Institutional Pulse: Pintu Raises $113 Million as StarkWare Valuation Reaches $8 Billion

The cryptocurrency industry is drawing an increasing number of institutional players. This is evident in new investments in infrastructure and the growing attention firms are giving to Bitcoin as an asset class. The most notable events of the past weeks are in ForkLog’s review.

Indonesian Bitcoin Exchange Pintu Raises $113 Million

Based in Indonesia, the cryptocurrency exchange Pintu raised $113 million in a Series B funding round.

Participants included Pantera Capital, Lightspeed India Partners, Intudo Ventures and Northstar Group.

The funds will be used to continue growth in Indonesia, develop DeFi services, NFT and expand the staff to 200 within the next two years.

Launched in April 2020, Pintu ranks among the top three local trading platforms, competing with Indodax and Tokocrypto. Its user base exceeds 4 million.

StarkWare Project Raises $100 Million in Series D Valuation at $8 Billion

The StarkWare project, focused on second‑layer scaling solutions, closed a Series D round worth $100 million. Investors valued the company at $8 billion.

The round was led by venture firms Greenoaks Capital and Coatue. Financing also provided by new and existing investors, including Tiger Global. As part of the deal, StarkWare employees had the option to sell their shares.

Founded in 2017, StarkWare provides two Ethereum scaling products—StarkEx and StarkNet. The former is SaaS-based and helps decentralized applications meet “specific needs.” It is used by platforms such as dYdX and Sorare.

The second product is a permissionless solution on Ethereum based on Rollup. It enables developers to create and deploy their own smart contracts, and interact with other applications.

The funds will be used to expand the product lineup, grow the business and build an ecosystem around StarkEx and StarkNet. StarkWare also plans to increase its headcount.

Babel Finance Raises $80 Million at a $2 Billion Valuation

The Babel Finance closed a Series B round worth $80 million. The funding round values the company at $2 billion.

Leading investors were Jeneration Capital and 10T Holdings. The firm was also backed by Circle Ventures, several Southeast Asian family offices and existing shareholders Dragonfly Capital and BAI Capital.

The main business lines are crypto lending and trading with a focus on servicing institutional investors. The company counts around 500 clients among them.

As of the end of 2021 the firm reported an outstanding loan balance of more than $3 billion; the average monthly derivatives trading volume based on crypto assets stood at $800 million.

According to the statement, Babel Finance restricts operations to Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins.

“From a short-term profit perspective, the retail market and altcoins may have higher profit potential, but we are placing greater emphasis on the long-term development of the industry and aim to lead in institutional financial services and innovation,” said Del Van, co-founder and CEO of the company.

Such an approach not only helps weather market and regulatory uncertainties in the early stages of industry development, but also provides better protections for clients, he added.

Flowcarbon: Ex-WeWork Head Launches $70 Million Round for Carbon Credit Marketplace

The Flowcarbon startup, co-founded by former WeWork CEO Adam Neyman, raised $70 million to create a blockchain-based market for carbon credits.

The round, which included both venture funding and a private token sale, was led by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto division (a16z). The startup was also backed by General Catalyst, Samsung Next, Invesco Private Capital and other investors. Token-sale participants included Fifth Wall, Box Group and Celo Foundation.

“Flowcarbon’s mission is to direct billions of dollars straight to projects that reduce or remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere by creating the world’s first open protocol for tokenizing certified carbon credits globally,” the company said.

The startup will give developers of projects direct access to a market of buyers via blockchain.

The first token with emissions quotas will be Goddess Nature Token (GNT) on the Celo network.

Founders are Adam Neyman and wife Rebecca, Dana Gibber (became CEO), Caroline Klatt (COO) and Phil Vogel (Blockchain Director). The team numbers 35 employees.

SoftBank backs InfStones in $66 Million Round

InfStones, a blockchain infrastructure provider, announced a $66 million financing round led by SoftBank via Vision Fund 2 and GGV Capital.

Participants included INCE Capital, 10T Fund, SNZ Holding and A&T Capital.

The funds will go toward expanding and scaling the project. In particular, the provider plans to grow its staff, enter new markets, and secure new partnerships.

“Our vision is to deliver a reliable and easy-to-use Web 3.0 environment for building a more transparent and intelligent world. We intend to contribute to rapid and global deployment of decentralized applications,” said Jenfu Shi, CEO of the firm.

In February 2021, InfStones raised $33 million in a Series B round. Total funding since the company’s inception has surpassed $100 million, according to the press release.

