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This week, blockchain startups and several crypto projects collectively raised over $100 million in venture capital (VC).
Here is a summary of funding activities between June 16 and 22. The activity reflects growing interest in various blockchain applications, from gaming and social networking to advanced cryptographic security.
PQShield raises $37 million in series B round
Security startup PQShield emerged as this week's biggest winner. Closed a $37 million Series B round to improve its post-quantum cryptography solutions.
Led by Addition, the funding round also included new investors such as Braavos Capital, Legal & General and Chevron technology Ventures.
PQShield's technology aims to future-proof cryptographic systems against quantum computing attacks, with notable customers such as Nvidia and AMD.
Company founder Dr. Ali El Kaafarani said PQShield will use the new funds to hire more people and facilitate closer working relationships with its partners and clients.
Renzo raises $17 million in Series A round
The second largest amount of funding of the week was for ethereum (eth) recovery protocol Renzo.
It raised $17 million in a Series A round led by Galaxy Ventures and Brevan Howard Digital Nova Fund. In early January, the platform raised $3.2 million in a seed round led by Maven 11.
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Renzo allows users to recover various ethereum assets, providing them with ezETH, a liquid recovery token that can be used on decentralized finance (defi) platforms. DefiLlama data sample which currently has a market capitalization of nearly $115 million and a total value locked of over $3.6 billion.
Particle network pockets $15 million
Particle Network, a modular blockchain developer, also did well this week. The company raised $15 million in a Series A round co-led by The Spartan Group and Gumi Cryptos Capital.
The round, like reported by The Block, was structured as a simple deal for future tokens and involved participation from SevenX Ventures, Flow Traders, and HashKey Capital, among others.
Previously, Particle raised $10 million in three funding rounds, bringing the total raised to $25 million.
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According to the company's founder, Pengyu Wang, Particle will use the money to support its work in chain abstraction technology, as well as to expand its operations.
Sonic closes $12 million Series A round
Elsewhere, Sonic, a gaming-focused Layer 2 network from Solana (SOL), raised $12 million in a Series A round led by Bitkraft Ventures. Other venture capital firms that participated in the round were Galaxy Interactive and Big Brain Holdings.
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The project has raised $16 million in total, following a $4 million round in 2022, giving it a fully diluted valuation of $100 million.
The funds will support Sonic's mission to simplify the complexities of Web3 games and integrate them with various game genres.
ZKX raises $7.6 million
On June 19, ZKX, a pioneering social perpetual trading decentralized exchange (DEX), Announced It had raised $7.6 million in total funding, including a recent $6.3 million seed round.
Investors such as Flowdesk, GCR and DeWhales backed the initiative, which aims to improve perpetual exchanges through social commerce features and cross-chain interoperability.
In its announcement, the company stated that it would use the fresh capital to introduce new features to the ZKX protocol, including social copy trading pools, as well as expand cross-chain interoperability to make perpetual swaps universally available.
The platform also launched its native ZKX token on three major exchanges: Bitget, Gate.io, and KuCoin.
Gudchain closes $5 million investment round
Another gaming-focused project that won big in this week's crypto VC action was Gudchain, a layer 2 blockchain based on OP stacks.
Raised $5 million in funding, led by Mechanism Capital. Other participants in the round included Manifold, Skyvision Capital and Morningstar Ventures.
The blockchain aims to simplify access to web3 for players and will serve as the basis for Highstreet Market's products. The platform also has rsupposedly signed five emblematic games and the team plans to release them in a chain within six months.
Other notable financing
Several startups also raised smaller, but significant, funding rounds during the week:
- Zeek, $3 million seed round: The decentralized social collaboration network raised $3 million from investors including OKX Ventures and Animoca Brands.
- Wasabi, $3 million in seed funding: Meme coin and non-fungible token (nft) leverage trading protocol secured $3 million, led by Electric Capital, to boost its defi offerings.
- Bit by bit, initial investment of 2.5 million dollars: Bitwise updated its S-1 form, revealing an initial investment of $2.5 million for its ethereum ETF, and Pantera Capital showed interest in future investments.
- Farworld Labs, $1.75 million pre-seed round: Farcaster native gaming company closed a $1.75 million pre-seed round to advance its Farcade platform.
- Ordinox, $1 million in pre-seed financing: Cosmos-based automated market maker for BRC20 and Runes received $1 million led by DACM to support its development and security audits.
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