Institutional roundup: Sorare raises $680m, Dapper Labs $250m

The cryptocurrency industry is drawing more and more institutional players. This is evident in the new investments in infrastructure and in the growing attention companies show to Bitcoin as an asset class. The most important developments of the past weeks are in ForkLog’s overview.

NFT platform Sorare raised $680 million at a valuation of $4.3 billion

French NFT-platform fantasy football Sorare completed a Series B funding round of $680 million. It was led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank.

According to the round, Sorare’s valuation stood at $4.3 billion.

Investors included Accel, Benchmark, Headline, Atomico, D1 Capital, Bessemer Ventures, Eurazeo, IVP, Hillhouse and Liontree, as well as professional football players Gerard Piqué, Antoine Griezmann, Rio Ferdinand and Cesar Azpilicueta.

The funds will be used to open a US office, expand activity in new sports and create a mobile app.

Genesis Digital Assets, the American mining company, raised $431 million

American mining company Genesis Digital Assetsannounced a strategic investment round totaling $431 million. The round was led by Paradigm with participation from NYDIG, Stoneridge, FTX, Ribbit, Electric Capital, Skybridge and Kingsway Capital.

As of September, the installed data-centre capacity of Genesis Digital Assets exceeded 170 MW. The generated hash rate stood at over 3.3 EH/s — about 2.4% of the total computing power of the network of the first cryptocurrency.

The company expects an increase to 8.6 EH/s within the next 12 months. By the end of 2023, Genesis Digital Assets’ capacity is expected to reach 1.4 GW.

Dapper Labs raised $250 million from Google and a16z

The company Dapper Labs closed a financing round of $250 million with participation from Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, Version One Ventures and other investors.

The funds will be used to scale and create new products in sports, entertainment and music industries.

SoftBank backed blockchain company Blockdaemon in a $155 million funding round

Blockchain company Blockdaemon raised $155 million. The Series B funding round was led by SoftBank via Vision Fund 2 with participation from Matrix Capital Management, Sapphire Ventures and Morgan Creek Digital, along with existing investors.

The startup focused on deploying infrastructure for staking and node management is valued at $1.26 billion.

Raised funds will be used for further international expansion and growing headcount. Blockdaemon did not rule out acquiring other players.

Tiger Global led TrueLayer open banking startup funding round of $130 million

The open banking startup TrueLayer closed a financing round of $130 million, led by Tiger Global and Stripe.

Other investors were not disclosed. Its valuation reached $1 billion. The raised funds will be used to develop products, hire staff and expand geographically.

NFT startup Immutable raised $60 million in funding

The Australian startup Immutable, which created the NFT Ethereum protocol-level Immutable X, raised $60 million.

The Series B round was led by Bitkraft Ventures and King River Capital. It also included Prosus Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Fabric Ventures, Alameda Research, AirTree Ventures, Reinventure, Apex Capital and VaynerFund.

Funds will be used to expand the development team, forge new partnerships with gaming firms and continue work on NFT games Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians.

Abra crypto platform raised $55 million

The Abra raised a Series C round of $55 million.

Investors included Blockchain Capital, IGNIA, Kingsway Capital, Tiga Investments, Stellar Development Foundation, Amex Ventures, Arbor Ventures, RRE Ventures, CMT Digital Ventures, Kenetic Advisors and others.

Raised funds will be used to expand product team and hire additional marketers, as well as further develop solutions for institutional investors.

Ripio raised $50 million from Digital Currency Group and Draper Ventures

The Argentine crypto startup Ripio raised $50 million following a Series B led by Digital Currency Group.

Other investors included Amplo, Draper Ventures, Boost VC, MercadoLibre founder Marcos Galperin and Globant CEO Martin Migoya.

Billionaire Steve Cohen backed NFT startup Recur in a $50 million round

The NFT-focused startup Recur, closed a Series A funding round of $50 million led by Digital, backed by billionaire Steve Cohen’s family office.

The startup’s valuation reached $333 million. The raised funds will be used to execute Recur’s market-entry strategy, develop new brands and launch an NFT platform.

The project also announced a partnership with Veritone, a company focused on AI developments.

One River Digital raised $41 million from Goldman Sachs and Coinbase

The crypto asset management company One River Digital Asset Management raised $41 million at a valuation of $186 million.

The Series A round was led by Coinbase Ventures and Goldman Sachs with participation from Liberty Mutual Insurance and Infinity Investment Partners.

Audius music blockchain platform raised $5 million

The Ethereum-based music streaming platform built on blockchain Audius raised $5 million from Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, Mark Gillespie, The Chainsmokers, Nas, Pusha T and other investors.

Welcome to the familly @katyperry, @Nas, @steveaoki, @TheChainsmokers, @mikeshinoda, @jasonderulo, @disclosure, and @PUSHA_T — we are excited to define the future of music with you 🥳 https://t.co/WuDH4YEzcE

— Audius 🎧 $AUDIO (@AudiusProject) September 16, 2021

The service’s monthly audience has surpassed six million users. Audius’s funding since its founding in 2018 has reached $8.6 million. The platform also has its own token $AUDIO.

Also on ForkLog:

• Derivative exchange dTrade on Polkadot raised $22.8 million.
• BitClout creator raised $200 million to launch the decentralized social network DeSo.
• Citigroup led an investment round of $15 million for Amberdata.
• Huobi Ventures launched a $10 million fund for investing in GameFi projects.

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