Highlights of This Issue
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 14 investment and financing events in the global blockchain sector last week (March 10 - March 16); the total funding exceeded $166 million, significantly decreasing compared to the previous week. The overview is as follows:
- DeFi reported 4 investment and financing events, including Vest, which completed a $5 million financing round with participation from Jane Street and others;
- Web3 Gaming announced 3 investment and financing events, including Japanese Web3 game development company Mint Town, which completed approximately $4.75 million in a new financing round;
- Web3+AI saw 4 investment and financing events, including the AI-based decentralized user protocol platform PoPP, which completed $6 million in financing with participation from Oasis Labs and others;
- Infrastructure & Tools reported 1 investment and financing event, with Offline Protocol completing $1.1 million in Pre-Seed financing, led by Portal Ventures;
- Centralized Finance announced 2 investment and financing events, including RedotPay, which completed $40 million in Series A financing, led by Lightspeed.
DeFi
Vest Completes $5 Million Financing, Launches Decentralized Risk Pricing Engine
Vest announced the completion of a $5 million financing round to build The Universal Risk Engine. This round was led by institutions including Jane Street, Selini Capital, Amber Group, QCP, Big Brain Holdings, and Mozaik Capital, with executives from financial giants like BlackRock and Citadel participating. Vest aims to address the fragmentation and isolation of risk pricing data in current financial markets by providing a verifiable neutral framework that allows financial participants to share dynamic risk models that adapt to market conditions, replacing traditional individual risk assessments. Vest's first product, Vest Exchange, is a perpetual contract trading platform that utilizes blockchain and zero-knowledge proof (zk proofs) technology to ensure a transparent and fair trading environment, avoiding market manipulation.
Crypto Lending Protocol Templar Protocol Completes $4 Million Pre-Seed Financing
Crypto lending protocol Templar Protocol announced the completion of $4 million in Pre-Seed financing, with participation from Robot Ventures, Digital Asset Capital Management, Proximity Labs, Blackdragon Capital, NEAR Protocol, and several strategic angel investors. This funding will accelerate Templar's development roadmap and product launch. Templar Protocol is a startup focused on developing a crypto lending platform for Bitcoin and other digital assets, aiming to allow users to borrow Bitcoin or other assets without relying on centralized institutions. The team plans to launch the protocol in the second quarter of 2025.
Solana Staking Protocol Rakurai Completes $3 Million Seed Financing
Solana ecosystem high-yield staking protocol Rakurai announced the completion of $3 million in seed financing, led by Anagram Ventures, with participation from Colosseum, Slow Ventures, Robot Ventures, Crypto.com Capital, P2P.org, GlobalStake, CyberFund, and others. This funding will be used to accelerate the deployment of high-performance nodes and enhance TPS (transactions per second) and block rewards through proprietary scheduling and pipeline optimization.
Real estate tokenization company Arda has secured $3 million in Pre-Seed financing from Lightshift Capital. Arda will use the funds raised in this round to develop product prototypes, hire more engineers, and establish partnerships with real estate developers and other companies in the field. The company was founded by former JPMorgan digital asset strategy head Oli Harris, aiming to digitize the entire real estate economy and use blockchain technology to store this data. Harris stated that when Arda launches its product, it will profit by charging a fixed fee to access real estate data. The company will also charge transaction fees for updating specific property data and processing transactions.
Web3 Gaming
Japanese Web3 game development company Mint Town announced that it has raised a total of 700 million yen (approximately $4.75 million) through a third-party directed capital increase, with the fund established by Japanese football player Keisuke Honda as the main investor. This financing brings the company's total funding to approximately 2 billion yen (about $13.56 million). The funds raised will be used to strengthen marketing for the company's Web3 game adaptation of "Captain Tsubasa-RIVALS-" Mini Dapps and to implement strategic initiatives using its exclusive token "JOHN." The company plans to launch the token on exchanges in the second quarter of 2025.
Web3 game developer and publisher M10 has completed $3 million in seed financing, with participation from Sui Foundation, GSR, Big Brain Holdings, Monoceros, Blockchain Founders Fund, and Presto Labs. M10 was founded by a group of industry veterans who aim to go beyond the F2P model. The team includes CEO Maitham Mohamed (Forbes 30 Under 30, semi-professional FIFA player), President Lars Buttler (co-founder of Trion Worlds), and Chief Creative Officer Martin Capel (former director of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed).
Web3 Game Developer Autoverse Studios Receives $1 Million Investment from Coinbase Ventures
Web3 racing game Auto Legends developer Autoverse Studios has received a $1 million investment from Coinbase Ventures, having previously raised $8 million. The new funds may be used to support game development and the expansion of the Auto Legends ecosystem. Auto Legends is a blockchain-based linear racing game where players can own and trade digital assets. The game features licensed vehicles from manufacturers such as McLaren, Mitsubishi, Honda, and Mazda, providing a tailored experience for car enthusiasts. The game is currently in closed testing and can be registered through the Windows and Mac versions of the Epic Games Store. A mobile version is also in development, with plans for a full release later this year.
