Institutional Briefing: ConsenSys raises $450m, Immutable valued at $2.5bn

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

ConsenSys raises $450m at a $7bn valuation

Ethereum-focused solutions company ConsenSys raised $450m in a Series D financing round led by venture firm ParaFi Capital.

Investors also included Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Microsoft, Anthos Capital, Sound Ventures, C Ventures, Third Point, Marshall Wace, True Capital Management and UTA VC from United Talent Agency. Investors valued the company at $7bn.

The raised funds will be converted into Ethereum and deployed to expand the team, redesign MetaMask, integrate with various protocols, develop the Infura infrastructure project, and invest in and develop other tools to grow the ecosystem.

Roofstock raises $240m at a $1.9bn valuation

Roofstock raised $240m in a Series E financing round. The company was valued at $1.9bn.

Investors included Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, Citi Ventures and others. The round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

The funds will enable the firm to focus on innovation, new products, M&A, and headcount growth. The company is exploring blockchain opportunities for asset tokenisation.

In 2021, Roofstock, on behalf of institutional clients, purchased real estate worth $1.2bn.

NFT startup Immutable raises $200m at a $2.5bn valuation

Australian NFT startup Immutable raised $200m in a Series C round led by Temasek of Singapore with participation from Mirae Asset, ParaFi Capital, Declaration Partners, Tencent Holdings and others.

Investors valued Immutable at $2.5bn. The funds will be deployed to pursue growth through mergers and acquisitions.

The Sydney-based firm is best known for NFT games Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians, as well as the Ethereum Layer 2 protocol Immutable X.

Ethereum project Optimism raises $150m at a $1.65bn valuation

Optimism, working on a Layer 2 solution for scaling Ethereum, raised $150m in a Series B round. Investors valued the project at $1.65bn.

Participants included Andreessen Horowitz and Paradigm.

According to the developers, within a year of the mainnet launch, users have saved $1bn on transaction fees.

Mina Protocol raises $92m from FTX, Three Arrows Capital and others

The Mina Protocol raised $92m through strategic and private sales of the MINA token.

The round was led by Three Arrows Capital and FTX Ventures at Amber Group, Blockchain.com, Circle Ventures, Finality Capital Partners, Pantera and a number of other investors, including current ones.

The funds will be used to attract developers to accelerate Mina’s deployment.

The custodian Hex Trust raises $88m from Animoca Brands and Liberty City Ventures

The custodian Hex Trust closed a Series B round worth $88m.

Led by NFT game operator Animoca Brands and venture firm Liberty City Ventures with participation from Ripple, Terra, BlockFi, CoinList, Wintermute, Morgan Creek, Sino Global Capital, Primavera Venture Partners and others.

The funds will be used to expand the team from 100 to 160 by the end of 2022 and to expand into the Middle East and Europe. In April, Hex Trust plans to open an office in Dubai.

Lunar raises €70m and launches a crypto trading platform

Danish fintech startup Lunar raised €70m in a Series D-2 round and launched a platform for trading cryptocurrencies.

The round was led by Heartland with participation from Kinnevik, Tencent and IDC Ventures. Total capital raised in the Series D to date amounts to €280m.

Lunar will deploy the funds to diversify the business into B2B payments and mergers and acquisitions.

The crypto trading platform supports buying and selling Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Polkadot and Dogecoin through the Lunar app. The solution is designed to simplify access to digital assets for Nordic users.

Blockmetrix, a US mining startup, raises $43m

Texas-based American Bitcoin mining startup Blockmetrix raised $43m in a Series B financing round.

The funds will be used to expand the business. The company plans to acquire about 5,000 additional mining devices.

With Series A funding of $7m, the firm previously purchased more than 1,000 ASIC miners. Total capital raised by the startup amounts to $50m.

Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden raises $27m

Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden raised $27m in a Series A financing round.

Led by Paradigm with participation from Sequoia Capital, Solana Ventures, Greylock Partners, Electric Capital and other venture firms.

The funds will help the project focus on the blockchain gaming sector. To that end, Eden Games content hub has been launched, enabling game publishers to share their target pages.

The company also plans to open a Magic Ventures arm in the coming weeks and hire new team members.

Gauntlet raises $23.8m at a $1bn valuation

The cryptocurrency startup Gauntlet raised $23.8m in a Series B round.

Led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Polychain Capital and Paradigm. Investors valued the company at $1bn.

The funds will be used to expand the range of supported products, including options, derivatives and NFTs.

Gauntlet provides DeFi services with tools to optimise key protocol parameters, including capital efficiency, risk, fees and rewards.

Lava Labs raises $10m to develop a multiplayer blockchain game

London-based startup Lava Labs raised $10m to continue developing its debut Web3 game AFAR.

The Series A round was led by Dialectic. Participants included Merit Circle, Dragonfly, Defiance, Animoca, Razer Computer, Weak Simp Cap, Dapper Labs, Maven11 and a number of angel investors.

The valuation of the startup exceeded $100m.

The funds will be used to expand the team and accelerate the development of AFAR — a multiplayer game in which 25 players compete in 4-minute battles across four rounds. The latter combines an obstacle course and shooting elements.

The startup also plans to conduct a sale of 10,000 parcels of virtual land. From Q2, players will be able to use them in a mini-game while the main application is being developed.

Also in ForkLog:

• Bain Capital Ventures launched a crypto fund worth $560m.
• Electric Capital raised $1bn in venture funding.
• Bessemer will invest $250m in NFTs, DAOs and metaverses.
• Calcalist reports StarkWare is planning to raise $100m at a $6bn valuation.
• NYSE operator acquired a stake in the security-token platform tZERO.

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