Institutional Bulletin: Auradine Secures $80 Million, Mezo Raises $21 Million

The cryptocurrency industry continues to attract an increasing number of institutional players. This is evidenced by new investments in infrastructure and the growing attention companies are paying to bitcoin as an asset class. The most significant events of recent weeks are reviewed by ForkLog.

Startup Auradine Secures $80 Million

The blockchain project Auradine, focused on privacy and artificial intelligence, has closed a Series B funding round, raising $80 million.

Thrilled to announce our $80M Series B funding. Getting great customer momentum with $80M in bookings achieved. https://t.co/vPkV3SJcQK#ai #genai #blockchain #bitcoin #bitcoinmining #bitcoininvestments

— Auradine (@Auradine_Inc) April 10, 2024

The investment was provided by Celesta Capital, Mayfield Fund, Marathon Digital, StepStone Group, Top Tier Capital Partners, MVP Ventures, and Maverick Capital.

Auradine is developing “breakthrough solutions in scalability, sustainability, and security,” and also produces Teraflux ASIC miners.

The company has supplied devices to more than 30 leading cryptocurrency mining firms. Auradine’s order volume has reached $80 million.

According to co-founder and CEO Rajiv Khemani, the fresh capital will be used to increase production capacity and accelerate the development of new products.

In May 2023, Auradine raised $81 million in a Series A funding round led by venture firms Celesta Capital and Mayfield.

Bitcoin Scaling Network Mezo Raises $21 Million

The bitcoin scaling network Mezo has closed a funding round, raising $21 million, as reported by The Block.

The round was led by Pantera Capital with participation from Multicoin Capital, Hack VC, ParaFi Capital, Nascent, Draper Associates, Primitive Ventures, Asymmetric Ventures, and other investors.

Mezo founder and CEO of the project Thesis, Matt Luongo, declined to disclose the startup’s valuation but mentioned plans to issue a token. He described the network as an “economic layer” focused on building an application ecosystem based on user needs.

Mezo uses “proof of HODL” as a consensus mechanism. Users will secure the network by locking BTC and MEZO tokens.

According to the project’s website, at the time of writing, its TVL exceeds $81 million. The startup has been entrusted with funds by 2616 hodlers. Mezo employs 48 people, with plans to double the staff by the end of 2024.

Puffer Finance Liquid Restaking Protocol Raises $18 Million

The liquid restaking protocol Puffer Finance has closed a Series A funding round, raising $18 million.

https://t.co/QMz8d8LlP4

— Puffer Finance ? (@puffer_finance) April 16, 2024

The round was led by Brevan Howard Digital and Electric Capital with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, Mechanism Capital, Lightspeed Faction, Consensys, Animoca, GSR, Lemniscap, and other investors.

Co-founder Amir Forouzani stated that the project received funding through a SAFT. The token valuation has risen to $200 million.

According to Defi Llama, at the time of writing, the project’s TVL stands at $1.2 billion, placing it third in the ranking of liquid restaking protocols after Ether.Fi and Renzo.

With the new capital, the team intends to launch the mainnet, which will expand validator participation in the Ethereum ecosystem and enhance its decentralization.

In January, Binance’s venture arm invested an undisclosed amount in Puffer Finance.

DeFi Protocol Centrifuge Raises $15 Million

The decentralized protocol Centrifuge has closed a Series A funding round, raising $15 million.

Centrifuge has raised $15M to scale the adoption of institutional DeFi.

With this round of Series A funding secured, we’re excited to share our key focuses for Centrifuge’s development, innovation, and adoption across the worlds of traditional and decentralized finance: ↓… pic.twitter.com/xYJ57Kai1K

— Centrifuge (@centrifuge) April 17, 2024

The round was led by ParaFi Capital and Greenfield with participation from Circle Ventures, IOSG Ventures, Arrington Capital, Spartan Group, Wintermute Ventures, and other investors.

The funds will be used to create a lending market for RWA based on the L2 network Base from the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, as well as to hire new employees. The company aims to bridge traditional and decentralized finance.

In February 2021, Centrifuge raised $4.3 million in a round led by Galaxy Digital and IOSG Ventures.

DePIN Protocol Uplink Raises $10 Million

DePIN platform Uplink has closed a funding round, raising $10 million led by Framework Ventures.

1/ Happy to announce our round, lead by @hiFramework , and to finally be able to announce the world what we’re building at @uplink_xyz https://t.co/C6iaVrPd6x

— Carlos Lei Santos (@CarlosLeiSantos) April 11, 2024

Uplink provides decentralized network connectivity to create a more distributed and user-managed infrastructure. The project’s goal is to reduce reliance on traditional centralized telecommunications providers.

Users and companies will be able to earn rewards for contributing to or using the network. Uplink plans to launch a token by the end of 2024.

DEX Thruster Raises $7.5 Million at a $70 Million Valuation

The decentralized exchange (DEX) based on Blast — Thruster — has closed a seed funding round, raising $7.5 million.

We’re excited to announce a seed round led by @panteracapital to help power yield-first DeFi!

The round saw strategic participation from @okx_ventures, @mirana, @paraficapital, @dewhalescapital, @manifoldtrading, founders and backers across the @Blast_l2 eco, amongst others. pic.twitter.com/skdD0rsSAv

— Thruster (@ThrusterFi) April 18, 2024

The round was led by Pantera Capital with participation from OKX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, ParaFi Capital, Manifold Ventures, Arche Fund, and other investors.

The project’s valuation reached $70 million, a representative of the startup, known by the pseudonym 0xFri, told The Block.

Thruster was launched in March as the first DEX on Blast. According to Defi Llama, at the time of writing, the project’s TVL stands at $303 million.

The funds will be used to continue working with leading developers. The capital will also be used to expand the team from ten people and create a roadmap.

Also on ForkLog:

• A competitor to Solana and Ethereum raised $225 million from Paradigm and other investors.
• Venture firm Andreessen Horowitz raised $7.2 billion.