This week, the blockchain sector saw 34 startups raise $109.3 million in various funding rounds, from Series A to grants.
Major funding rounds highlight a variety of innovative projects that push the boundaries of web3, privacy, identity, and more. Here's a breakdown of the week's biggest fundraising efforts:
Nexus Laboratories secures $25 million round
Nexus Laboratories, a Web 3 startup specializing in zero-knowledge scaling and privacy tools, has raised a staggering $25 million in a seed round.
Lightspeed Venture Partners and Pantera Capital co-led the investment, with contributions from Dragonfly Capital, Faction Ventures and the Blockchain Builders Fund.
This funding follows a previous $2.2 million seed round in 2022, According to For the company, it will be used to support the development of a new zero-knowledge virtual machine called Nexus 1.0.
Layer3 raises $15 million to change onchain identity
New York-based Layer3 secured the second-highest amount of the week, closing a $15 million Series A funding round.
Paravi and Greenfield Capital co-led the effort. Electric Capital and King River also participated in the round.
Layer3's comprehensive chain identity and distribution protocol simplifies user sharing and token distribution across more than 25 blockchains, serving millions of users globally. According to the company, this funding will help it drive greater adoption and innovation of its technology in the cryptocurrency space.
NEAR Foundation startup Nuffle Labs raises $13 million
The NEAR Foundation announced the formation of Nuffle Labs, securing $13 million in funding in the process.
The initiative aims to enhance NEAR's modularity and promote decentralized development. The funding includes a grant from the foundation and investments from Electric Capital, Canonical Crypto, Fabric Ventures, Robot Ventures, and others.
Nuffle Labs said it will use the availability of NEAR's data and eventually fast layering products to deliver bundled collections and promote ecosystem development.
Ava Protocol has completed $10 million in seed funding
Ava Protocol, formerly known as OAK Network, has raised $10 million in seed funding, split between a $5.5 million seed round and a $4.5 million follow-on round.
Investors such as Electric Capital, Taisu Ventures, and Shima Capital support Ava's vision of intent-focused, event-driven autonomous transactions for Ethereum and beyond.
This funding supports the development of cross-chain smart contract automation, enabling contracts to be executed based on pre-defined conditions.
Iris closes $8.9 million strategic round
Irys, formerly Bundlr Network, also raised $4.8 million in a strategic funding round led by Lemniscap.
The startup focuses on improving on-chain data management and combating misinformation.
With over 1.9 billion transactions processed, it aims to use the funds to develop systems that improve the scalability and efficiency of blockchain ecosystems.
Symbiotic secures $5.8 million for joint security protocol
Another cryptocurrency startup that benefited from venture capital funding this week was Symbiotic, a developer of the common security protocol. It has raised $5.8 million in a seed round led by Paradigm and cyber.Fund.
On June 12, the company stated that it would use the funds to expand its operations and development efforts, with a focus on enabling decentralized networks to bootstrap sovereign ecosystems through custom reallocation applications.
Kima Network raises $5 million in seed funding
Finally, Israel-based Kima Network also announced the closing of a $5 million pre-seed funding round led by Blockchange Ventures and FinSec Innovation Lab.
The startup aims to bridge traditional financial services with decentralized finance (defi) tools through its decentralized settlement protocol.
Other pre-seed backers include Outlier Ventures, Big Brain Holdings, and Maven Capital. These funds will help Kima develop its web3 settlement infrastructure.
Paradigm's new $850 million fund
Crypto venture capital activity this week came on the back of Paradigm, a prominent cryptocurrency-focused venture capital firm, announcing a new $850 million fund. According to the company, this fund will target cryptocurrency projects in their early stages of development.
Reports of Paradigm raising this fund emerged in early April, with the June 13 announcement confirming the plans and putting Paradigm at the forefront of the next wave of cryptocurrency projects.
The company has been an early backer of major players in the industry such as Uniswap, the decentralized exchange; Optimism, a layer 2 solution for Ethereum; and Flashbots, a project focusing on MEV concepts.