Financing Weekly | 27 projects received investment, Kraken received $42,500 in financing

27 blockchain startups raised $213.5 million this week, with the largest round being Kraken's $42,500 grant from the Optimism Foundation. 12 projects received seed round investment. 14 projects received other rounds of funding.

Biggest funding round this week

Kraken

Kraken raised $42.5 million in a grant funding round from the Optimism Foundation.

Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2011. It provides users with a secure platform for spot and futures trading, supporting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more than 40 other digital assets. Kraken focuses on accessibility and is committed to enabling users to invest in their own financial independence. In 2020, Kraken became the first US exchange to obtain a crypto banking license, further expanding its services and capabilities in the digital finance sector.

Seed and Pre-Seed Investment

Spire Labs has raised $7 million in a seed round led by Maven 11 Capital, Anagram, a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), Bankless Ventures, Volt Capital, L2 Iterative Ventures (L2IV), Finality Capital, Digital Currency Group (DCG), and Collin Myers, Nick White, Anthony Sassano, Andy and Amrit Kumar.

Spire is a customizable application chain framework built on Ethereum OP Stack, optimized for sub-second transaction confirmation and enhanced modularity. It allows developers to deploy application chains with customized configurations, leveraging Ethereum's liquidity and security. By using serialization-based technology and supporting composable infrastructure, Spire provides a highly scalable and decentralized environment for advanced Web3 applications.

Axal has raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed round of funding from CMT Digital*, a16z Crypto Startup School (CSS), Escape Velocity, Artichoke Capital, Trident Digital, Blockchain Builders Fund (BBF), IDG Capital, BlockHunters Group, Mentat Group, and others.

Axal is a decentralized network that powers Web3 applications through autonomous, verifiable agents that perform tasks based on user-defined intent. It simplifies processes such as on-chain transactions through its “Autopilot” feature, enabling optimized and risk-free execution. With a focus on the agent market, Axal ensures transparency and eliminates counterparty risk, providing a streamlined approach to automated tasks in the Web3 space.

Phylax Systems raises $4.5M in pre-seed funding from Figment Capital, Nascent, Robot Ventures, Hash3, Bankless Ventures, Breed VC, Public Works, and participation from Sandeep Nailwal, Keone Hon, Collin Myers, John Adler, Nic Carter, Eric Wall, Banteg, Dean Eigenmann, and others.

Phylax introduces the "Trust Layer," a security framework embedded in the blockchain's base layer. Designed for dApp developers, it enforces verifiable on-chain security assertions to prevent hacks and vulnerabilities. Phylax's system includes a "Proof of Origin" (PoP) mechanism for preventive vulnerability verification, and an assertion registry for managing and monetizing security rules. This infrastructure provides a transparent and decentralized approach to blockchain security, enabling developers to easily and robustly define and enforce security protocols.

Sapien AI has raised $10.5M in a seed round with participation from Variant Fund*, Primitive, Animoca Brands, Yield Guild Games (YGG), HF0, and others.

Sapien is a gamified Web3 platform where users can play, earn money, and train AI by completing data annotation challenges. The platform rewards participants for accurately annotating data to help train AI models, while offering cash rewards and leaderboard prizes. Sapien’s mission is to create a global network of “AI Data Heroes” that combine games and data tasks to make AI training fun and financially rewarding.

MagmaDAO raised $3.9M in a seed round led by Bloccelerate, Animoca Ventures, CMS Holdings, Maelstrom, Veil, Builder Capital, Infinity Ventures Crypto (IVC), RockTree Capital, Wise3 Ventures, Stake Capital, Relayer Capital, and participation from Meltem Demirors, Kartik Talwar, Ben Lakoff, and others.

Magma is a liquid staking protocol built on Monad that allows users to stake MONAD tokens and receive gMONAD in return, which can be used in DeFi. The platform distributes staking rewards through blockspace auctions as well as additional APY generated from MEV (maximum extractable value) rewards. Magma emphasizes community governance in the Monad ecosystem, allowing members to participate in decision-making and protocol direction.

Nitro Labs (Termina) has raised $4M in a seed round with participation from Lemniscap*, Animoca Ventures, Borderless Capital, Finality Capital, Race Capital, No Limit Holdings (NLH), and others.

Nitro Labs is a Solana scaling infrastructure developer. Its project, Termina, is a decentralized infrastructure platform built on the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) designed to enhance scalability, interoperability, and execution efficiency for dApps. It uses the SVM to quickly deploy custom blockchains, providing dedicated block space, modular customization, and scalable computing resources. Termina’s abstraction layer expands Solana’s reach and provides high performance and reliability for developers looking to leverage the Solana ecosystem.

81Ravens (Paravox) raised $4.5 million in a seed round with participation from Digital Hearts Holdingsand GREE Inc..

81Ravens is a platform focused on decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and blockchain technology, providing tools and infrastructure for collaborative project management and governance. Its project Paravox is a competitive new e-sports shooter game that incorporates Web3 elements.

Native raised $2.6 million in a seed round with participation from Nexus Mutual.

