GPU resources.
Space and Time, $20 million
- Space and Time, or SxT, nabbed $20 million in a Series A round that included Cypher Capital, Framework Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, Arrington Capital and Hivemind Capital.
- The startup — offering index data for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Polygon (MATIC) ecosystems — raised $50 million in total.
- Other backers include Microsoft’s M12 Ventures, DCG, F-Prime Capital, OKX Ventures, Circle Ventures and Alumni Ventures, Fortune reported.
Solayer, $12 million
- Solayer Labs clinched $12 million in seed funding. Polychain Capital led the round; Big Brain Holdings, Hack VC, Nomad Capital, Race Capital, ABCDE, and Maelstrom also participated.
- The startup is developing a Solana (SOL) restaking protocol.
Gameplay Galaxy, $11.17 million
- Gameplay Galaxy, a web3 video game studio, amassed $11.17 million as part of a seed extension round.
- Blockchain Capital and Merit Circle co-led the round; Several anonymous investors also took part.
Myco io, $10 million
- UAE-based Web3 streaming platform, Myco, completed the first closing of its Series A funding round, which included a $10-million sum.
- Daman Investments, Aptos Labs, B Digital, Mocha Ventures, Art3 Foundation, Ghaf Capital Partners, Mix Media Network, Factor6 Capital Partners, and Enjinstarter joined the campaign along with 88 accredited investors via Republic.com.
Double Jump Tokyo, $10 million
- SBI Investment led a $10-million Series D funding round for Japanese web3 game maker Double Jump.Tokyo, a developer of blockchain games and infrastructures.
- Sony Group, Taisu Ventures, Gate Ventures, TM Capital and Bing Ventures also participated.
Additional funding rounds
- Quai Network, $5 million
- OneBalance, $5 million
- Chainbound, $4.6 million
- SnakeLite, $4 million
- Nectar AI, $3.9 million
- Level Protocol, $3.6 million
- Echelon Market, $3.5 million
- Time Fun, $3 million
- Verofax, $3 million
- Kredete, $2.25 million
- Legion, $2 million
- Origami Finance, $1.5 million
For last week’s edition of our “Crypto VC roundup,” click here.