Crypto funding: A $72M week for cross-chain oracles, NFT merchandise
The cryptocurrency industry continues to experience substantial growth and investment, with eight crypto startups raising a total of $72.2 million this week. One notable recipient of this funding is Supra, a firm that is developing a cross-chain oracle solution. Supra secured $24 million in early-stage private investing rounds from prominent investors such as Animoca, Coinbase Ventures, and HashKey, among others. The company’s cross-chain tools are already available on over 40 testnets, including Aptos, Arbitrum, and BNB Chain. In addition, Supra plans to airdrop a native token to funds, investors, and node operators.
Another area attracting investor interest is the intersection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and apparel. Web3 startup IYK, which stands for “If You Know,” raised nearly $17 million in funding from lead investor a16z Crypto, Collab Currency, Lattice Capital, and others. IYK’s mission is to embed near-field communication (NFC) chips within merchandise or apparel items, enabling customers to verify the authenticity of an item by tapping their smartphones on the chip. In return, customers receive NFTs. IYK has already partnered with notable brands such as VÉRITÉ, 9dcc, and Adidas.
Rated Labs, the company behind the Rated Network Explorer, raised over $12 million in a Series A round. Archetype led the round, with participation from Placeholder, 1confirmation, Cherry, and Semantic. Rated Network Explorer provides data on Ethereum beacon chain validators, including information on participation rate, inclusion delay, and correctness percentage. With the new funding, Rated Labs plans to enhance its explorer tool and launch credentials for node operators.
In a separate funding round, the team behind Fhenix, a soon-to-launch layer-2 network, secured $7 million in seed funding. The round was led by Multicoin Capital and Collider Ventures, with participation from Node Capital, Robot Ventures, and others. Fhenix plans to launch its testnet, which will utilize fully homomorphic encrypted smart contracts, in early 2024. The CEO of Fhenix, Guy Itzhaki, explained that fully homomorphic encryption allows for data to be stored on-chain while remaining encrypted, enabling confidentiality.
Other notable fundraises from the week include Avantis Labs raising $4 million in a seed round, AnchorWatch securing $3 million to continue managing risk for firms holding Bitcoin, Bril Finance receiving $3 million for its DeFi portfolio management platform, and Pimlico raising $1.6 million in pre-seed funding to build infrastructure for smart accounts.
The cryptocurrency industry’s continued growth and the significant investment in these startups highlight the ongoing interest and potential in blockchain technology and its various applications. As the market evolves, it will be intriguing to see how these startups contribute to further innovation and adoption within the crypto space. To stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the industry, be sure to subscribe to our free daily newsletter. And don’t forget to follow the latest news from the courtroom regarding Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial, a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry.
