Crypto startups raised $107.6 million between July 28 and August 3, led by a $50 million strategic round from Morpho and anchor investments in DuelNow and Daylight.
In another eventful week for blockchain startups, 19 companies collectively raised $107.6 million in funding, Information From cryptocurrency fundraising.
Leading the pack, decentralized crypto lender Morpho raised $50 million in a strategic round, beating out other notable investments, including $11 million from DuelNow and $9 million from Daylight.
Below, we take a look at some of the notable crypto fundraising rounds that made the news.
Morpho, $50 million
According to crypto.news, Morpho emerged as the top fundraiser this week, raising $50 million in a strategic round led by Ribbit Capital. The round also included significant contributions from a16z and Coinbase Ventures.
The company, which started out as an enhancement layer for Aave (AAVE) and Compound (CombThis service has evolved into Morpho Blue, a comprehensive lending protocol with built-in risk management features.
Announcing the results of the round, CEO Paul Frambott confirmed that the new funding will go towards improving Morpho’s decentralization and supporting its global growth.
DuelNow, $11 million
Another winner in this week’s VC activity was decentralized sports betting platform DuelNow, which raised $11 million in new capital.
GEM Digital Limited led the investment, contributing $10 million. This investment also included an additional $1 million from prominent angel investors such as Litecoin (LTC) founder Charlie Lee and Dogecoin (DOGE) co-founder Billy Markus.
DuelNow seeks to redefine the sports betting industry by utilizing blockchain technology on the Arbitrum Network (ARB), promising a transparent and peer-to-peer betting experience.
Daylight, $9 million
Elsewhere, Daylight, a project specializing in decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) for energy distribution, has raised $9 million in a Series A round.
A16z Crypto led the round, with Framework Ventures and others joining. Daylight said it will use the funding to accelerate its efforts to improve energy consumption and distribution by connecting different energy devices, such as solar panels and electric vehicle chargers, to a decentralized grid.
The initiative aims to provide more efficient energy solutions, potentially transforming the energy sector by leveraging distributed technologies.
Hyperbolic Labs, $7 million
AI infrastructure startup Hyperbolic Labs Inc has closed a $7 million seed funding round led by Polychain Capital and Lightspeed Faction.
The company plans to use the funds to develop its platform, which pools idle GPU resources from around the world to provide affordable AI computing power.
The team behind this initiative aims to democratize access to AI technology by offering significant cost reductions to companies and researchers who need high-performance computing.
Other Noteworthy Investments
- Pichi Finance, a protocol focused on trustless point trading, has raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round led by UOB Venture Management, Signum Capital, and Mantle Network.
- Raad Labs, a blockchain climate technology company, has raised $2.25 million to improve climate data measurement through a distributed sensor network.
- Other companies in this category include companies in pre-seed and unknown rounds, which have raised a combined $11.1 million.