Institutional Bulletin: Avail Raises $43 Million, The Sandbox Secures $20 Million

The cryptocurrency industry continues to attract a growing number of institutional players. This is evidenced by new investments in infrastructure and the increasing attention companies are paying to bitcoin as an asset class. ForkLog reviews the most significant events of recent weeks.

Modular Blockchain Avail Raises $43 Million

The team behind the modular blockchain Avail closed a Series A funding round, securing $43 million. The total investment in the project has reached $75 million.

The round was led by Founders Fund, Dragonfly Capital, and Cyber Fund, with participation from SevenX Ventures, Figment Capital, Nomad Capital, Chapter One, Foresight Ventures, Mirana Ventures, KR1, Alliance, and Hashkey Capital.

According to The Block, Avail currently employs 50 people. The funds raised will be used, among other things, to expand the team.

DeFi Protocol M^0 Raises $35 Million

The decentralized protocol for minting stablecoins, M^0, closed a Series A funding round, raising $35 million.

?The M^0 project secured $35M in Series A funding to advance its cryptodollar issuance network. Led by @BainCapCrypto with support from top-tier investors, this milestone coincides with the deployment of the M^0 core protocol & governance mechanism on #Ethereum pic.twitter.com/R9dJshX6tD

— M^0 Labs (@m0labs) June 5, 2024

The round was led by Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from Galaxy Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, GSR, Caladan, SCB 10X, and other investors.

M^0 Foundation President Luca Prosperi told The Block that the Ethereum-based mainnet of the protocol is planned to launch in the coming weeks.

ZK Startup Nexus Labs Raises $25 Million

The zero-knowledge proof-based startup Nexus Labs closed a Series A funding round, raising $25 million.

1/ We’re excited to announce a $25M Series A round co-led by @lightspeedvp and @PanteraCapital, with participation from @dragonfly_xyz, and more, to bring zero-knowledge proofs to the fabric of the Internet.

We’re scaling the Nexus 1.0 zkVM to 1 trillion Hz of compute capacity. pic.twitter.com/Imwrlqlik7

— Nexus (@NexusLabsHQ) June 11, 2024

The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Pantera Capital, with participation from Dragonfly, Faction, and Blockchain Builders Fund.

The startup aims to make the internet more private, secure, and reliable.

The funds raised will be used to develop the Nexus ecosystem, the open-source Nexus 1.0 protocol, and to expand the scientific and technical team.

The Sandbox Metaverse Raises $20 Million

The team behind the metaverse The Sandbox closed a funding round, raising $20 million with the support of Web3 gaming operator Animoca Brands.

Our subsidiary @TheSandboxGame, a leading user-generated content (UGC) #metaverse platform, has announced that it has raised US$20 million of convertible promissory notes with a US$1 billion valuation cap. https://t.co/G0tljR5zb8

— Animoca Brands (@animocabrands) June 7, 2024

Investments were also provided by Kingsway Capital, LG Tech Ventures, and True Global Ventures.

The funds raised will be used to update the 3D editor tools Game Maker and VoxEdit, introduce new social interactions and avatar capabilities, expand gameplay options, and develop a mobile version, which is planned for launch in 2025.

Crypto Exchange BITAI Raises $20 Million

The cryptocurrency exchange BITAI closed a seed funding round, raising $20 million.

??BITAI Raises $20 Million in Seed Funding Led by First Round‼️BITAI, a Web3-based AI intelligent crypto exchange, has completed a $20 million seed funding round led by First Round. Jump Crypto and Dragonfly also participated.
✅The funds raised will be used to advance the… pic.twitter.com/SH7jCH875G

— BITAI (@BITAIOFFICIAL) June 12, 2024

The round was led by First Round, with participation from Jump Crypto and Dragonfly Capital.

The funds raised will be used to develop the trading platform, which utilizes artificial intelligence.

Tether Invests $18.75 Million in Crypto Exchange XREX

The issuer of the USDT stablecoin, Tether, has invested $18.75 million in the cryptocurrency exchange XREX, as reported by The Block.

The funds raised will be used to simplify cross-border payments between businesses in emerging markets using USDT.

“Our collaboration with XREX initiates several pioneering initiatives, including the launch of a unique new unified stablecoin from Unitas Foundation and facilitating cross-border payments based on USDT,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.

XREX Group CEO Wayne Huang noted that the collaboration between the two companies will help law enforcement “identify, arrest, and prosecute criminals.”

Also on ForkLog:

• Paris AI startup Mistral AI raised €600 million.
• Tether to invest over $1 billion in the next 12 months.
• Binance forms alliance to support Web3 startups.