Crypto startups collectively witnessed a funding of approximately $56 million this week, with Blockworks securing the largest sum of $12 million from 13 companies. This figure demonstrates that the flow of money into crypto and Web3 companies has remained relatively stable when considering last week’s $52 million.
The week’s overview indicates that most of the attention was directed towards DeFi and NFT-related projects. Blockworks, a crypto media company, stood out as it was the only one of its kind to receive a cash influx. After closing its fundraising with a valuation of $135 million, Blockworks intends to use the funds to expand its product offerings and research platform, including a new governance tracking tool called GovHub.
In the world of NFTs, Pudgy Penguins was one of the top fundraisers this week, obtaining $9 million in its seed round. The NFT platform and publisher, introduced in 2021, has already amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on various social media channels. Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz expressed his eagerness to enhance the NFT brand’s intellectual property and drive its transformation into a “leading Web3 IP brand of tomorrow.”
On the DeFi front, Odsy Network collected $7.5 million at a valuation of $250 million. The need for further decentralization has been emphasized, particularly in light of centralized Web3 entities such as FTX and Celsius collapsing. Blockchange Ventures led the seed round, with the participation of several other groups like Rubik Ventures, Node Capital, and FalconX.
Odsy’s major product is called a dWallet (dynamic decentralized wallet), which is a programmable and transferable signing mechanism that exists on the decentralized Odsy Network and can sign transactions on virtually any other blockchain.
Other notable fundraisers include:
– Webb Protocol, a Web3 privacy firm, which raised $7 million in a seed round co-led by Polychain and Lemniscap.
– Dolomite, a decentralized crypto exchange and DeFi protocol, which had a $2.5 million funding round led by venture capital funds Draper Goren Holm and NGC, with Coinbase Ventures’ participation.
– Cookbook, a community-sourced collection of Ethereum virtual machine smart contracts, which raised $2 million to back new Web3 projects and developers by creating free educational content.
– Smilee, a decentralized on-chain options protocol, raised $2 million with Dialectic’s help and several other venture capital firms.
Source: Blockworks