Native is a crypto insurance brokerage that combines traditional insurance with on-chain capital. It provides risk protection for digital assets with a coverage of up to $20 million and allows customers to pay or receive claims in cryptocurrency. In addition, Native also operates a capital pool on Nexus Mutual to support underwriting as a managing general agent (MGA). Its mission is to expand insurance capacity and address underinsurance in the digital asset space.

PumpBTC raised $10 million in a seed round with participation from SevenX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, UTXO Management, Mantle Network, Seven Seas Capital, Istari Ventures, Arcane Group, Coinsummer Labs, Sharding Capital, 10K Ventures.

PumpBTC is a liquidity staking platform that allows BTC holders to maximize returns through Babylon's shared security mechanism. It lets users stake BTC derivatives such as WBTC to earn pumpBTC, which accumulates returns. Users can earn points rewards through staking options, Layer 2 integrations, and protocol activities.

KRNL Labs has raised $1.7 million in a Pre-seed round of funding from TRGC, Superscrypt, Ryze Labs, Blockchain Founders Fund (BFF), Builder Capital, Stix, WAGMi Venture, YAP Capital.

KRNL is a decentralized infrastructure protocol that redefines the execution of dApps by integrating permissionless, modular “kernels” (execution shards) across multiple blockchains to optimize scalability, security, and interoperability. With execution sharding and a unique computation engine, KRNL accelerates dApp deployment and improves efficiency. It includes features such as Proof of Provenance (PoP) for verification and a decentralized registry for kernel monetization, providing a flexible platform that reduces time to market for advanced Web3 applications.

Cap Labs has raised $1.9 million in a pre-seed round of funding from Kraken Ventures, Robot Ventures, Anagram, ABCDE Capital, SCB Limited, Kain Warwick, Fernando Martinelli.

CAP Labs is a DeFi protocol that provides a stablecoin mechanism designed to generate high and sustainable yields. Focused on optimizing capital efficiency, CAP Labs aims to provide decentralized yield options that are not possible in traditional finance. The platform combines advanced DeFi strategies to maximize the profitability and accessibility of stablecoins.

Libraro has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round of funding from Ayre Ventures*.

Libraro is a Web3-based platform that aims to provide a space for authors, readers, and publishers to connect, discover, and share stories. It provides a decentralized space where writers retain control of their work, readers can explore diverse genres, and publishers can discover new talent. Using blockchain for copyright protection, Libraro enables authors to engage with community-driven audiences, providing a secure, collaborative opportunity for digital publishing.

Other Funding Rounds

Delabs Games has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a funding round with participation from TON Ventures.

Delabs Games is a blockchain game developer that has developed the PC game Rumble Racing Star (Mario Kart for NFT enthusiasts), the space survival game Space Frontier, and the cartoon-style apocalypse survival game Meta Bolts. These games are all built on the Polygon network and have received strong support from 4:33 Creative Lab, a well-known Korean game developer.

Triangle has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in an M&A funding round with participation from Bridge.

Triangle is a multi-chain Web3 infrastructure platform that provides powerful APIs for wallets, payments, DeFi, NFTs, and game integrations. It simplifies the complexity of blockchain by providing a unified interface to support a variety of use cases and built-in security through multi-party computation (MPC). Triangle supports chains such as Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon, allowing developers to seamlessly embed blockchain functionality in applications across different ecosystems.

Llama raised an undisclosed amount of funding in an M&A financing round with participation from River.

Llama is a blockchain platform designed for on-chain governance and access control of smart contracts. It allows the creation of granular roles and permissions to execute transactions, allowing precise control over actions such as fund transfers or changing protocol parameters. Llama aims to improve the effectiveness of blockchain protocol governance by providing fine-grained access control and security features.

Alliance Games has raised $5 million in a Series A funding round from Animoca Brands, Asymm Ventures, The Spartan Group, Dialectic, Kyros Ventures, Arche Fund (Coin98 Ventures), Sebastien Borget, and Loi Luu.

Alliance Games is a decentralized Web3 gaming infrastructure that provides permissionless server hosting and data storage for blockchain-based games. It supports community-owned nodes and provides a secure, chain-agnostic, and easy-to-deploy environment, similar to AWS. The platform provides AI-driven game development tools, a decentralized data network, and a launchpad for new games.

Chainway Labs (Citrea) has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round from Founders Fund*, Maven 11 Capital, Mirana Ventures, dao5 (daofive), Zero Knowledge Validator (ZKV), Axiom, Balaji Srinivasan, Nikil Viswanathan, Joe Lau, Nathan McCauley, Mustafa Al-Bassam, Nick White, Shumo Chu, Spencer Noon, Batuhan Dasgin, Dogan, DiscusFish, Sunny Aggarwal, and Jill Gunter.

