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.
NPC Labs Raises $21 Million from Pantera Capital
The Web3 gaming startup NPC Labs has closed pre-seed and seed funding rounds totaling $21 million, reports The Block.
The latest round was led by venture firm Pantera Capital, with participation from Hashed, Makers Fund, Collab+Currency, Sfermion, Mirana Ventures, Bitscale Capital, and Mantle EcoFund.
The company was founded by three former employees of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in April 2024. NPC Labs aims to expand the adoption of on-chain gaming through the L3 ecosystem B3.fun based on the Base network.
As of writing, B3.fun operates in testnet. The mainnet launch is planned for a “later date.” A decision on issuing its own token has not yet been made.
Blockchain Platform Allium Raises $16.5 Million
The corporate blockchain data platform Allium has closed a Series A funding round of $16.5 million.
Exciting news: we’ve raised $16.5M in our Series A, bringing our total to $21.5M! Thank you to our investors @Theoryvc, @kleinerperkins, & @Amplify, among others.
This industry is still young and we have ways to go, read about our next chapter here: https://t.co/PEk2QQzDQz pic.twitter.com/pzh1odomKw
— Allium (@AlliumLabs) July 18, 2024
The round was led by venture firm Theory Ventures, with participation from Kleiner Perkins and Amplify Partners. The platform has collaborated with Visa, Wormhole, and Jito Labs.
Allium helps track on-chain process patterns in real-time. The platform covers 23 blockchains using the Allium Explorer and Allium Developer APIs.
The company also offers tools for tracking data on decentralized exchange trading, non-fungible tokens, stablecoins, as well as accounting and auditing services.
Peter Thiel’s Fund Backs Caldera in $15 Million Round
The developer platform Caldera closed a Series A funding round of $15 million.
The round was led by billionaire Peter Thiel’s venture fund Founders Fund, with participation from Dragonfly, Sequoia Capital, Arkstream Capital, Lattice, and other investors.
Caldera is a Rollup-as-a-Service platform that helps developers quickly launch their own networks for applications based on Optimism, ZKsync, Arbitrum, and Polygon.
The funds raised will be used to create the Metalayer solution to unify the second and third layer ecosystems.
L2 Network Bitlayer Raises $11 Million at $300 Million Valuation
The Bitcoin-based second-layer solution Bitlayer has closed a Series A funding round of $11 million.
“ETF issuer Franklin Templeton leads $11 million Series A into Bitlayer in bid to scale Bitcoin network”https://t.co/BJ3RcaTaMY
— Bitlayer (@BitlayerLabs) July 23, 2024
The round was led by Franklin Templeton and ABCDE, with participation from Framework Ventures, Stake Capital Group, WAGMI Ventures, Flow Traders, GSR Ventures, and FalconX. The project’s valuation reached $300 million, according to The Block.
The Bitlayer team intends to scale the Bitcoin ecosystem, “ensuring security, performance, and low-cost transactions.”
The funds raised will be used to support protocols based on the L2 network.
Galaxy Asset Management Raises $113 Million for New Crypto Fund
Galaxy Asset Management has raised $113 million for a new cryptocurrency venture fund, Galaxy Ventures Fund I LP, reports Bloomberg citing a statement from the firm.
The fund will invest in early-stage startups focused on software and infrastructure for the crypto industry, as well as financial applications.
In 2025, Galaxy Ventures Fund I LP plans to increase the raised amount to $150 million to support around 30 projects. The fund has already invested in Ethena, Monad, and Plume.
Annually, Galaxy Ventures invests between $30 million and $50 million of its own funds in various cryptocurrency startups focused on infrastructure, DeFi, and payments.
AI Crypto Startup Mira Raises $9 Million
The AI-focused cryptocurrency startup Mira has closed a seed funding round of $9 million, reports The Block.
The round was led by Bitkraft Ventures and Framework Ventures, with participation from Accel, Mechanism Capital, Folius Ventures, and SALT Fund.
Mira is working on a decentralized AI infrastructure platform that will help developers quickly create AI applications.
The startup employs 25 people in Singapore. The funds raised will also be used to expand the team.
In the future, Mira plans to launch its own blockchain to record all platform transactions.
Also on ForkLog:
- The Open Platform and Binance Labs invested in mini-game developer Catizen.
- Canadian AI startup Cohere valued at $5.5 billion.