AI startup Helsing raises €209 million for the defence of democracies

The cryptocurrency industry is drawing an increasing number of institutional players. This is reflected in both new investments in infrastructure and the growing attention companies are paying to Bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of the past weeks are in ForkLog’s overview.

AI startup Helsing raises €209 million for the defence of democracies

Helsing, an AI developer focused on the defence sector, closed a Series B financing round of €209 million.

It was led by venture firm General Catalyst, with the Swedish group Saab as a strategic investor.

The startup was founded in 2021 and specialises in creating military AI-based solutions and components, including for the forthcoming modernization of NATO’s Eurofighter aircraft and the Future Combat Air System programme.

According to the statement, the project focuses on developing modern technologies “for the defence of democratic nations”. The funds raised will be used to grow the business in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

AI startup Imbue raises $200 million at a $1 billion valuation

AI startup Imbue closed a Series B financing round of $200 million. It was led by the Astera Institute, a non-profit founded by former Ripple CTO Jed McCaleb.

Investors included Nvidia, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt, Notion co-founder Simon Last and others. They valued the startup at more than $1 billion.

Representatives said that as part of the rebranding they abandoned the previous name General Intelligent.

Story Protocol raises $54 million to simplify verification of intellectual property rights

The Story Protocol team, an open-source platform for validating intellectual property rights, closed a financing round of $54 million.

It was led by a16z crypto. Investors also included Hashed, Endeavor, Samsung Next, the founder of Dapper Labs Roham Gharegozlou and a number of private investors.

The funding will be used to “democratise verification of intellectual property rights through a global and scalable repository”.

The team plans to provide an optimized structure on the platform to manage the entire lifecycle of intellectual property, including provenance tracking, licensing and revenue sharing.

Pantera Capital leads $16.5 million investment round in DEX Brine Finance

The decentralised exchange Brine Finance closed a financing round worth $16.5 million, at a $100 million valuation.

It was led by Pantera Capital with participation from Elevation Capital, Starware Ltd, Spartan Group, Goodwater Capital, Up Sparks Ventures and Deepthrough Ventures.

Brine Finance is deployed on StarkEx within the L2-network StarkNet. At its core lies the cryptographic mechanism ZK-STARK, one of the forms of zero-knowledge proofs. This technology ensures the privacy of trading positions.

Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund backs Layer N in a $5 million seed round

Layer N, a blockchain startup,raised $5 million in a seed round led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and the decentralised investment group dao5.

Among others: Kraken Ventures, Amber Group, SALT and a number of private investors.

For Founders Fund, Layer N was the second crypto investment in the industry after hiring in April Joey Krug — the former Pantera Capital co-CIO — as a partner.

Krug also participated in the funding as a business angel.

The startup is developing an Ethereum-based Layer 2 blockchain aimed at scaling decentralised finance applications.

According to Krug, Layer N’s long-term goal is to allow centralised exchanges like Binance and Coinbase to offer non-custodial offerings on the L2 network.

Also on ForkLog:

• Report: in August, venture deals in the crypto industry rose by 40%.