Chainway Labs is a blockchain infrastructure company focused on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and zero-knowledge technology. Chainway Labs developed Citrea, the first ZK Rollup for Bitcoin. Citrea is the first rollup to leverage zero-knowledge technology to enhance Bitcoin’s blockspace, allowing a variety of applications to be developed on the Bitcoin network without modifying its consensus rules. As a Type 2 zkEVM, Citrea processes zkEVM transaction batches, provides succinct zero-knowledge proofs for easy verification on Bitcoin, supports light nodes, and has a generalized trust-minimized two-way peg mechanism.

Glow Labs has raised $30 million in a funding round with participation from Framework Venturesand Union Square Ventures (USV).

Glow Labs is a community-driven platform focused on driving global adoption of solar energy. By enabling users to finance solar farms, users can earn Impact Points and Glow Carbon Credits (GCC), which represent verifiable CO₂ emissions reductions. Glow emphasizes transparency, using third-party data to verify environmental impact. The platform supports a community-driven approach to combating climate change through accessible, incentivized solar projects.

Ellipsis Labs has raised $20 million in a funding round with participation from HAUN Ventures.

Ellipsis Labs builds sustainable and efficient DeFi protocols on high-throughput decentralized infrastructure. Ellipsis Labs’ flagship protocol is Phoenix, a fully on-chain, decentralized limit order book on Solana. Ellipsis Labs’ contributions to the Solana ecosystem also include Solana Verified Builds, a tool for verifying the source code of on-chain Solana programs.

RoOLZ has raised $1 million in a public sale funding round, but investors were not mentioned.

Roolz is a platform that combines anime, mobile apps, and digital collectibles, powered by $GODL tokens. As the first intellectual property (IP) of RoOLZ Studio Inc., it takes a community-driven approach to entertainment. Users can participate in quests, interact with mobile anime content, and collect NFTs. The anime series and games are developed by artists who have worked on Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan. Built on the Telegram/TON ecosystem, Roolz combines blockchain technology with anime to provide a unique experience in an interactive digital entertainment world based on anime.

Gunzilla Games raises an undisclosed amount of funding in a round led by VanEck.

Gunzilla Games is a game development studio known for its innovation in the multiplayer space. They are developing Off The Grid, a cyberpunk-style Battle Royale 2.0 game set in a dystopian future. Gunzilla Games empowers players through its GunZ platform, allowing them to own in-game items and trade them using blockchain technology.

Nillion has raised $25 million in a round of funding from Hack VC*, Distributed Global, SALT fund, Manifold, Animoca Brands, Presto Labs, Jordi Alexander, DCF God, Ansem, DCBuilder, DefiSquared and others.

Nillion is a Web3 startup that aims to build a non-blockchain decentralized network for secure storage and data computation.

GEODNET has raised an undisclosed amount in a round of funding led by Animoca Brands.

GEODNET is a decentralized network that combines real-world earth observation with blockchain technology to collect geospatial data from space weather stations around the world and provide secure and reliable data products. Participants can contribute to the network by installing a geodetic-grade Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antenna on their rooftops and be rewarded with GEOD tokens.

Gelato Network has raised $11M in a Series A round of funding from Hack VC*, Animoca Brands, IOSG Ventures, Bloccelerate, and others.

Gelato is a decentralized backend for Web3 that enables developers to create automated and efficient smart contracts on a variety of Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible blockchains. Through services such as Web3 Functions, Automate, Relay, and Gasless Wallet, Gelato simplifies transaction execution and provides a seamless user experience, trusted by many leading Web3 projects including decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms such as MakerDAO and PancakeSwap, and scaling solutions such as Optimism.

BitSmiley raised $10 million in a round of funding from NxGen, IBC Group, Ca Capital, Pragma Ventures, Zephyrus Capital, MH Ventures, Veris Ventures, Side Door Ventures, KuCoin Ventures, NewTribe Capital, Kinetic Kollective (formerly CSP DAO), GuildQB, DCI capital (Dutch crypto investor), Aegis Ventures, Skyland Ventures, Cypher Capital, TPC Ventures, and others.

BitSmiley is a protocol within the Bitcoin blockchain that includes a decentralized stablecoin, a trustless lending platform, and a derivatives protocol under the Fintegra framework. Its flagship product, bitUSD, is a Bitcoin-based, overcollateralized stablecoin that promotes value stability and transparency on the Bitcoin blockchain, while BitSmiley’s broader ecosystem also includes bitLending for peer-to-peer lending and a credit default swap (CDS) division to redefine financial derivatives in the Bitcoin DeFi space.

Streamflow has raised $1.9 million in a round of funding from John Lilic*, Jump Crypto, Solana Ventures, Infinity Ventures Crypto (IVC), Genesis Block Ventures Capital (GBV), Genblock Capital, Hypersphere, Amber Group, T3E, HTX Ventures (formerly Huobi Ventures), PrimeBlock Ventures, and others.

Streamflow is a token distribution platform that provides solutions for token unlocking, airdrops, staking, token locking, and payroll management. Built specifically for Web3 projects, the platform provides customizable, automated tools to help teams achieve on-chain financial management across multiple blockchain ecosystems, including Solana, Aptos, and Sui. Streamflow supports efficient and secure token operations, enabling teams to engage with the community and simplify workflows.