Celestia and Infinex raise capital this week

In this week's venture capital update, more than $253 million flowed into the cryptocurrency startup world, although the majority of that funding went to blockchain network Celestia Foundation.

crypto.news examined social media and leveraged the latest data from crypto-fundraising.info/deal-flow/?start_date=2024-09-22&end_date=2024-09-28&sortby=raised&sort=desc” target=”_blank”>crypto Fundraising to determine that more than a dozen companies raised capital between September 22 and 28. Here they are:

Celestia Foundation, $100 million

The Liechtenstein-based nonprofit known for building Celestia (TIA) raised $100 million from major cryptocurrency-focused venture capital firms, led by Bain Capital crypto.

Infinex, $65.29 million

Infinex, a decentralized exchange, raised $65.29 million through a non-fungible token, or nft, sale. Framework Ventures, Solana Ventures, Wintermute, Eden Block, Moonrock Capital and Bankless VC participated in the effort.

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Pencil protocol, 30 million dollars

Pencils Protocol, an auction platform and yield aggregator on Scroll, raised an additional $30 million. DePIN x, Taisu Ventures, Black GM Capital and Bing Ventures are among its strategic investors.

Starts, 14 million dollars

Initia raised $14 million in a Series A round. Tomasz Tunguz and Spencer Farrar of Theory VC led the effort. Delphi Ventures and Hack VC are also participating.

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Mawari Network, $10.8 million

traditional knowledge

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Mental network, 10 million dollars

Mind Network raised $10 million in a pre-A funding round. Investors in the effort included Animoca Brands, Arkstream Capital, Cogitent VC, MH Ventures, Moonhill Capital, SwissBorg, IBC Group, Master VC and others.

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Darkbright, $6 million

Bitkraft Ventures led an oversubscribed $6 million seed round for Darkbright, the web3 studio behind the role-playing game Smolbound.

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Daylight, 6 million dollars

Union Square Ventures and 1kx Network co-led a $6 million seed funding round in crypto platform Daylight. The startup is known for its transaction recommendation API.

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Gunzilla Games, $6 million

Delphi Ventures invested in Gunzilla Games, its largest gaming investment to date. Gunzilla's GUNZ blockchain is a key component of the studio's upcoming Web3 game, “Off The Grid.”

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AminoChain, $5 million

AminoChain, a decentralized biobank and Layer 2 network, has remained relatively quiet for the past two years. That is, until a16z crypto led a $5 million seed funding round for the startup. This brought the total funding to $7 million. The deal marks a16z's first investment in DeSci, or decentralized science.

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Financing rounds < $5 million

• Eigenpie: Revamped SubDAO designed to maximize earning potential for liquid staking token holders raised $4 million.
• mesh map: The open and decentralized platform received $4 million from a16z, Colosseum, Lattice, Escape Velocity, GSR and other institutions.
• Meridian: ParaFi Capital, Borderless Capital, Amber Group, Saison Capital, Interop Ventures and Oak Grove Ventures raised $4 million for the Hong Kong-based decentralized liquidity marketplace.
• Helixlabs: The startup raised $2 million in a pre-funding round from Tribe Capital, EMURGO Ventures, Taureon Capital, LD Capital, and Double Peak Group. Its valuation is around $40 million.
• Fast Land: Nascent led a $1.4 million seed funding round; The General Society also participated along with Kain Warwick, Roneil Rumburg and Bodhi Ventures.

To view last week's column, click here.