Blockchain-based startups continue to raise funding during the current bear market, with MetaMask partner Blockaid raising $33 million in October. However, overall funding in the crypto industry has fallen to levels last seen in 2020, racking up $2.1 billion across 297 deals in the third quarter of 2023, Messari reported. As is often the case during bear markets, investors take a closer look at projects before investing and apparently look for tangible real-world applications.
As part of October’s highlights, the Nature Science Journal looked at applications of blockchain technology and praised decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) for their potential to support underfunded scientific research. Cointelegraph’s venture capital (VC) roundup features projects that raised capital in October.
Untangled Finance Completes $13.5M Fundraise to Add Private Credit to Chain
London-based fintech Untangled Finance has raised $13.5 million to accelerate efforts to provide institutional-grade credit with an on-chain settlement mechanism. Fasanara Capital was the lead investor in the round. The platform’s protocol focuses on tokenizing real-world private credit assets, such as invoices and SME loans, into on-chain structured credit pools. These pools, in turn, facilitate the issuance of collateralized debt notes for both DeFi and TradFi investors, Untangled said in a statement. The protocol focuses on private credit markets, where it sees DeFi as being most useful. Through the funds, Untangled plans to access more than 130 verified asset originators across 60 countries.
Nocturne raises $6M seed round for private accounts on ethereum
Nocturne, a protocol that enables private on-chain accounts, announced a $6 million seed funding round co-led by Bain Capital crypto and Polychain Capital with participation from Vitalik Buterin and other members of the ethereum community. Other investors include Bankless Ventures, HackVC and Robot Ventures. The company plans to launch on the mainnet in the coming weeks, according to a statement. Nocturne offers a solution that combines hidden addresses, zero-knowledge proofs, and account abstraction to enable private accounts on public blockchains. The seed round will accelerate production and deployment of the Nocturne protocol across multiple ecosystems. A portion of the round will also go toward legal work as the team continues to adapt to changing regulatory requirements.
1/ We are pleased to announce our $6 million seed round co-led by @BainCapCrypto & @policadena with participation of @VitalikButerin and other members of the ethereum community.
This round will fund the deployment and continued development of private accounts on ethereum. pic.twitter.com/ve25yJp6iI
— Nocturne (@nocturne_xyz) October 25, 2023
Account Labs Secures $7.7M in Funding for UniPass Wallet App
Wallet provider Web3 Account Labs announced the raising of $7.7 million from top investors Amber Group, MixMarvel DAO Ventures, and Qiming Ventures, among other participants. This announcement coincides with the launch of the company’s first consumer-facing app, UniPass Wallet, on Polygon. According to Account Labs, its UniPass Wallet app leverages account abstraction to allow users to create and access a self-custody Web3 wallet with just a Google account and load it with any Mastercard or Visa card. Account Labs was formed from the merger of hardware wallet developer Keystone and software wallet developer UniPass in May 2023. The company hopes to address the demand for stablecoin transactions in the Southeast Asia region.
Rymedi raises $9 million to expand blockchain-based healthcare infrastructure
Rymedi, a blockchain-based healthcare data sharing platform, announced a $9 million Series A round to expand its reach. The round was co-led by RW3 Ventures and White Star Capital with participation from Blockchange Ventures, Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund, and strategic angel investors from the healthcare industry. Rymedi claims to serve more than 1 million patients at more than 1,200 locations in the United States, Africa, and Australia. The funds will be used to increase data security and accessibility of health records for patients. “We are always looking for great teams using blockchain technology to solve real-world problems with the potential to address global markets,” Pete Najarian, managing partner at RW3 Ventures, said in a statement.
Waterfall Secures $2M Funding for Mainnet Launch
Layer 1 protocol Waterfall Network has raised $2 million ahead of the launch of its mainnet, which is expected to take place during the first quarter of 2024. Infrastructure provider Bytrade Lab led the funding. Bytrade Lab has become a key investor and user of the Waterfall Network following a six-month trial of its technological infrastructure, according to a statement. The protocol is compatible with the ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and employs a technology called Directed AcyclicGraph or “DAG”, which supposedly allows for unlimited scalability. Waterfall is also collaborating with BlueWave Corporation to develop its smart contract platform.
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