In the first half of February, several startups in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space secured significant funding from venture capitalists.
TLDR:
- The Lava Protocol and Analog received $15 million and $16 million respectively in funding to support their blockchain infrastructure projects.
- RW3 Ventures raised $60 million for its blockchain fund, while Helika and Truflation raised $8 million and $6 million respectively for data analytics and inflation data projects.
- Omega secured $6 million for its Bitcoin-DeFi integration platform.
- Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund invested $200 million in Bitcoin and Ether in 2023.
Lava Protocol, an upcoming cross-chain protocol, raised $15 million in a seed round led by Jump Capital, Hashkey Capital, and Tribe Capital. The funding will be used to support Lava’s modular network, which aims to simplify communication between different protocols. Other notable investors in the round included Alliance, Node, North Island, and Cosmos, among others.
Analog, a cross-chain protocol, secured $16 million in funding. The startup aims to create interoperability between different blockchain platforms and enable the transfer of assets across chains. The funding will support Analog’s continued development and expansion.
RW3 Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, raised $60 million for its Ventures Fund I LP. The fund focuses on investing in blockchain infrastructure and decentralized finance projects. Led by former BitGo executives, RW3 Ventures aims to support teams using blockchain technology to disrupt industries and businesses.
Data analytics and infrastructure firm Helika raised $8 million in a Series A round. The funding will be used to develop AI-powered game management products. Helika provides off-chain and on-chain analytics, LiveOps, and A/B testing products for gaming studios.
Truflation, a data provider, secured $6 million in funding. The company gathers inflation data from various sources and provides independent indexes and data feeds. Truflation aims to offer an alternative to government data, which is released on a monthly basis.
Omega, a startup focused on Bitcoin-DeFi integration, raised $6 million in funding. The platform enables Bitcoin holders to generate yield through their layer-1 Bitcoin assets. Omega plans to release its beta version by mid-year.
In addition to these funding announcements, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund reportedly invested $200 million in Bitcoin and Ether in 2023. The investment is seen as a bet on the potential approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States.