InfStones operates on a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) model. The infrastructure is AI-powered, with clients including Binance, Coinlist, BitGo, OKX, Chainlink, Polygon and others.

JPMorgan Joins Elliptic Financing Round

Analytics firm Elliptic announced that JPMorgan’s funds joined as an additional investor in a Series C round.

In October 2021 the firm raised $60 million. Lead investor Evolution Equity Partners was joined by SoftBank (through Vision Fund 2), AlbionVC, Wells Fargo, Santander and Octopus Ventures.

“These investments will help accelerate Elliptic’s global expansion and allow institutions in the financial-services market to use cryptocurrency with higher trust and confidence,” the press release states.

In the Series C round, Elliptic’s total financing reached $100 million. The firm did not disclose its valuation.

Delphia Robo-Advisor Raises $60 Million for Token Launch

The robo-advisor Delphia closed a Series A round worth $60 million. It was led by Multicoin Capital.

Participants included Ribbit Capital, FTX Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, FJ Labs and others. The project estimates total investments at $80 million.

The team will use the funds to grow headcount and launch an ERC-20 token to incentivize users. The latter will allow users to provide personal data to Delphia in exchange for an asset.

“The Delphia investment platform intends to use consumer-spending data, employment patterns, and social-media public opinion data to power algorithmic models that have previously been accessible only to the most effective hedge funds,” the press release states.

According to the project, tokens will be issued when users connect apps on their phones—apps they find convenient to use with Delphia. The collected data may include Amazon shopping history, card transactions, information from LinkedIn, Venmo and other apps.

ADDX: Singapore-Based Digital Securities Exchange Raises $58 Million

Singapore-based digital securities trading platform ADDX raised $58 million in a pre-Series B round.

Investors include United Overseas Bank, SET Venture Holding, Hamilton Lane and others.

The funds will be used to expand the company’s geography and its development.

To date, the platform has raised roughly $120 million in total.

Bud Gaming Startup Raises $36 Million and Announces NFT Marketplace

Bud, a metaverse app developer, closed a Series B round worth $36.8 million. It was led by Sequoia Capital India.

Participants included ClearVue Partners, NetEase, Northern Light Venture Capital, along with existing investors GGV Capital, Qiming Venture Partners and Source Code Capital.

The total funding raised by the project exceeds $60 million.

The Singapore-based startup was founded in 2019 by former Snap engineers Risa Feng and Sean Lin. They describe the app as a metaverse social platform that lets players create and transfer virtual 3D items. According to BUD, the number of transactions for game items has surpassed 150 million since launch.

The funds will be used to develop tools for creating game items, grow the user base and roll out Web3 products for the metaverse ecosystem.

The company also plans to launch its own NFT marketplace. BUD did not disclose which network or tokens it uses for the launch, which will happen “soon.”

Three Arrows Capital and Alameda Research Invest in DEX Orderly Network

The NEAR-based decentralized exchange Orderly Network raised $20 million from strategic investors.

Participants included: Three Arrows Capital, Pantera Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Sequoia China, Jump Crypto, Alameda Research, GSR Ventures, MetaWeb.VC and several other firms.

The project was founded in 2017 and went through NEAR and WOO Network accelerators. With the latter, the startup launched the first decentralized app in the form of a user interface for a trading platform.

Orderly Network offers spot and margin trading, perpetual swaps, and a lending service.

The startup will use the funds to hire new staff, expand the product lineup and improve existing products.

To further increase liquidity, the team plans to launch public lending pools. Token holders will be able to lend to market makers through them, earning a stable yield, Orderly Network said.

WAX Studios Raises $10 Million from OKX Blockdream Ventures

The team behind the WAX blockchain project Worldwide Asset eXchange (WAX) WAX Studios raised more than $10 million from OKX’s investment arm.

The funds will go toward enhancing NFT functionality in P2E games on the WAX platform, developing in-game tokens and updating the WAX Cloud Wallet.

According to VentureBeat, the network handles over 23 million daily transactions; 23 games operate on the chain with a combined audience of more than 12 million accounts.

The WAX Studios team numbers more than 100 employees.

OKX Blockdream Ventures is a scaling-focused fund of $100 million.

Also on ForkLog:

• Akatsuki launched a $20 million Web 3.0-focused fund.
• Morgan Stanley: venture-capital activity remains high.
• JPMorgan: venture inflows will cushion Terra crash outcomes.

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