Yuga Labs raises $450M. Struct Finance raises $3.9M. Upshot raises $22M. Block Tackle raises $5M.
Get €175k in equity-free funding for your startup
Get €175k in equity-free funding for your startup
Our friends from NGI Trublo (a H2020 project) are giving up to €175K in equity free-funding to 20 blockchain projects for these 2 use cases:
Trust and Reputation
Proof-of-validity / Proof -of-location
Hurry up & apply by March 30 on Trublo.eu
Web2 vs Web3
Recap of the Week
Former a16z partner Katie Haun raises $1.5B to invest in crypto startups, the largest debut fund ever by a female VC
Volvo owner Geely launches blockchain joint venture with Concordium
El Salvador postpones bitcoin bond issue, expects better conditions
Marc Andreessen may step down from Meta board due to concurrent investments in Web3 that conflict with Meta’s interests
Crypto.com to sponsor 2022 FIFA World Cup
Madonna enters the metaverse: buys Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT for $470k
David Beckham becomes global brand ambassador for the DigitalBits blockchain, launching his own range of NFTs
LG Electronics adds blockchain and crypto as new areas of business
Latest Funding Rounds in Crypto
🔹 Yuga Labs raises $450M in Seed Round · Founded in 2021 · US
Yuga Labs is one of the savviest marketers of NFT brands. It is the creator of Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of 10,000 Bored Ape NFTs, living on the Ethereum blockchain.
Yuga Labs recently bought the IP of CryptoPunks and Meebits from Larva Labs.
The firm will use the funds towards building out Yuga’s new NFT metaverse ‘Otherside’ which is an interoperable world connecting the entire NFT universe.
Round led by Andreesen Horowitz. The round was raised at a valuation of $4 billion.
🔹 Joystream raises $5.9M · Founded in 2015 · Norway
Joystream is a Polkadot-based decentralized media distribution, curation, discovery, and monetization platform.
The company allows creators to sell their videos as NFTs and turn their channels into tokens.
Digital Currency Group (DCG), Hypersphere, Defi Alliance and D1 Ventures led the round at a $60 million valuation.
🔹 Struct Finance raises $3.9M in Seed Round · Founded in 2021 ·
Struct Finance is a protocol on Avalanche that enables structured products on DeFi.
The fresh funds will be used to build out the tools that will allow the ecosystem to customize, compose, and invest in decentralized structured products.
Funds were raised from 24 investors
🔹 Upshot raises $22M in Series A2 · Founded in 2019 · US
Upshot is a blockchain-based protocol that incentivizes experts to answer subjective questions honestly
Its first product aims to provide an efficient price-discovery mechanism for NFTs by paying experts for honest appraisals.
Upshot plans to use the new capital for additional research and development of its pricing models, for hiring more staff and for financing new DeFi algorithms.
Round led by Polychain Capital
🔹 Block Tackle raises $5M in Seed Round · US
Block Tackle is a new Web3 gaming startup, a San-Francisco-based studio dedicated to creating fun-first blockchain games.
The funds will be utilized to develop and work on SkateX, a Solana-based video game with NFT skateboards.
Round led by Play Ventures, Cadenza Ventures and others.
Acquisitions
🔹Wellfield Technologies acquires Coinmama
Acquisition of $3M - March 2022
Wellfield Technologies builds advanced technology that uses blockchain to create financial solutions.
Coinmama makes it fast, safe and fun to buy digital currency, anywhere in the world.
Wellfield's MoneyClip branded DeFi app will integrate Coinmama's regulatory, banking and operational infrastructure to expedite its expansion with significantly less capital investment.
🔹 Avast acquires Secure Key Technologies
Terms were undisclosed - March 2022
Avast is the global leader in digital security products for consumers and businesses, protects over 400 million people online.
SecureKey is the identity and authentication service provider that gives consumers secure and convenient access to critical online services.
This acquisition of digital identity and authentication provider will expand Avast's Identity product and services portfolio as part of its digital freedom vision.