AI
AI-Based Decentralized User Protocol Platform PoPP Completes $6 Million Financing
AI-based decentralized user protocol platform PoPP announced the completion of its final round of $6 million financing before TGE, bringing its total funding to $12 million. Investors in this round include Oasis Labs, X-Labs, Becker Ventures, InnoAlpha, Starbase, Blocklike Ventures, Echo3 Labs, Greenwood Global Capital, HG Ventures, IBC Group, Presto Labs, PrimeLink, and 80 KOLs from South Korea, CIS regions, Indonesia, and the Philippines. PoPP provides users with dynamic on-chain identity labels by analyzing on-chain behavior, achieving precise matching between users and DApps, while offering developers efficient and privacy-focused audience targeting. PoPP's latest roadmap indicates a focus on building a Web3 user ecosystem, integrating PoPP AI-Profile to create a smarter, more personalized Web3 experience for users and developers.
nunu.ai Completes $6 Million Seed Financing, Led by TIRTA Ventures and a16z Speedrun
According to official news from nunu.ai, the company has completed a $6 million seed financing round, co-led by TIRTA Ventures and a16z speedrun, with other participants including Factorial Funds, Y Combinator, Earthling, Hartmann Capital, FOV Ventures, and New Renaissance Ventures. nunu.ai focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence, gaming, and robotics, aiming to build the first AI agent capable of testing and playing games, promoting the intelligent development of the gaming industry.
On-Chain AI Model Verification and Leasing Market Aura Completes $5.5 Million Seed Financing
On-chain AI model verification and leasing market Aura has completed $5.5 million in seed financing, led by Daxos Capital, Manifold Trading, and Selini Capital, with participation from Hermeneutic Investments. With the completion of this financing round, Aura is accelerating its technology roadmap and preparing for the next phase of platform development. Aura is a fully decentralized platform designed for AI models, built around principles of discoverability, engagement, and open innovation. Aura provides on-chain AI infrastructure, supporting AI model users and creators through a decentralized AI marketplace, verifiable model integrity mechanisms, and an incentive-aligned AI deployment ecosystem.
Decentralized Creative AI Platform Sogni AI Completes $2 Million Financing
Decentralized creative AI platform Sogni AI has completed $2 million in financing, co-led by Comma3 Ventures and Republic Ventures, with participation from Contango Digital, Oyster Ventures, ARC, DEXT Force Ventures, Nosana, Formless Capital, Gecko Ventures, and more Web3 investors and industry veterans. Sogni AI was founded by former CoinMarketCap executives and has launched a decentralized GPU network called Supernet, aimed at supporting AI-driven content creation. The network provides rendering speeds 176 times faster than traditional cloud services by distributing workloads on decentralized infrastructure.
Infrastructure & Tools
Offline Protocol Completes $1.1 Million Pre-Seed Financing, Led by Portal Ventures
According to an official announcement from Offline Protocol, the project has completed $1.1 million in Pre-Seed financing, led by Portal Ventures, with participation from Seed Club Ventures and support from angel investors such as Paul Taylor, Rushi Manche, and Rahim Noorani. Offline Protocol aims to build a decentralized, private, and censorship-resistant offline network, allowing users to directly control communication, personal finance, and information access. Currently, its core product OfflineID is in private testing, covering 15,000 users with a total of 70,000 sessions across 240,000 devices.
Centralized Finance
Crypto Payment Company Mesh Completes $82 Million Series B Financing, Led by Paradigm
Crypto payment company Mesh announced the completion of $82 million in Series B financing to expand its stablecoin-based global payment settlement network. This round was led by Paradigm, with participation from ConsenSys, QuantumLight, Yolo Investments, Evolution VC, Hike Ventures, Opportuna, and AltaIR Capital, with most of the investment funds settled through PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin. Mesh is building a blockchain payment network that allows users to pay with crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL), while merchants can choose to settle in stablecoins like Circle's USDC, PayPal's PYUSD, or Ripple's RLUSD. Mesh co-founder and CEO Bam Azizi stated that these funds will be used for global expansion, making crypto payments as convenient as credit card payments.
RedotPay Completes $40 Million Series A Financing, Led by Lightspeed
According to an official announcement from RedotPay, it has completed $40 million in Series A financing, led by Lightspeed, with participation from HSG, Galaxy Ventures, DST Global Partners, Accel, and Vertex Ventures. This round of financing will be used to accelerate the expansion of global crypto payment solutions. Founded in April 2023, RedotPay has grown to over 3 million users, providing seamless cryptocurrency payment and fiat conversion services, aiming to offer financial services to the unbanked population.
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