Institutional Bulletin: Iris Energy Raises $413 Million, Peter Thiel Backs AI Startup on Polygon

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. ForkLog reviews the most significant events of recent weeks.

Morgan Creek to Launch $500 Million Web3 Fund

Morgan Creek Digital plans to raise up to $500 million for a new Web3 fund targeting artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, chips, and data processing, reports CoinDesk citing a press release.

The firm also intends to expand its regional presence in Europe, Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Middle East. To this end, the venture player is in talks with local officials and industry experts.

“With the global reach of Web3, the company will spend more time in international markets, aiming to connect with top CEOs and partners,” stated Morgan Creek Digital.

The new fund will invest in projects that “seek to combine the power of AI, blockchain, and related chips to extract value from data.” The primary focus is on startups that integrate multiple business areas.

As an example, the company cited a developer of high-performance processors that can be used for AI training in data centers or bitcoin mining.

Morgan Creek Digital forecasts that in 2024, investments in generative AI in Asia-Pacific countries will triple to $3.4 billion. Simultaneously, the Middle East is “experiencing a renaissance of new cutting-edge technologies,” according to the firm’s representatives.

Since its founding in 2018, Morgan Creek Digital has raised over $440 million and holds about 80 equity positions.

Iris Energy Secures $413 Million for Mining Expansion

Australian bitcoin mining company Iris Energy raised approximately $413.4 million through a stock offering to expand its business post-halving.

According to a press release, from May 15 to June 28, the firm sold 39.8 million of its own securities. The miner aims to achieve a hash rate of 30 EH/s and increase data center capacity to 510 MW.

The “additional cash buffer” will be used for equipment purchases in 2025 and other corporate purposes, the company emphasized.

According to a report for the first quarter, Iris Energy earned $53.4 million from bitcoin mining. In the previous period, the figure was $42 million. The company’s net profit after income tax increased to $8.6 million from $5.2 million in the previous quarter.

According to MarketWatch, on July 12, the firm’s shares closed at $12.31, rising nearly 10% during the trading session. Since the beginning of the year, the miner’s securities have increased by 85%.

Peter Thiel Invests in AI Startup on Polygon

Sentient, an AI platform on the Polygon blockchain, raised $85 million with participation from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Pantera Capital, Framework Ventures, and other investors. The firm creates open-source AI models with community involvement.

One of the startup’s founders is Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal. He stated that he focused on the new project to expand the L2 network in the AI field.

Other project leaders include:

• Pramod Viswanath, professor of engineering at Princeton University;
• Himanshu Tyagi, professor of engineering at the Indian Institute of Science;
• Venture studio Sensys, creating advanced products and applications for Sentient.

“AI today has become incredibly centralized, and its safety and ethics are questionable. Therefore, community-created AI models are key,” noted Nailwal.

Sentient will be based on Polygon, creating its own chain using the Polygon Chain Development Kit. The project is expected to launch a test network in the third quarter.

Investors Allocate $16 Million to Bitcoin Restaking Project Lombard

The Lombard protocol for restaking the first cryptocurrency raised $16 million in seed funding led by Polychain Capital.

Lombard is excited to announce our $16M seed round to kick-start the Bitcoin restaking ecosystem led by @polychain!

With additional participation from @babylon_chain, @daofive, @FTI_Global, @ForesightVen, @mirana, @0xMantleEco Fund, @NomadCapital_io, @OKX_Ventures, and… pic.twitter.com/QOlsrlQcz5

— Lombard (@Lombard_Finance) July 2, 2024

BabylonChain, Inc., dao5, Franklin Templeton, Foresight Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Mantle EcoFund, Nomad Capital, and others participated in the fundraising.

Lombard will use the funding to develop the bitcoin restaking ecosystem in collaboration with Babylon. The solution will issue LBTC liquidity tokens after locking assets in the partner protocol.

“Lombard aims to transform bitcoin from a store of value into a productive asset that will flow into the Web3 economy and contribute to sustainable growth through the flagship product LBTC,” the company stated.

The startup plans to integrate LBTC into Ethereum DeFi protocols later this year.

RedStone Oracle Closes $15 Million Funding Round

Modular blockchain oracle provider RedStone raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Arrington Capital.

RedStone is excited to announce a $15M Series A fundraising round, led by @Arrington_Cap to expand its Modular Oracle product ♦️? pic.twitter.com/d8wNIJ0uPr

— RedStone Oracles ♦️ (@redstone_defi) July 2, 2024

Other investors include Kraken Ventures, White Star Capital, Spartan Group, Amber Group, SevenX Ventures, and IOSG Ventures, as well as several business angels.

RedStone began raising funds for the investment round in April and closed it in June, said the project’s founder and CEO Jakub Wojciechowski.

The funding was structured as a simple agreement for future tokens. Wojciechowski added that RedStone “has no equity component at all” and declined to comment on the valuation.

“Thanks to the modular architecture, launching our oracles in new networks happens significantly faster […]. Riding the wave of liquid restaking popularity, we were the first oracle to support projects like Ether.Fi, Renzo, Puffer, and Swell,” added the startup’s CEO.

He also noted that RedStone is the first and so far the only oracle in The Open Network ecosystem. Founded in 2020, the startup supports over 60 networks.

Pixelverse’s ‘Tapalka’ Secures $2 Million Investment

Following the launch of the clicker game PixelTap on Telegram, Pixelverse raised an additional $2 million.

One month ago, Pixelverse announced our initial fundraising of $5.5 million.

Following Pixelverse’s unparalleled growth, we are excited to welcome our new investors: @galaxyhq @CRIT_ventures @arcthecommunity @krugermacro @lukebelmar @mdudas

This extension round will… pic.twitter.com/Y2k8zGTgHd

— Pixelverse (@pixelverse_xyz) July 12, 2024

After closing a $5.5 million round in June, the project gained additional investors, including Galaxy Interactive, Crit Ventures, Arc Community, as well as private backers Alex Krüger, Luke Belmar, and Mike Dudas.

“This extended round will support Pixelverse’s vision for mass adoption and aid in the development of our future MMORPG game,” the announcement stated.

According to Pixelverse, the “quest cyberpunk browser” and Telegram games from the startup have over 70 million registered users and 13 million daily active users.

Also on ForkLog:

• In Q2, investments in crypto startups rose to $3.2 billion.