Institutional Bulletin: Crusoe Raises $350M, Genies NFT Project Valuation Reaches $1B
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The cryptocurrency industry is attracting a growing number of institutional players. This is evidenced by new investments in infrastructure, and the increasing attention that companies are showing to bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of recent weeks are in the ForkLog review.
Mining company Crusoe raises $350M
Mining company Crusoe Energy Systems Inc closes $350M Series C funding
It is led by G2 Venture Partners. Participants include: Valor Equity Partners, Lowercarbon Capital, Polychain Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Founders Fund, MCJ Collective, Winklevoss Capital and others.
One of Crusoe’s new investors is Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition Ventures.
In addition to raising equity capital, the company has received up to $155 million in credit lines from SVB Capital, Sparkfund and Generate Capital.
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Crusoe uses energy from burning associated petroleum gas to mine bitcoin. She will use the funds to expand the business outside the US, accelerate the launch of the CrusoeCloud cloud computing solution, and increase the team from 157 to 250 people by the end of 2022.
Genies NFT Project Raises $150M at $1B Valuation
NFT avatar-focused project Genies closed a $150M funding round led by Silver Lake. Investors valued the company at $1 billion.
Genies gives users the ability to create virtual avatars. The latter can be used in the metaverse along with various items in the form of non-fungible tokens.
Smart contract auditor CertiK raised $148 million
Smart contract security audit-focused startup CertiK has raised $60 million from SoftBank Vision Fund and Tiger Global.
The new funding is the continuation of a Series B3 round. In early April, the startup raised $88 million on a $2 billion valuation from Insight Partners, Tiger Global, Advent International and other investors.
According to startup CEO Ronghui Gu, SoftBank Vision Fund and Tiger Global were the only participants in the additional round. This is the first investment in a smart contract security firm for a Japanese financial conglomerate.
Partnerships with two investment giants will allow CertiK to connect with traditional companies looking to enter the Web 3.0 space.
Rario NFT Platform Raises $120M
Rario Sports NFT Marketplace Closes $120M Series A Funding Round Led by Dream Capital with Corporate Venture Capital, M&A Dream Sports and Alpha Wave Global .
Founded in 2021, Rario is an NFT platform dedicated to cricket. The project team has entered into a multi-year exclusive deal with Cricket Australia to create a themed metaverse.
Rario gives fans the opportunity to own “a piece of cricket history” through digital collectibles. The team claims to have sold over 50,000 NFTs to fans in 20 countries.
0x Labs has raised $70M from Jump Crypto and Jared Leto
San Francisco-based DEX infrastructure provider 0x Labs has raised $70 million in a Series B funding round led by Greylock Partners with contributions from Pantera Capital, Jump Capital, OpenSea and Jared Leto.
0x Labs is working on « Intelligent Order Routing, which allows you to split user transactions between various decentralized exchanges like Uniswap, Curve and Balancer. This makes it possible to minimize slippage while trading at the best prices on the market.
The company will use the raised funds to expand the staff, develop and expand the product line, as well as support new networks like Solana.
Flipside Crypto raised $50 million at a $350 million valuation
Analyst firm Flipside Crypto has raised $50M in a funding round led by Republic Capital with True Ventures, Galaxy, Terra, Dapper Labs, M13 and other VCs.
The company will use the raised funds to support new networks and second-level solutions, develop analytical tools and launch bounty programs.
Currently, the company employs 66 people. Flipside Crypto management plans to expand to 85 employees by the end of 2022.
Infrastructure blockchain startup BlockApps raises $41M
BlockApps, an enterprise-focused blockchain infrastructure startup, has raised $41M, with Liberty City Ventures leading the funding round.
New investors Morgan Creek Digital, Eidetic Ventures and Givic joined the funding round. Investments in the company increased ConsenSys, Bloccelerate, Fitz Gate Ventures, Arab Angels, Kenetic Capital and PropelX.
According to the results of the round, representatives of Morgan Creek Digital and Liberty City Ventures will join the board of directors of the startup.
BlockApps will invest in expanding the affiliate program and attracting new customers.
Animoca Brands and Paradigm Back Argent Ethereum Wallet in a $40M Round
Mobile Ethereum Wallet Developer Argent Raises $40M in a Series B Funding Round
Led by venture capital firms Fabric Ventures and Metaplanet, owned by Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn. New investors became participants: Starkware, Jump Crypto and Animoca Brands. Shares in the startup were increased by Paradigm, Index Ventures and Creandum.
The Argent team will use the funds to support a wider range of DeFi and Web 3.0 activities and service expansion in Latin America. The priority will be Mexico, where demand is strong.
Argent also plans to increase the staff of financial and legal specialists, as well as form a new research group on L2 protocols.
Polychain Capital Leads $30M Investment Round for Ethereum Startup Scroll
Scroll, an Ethereum scaling project powered by ZK-Rollups technology, raises $30M
Series A funding round for startup led by Polychain Capital with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Robot Ventures, Geometry DAO and other investors, as well as several business angels.
The project will use funds to expand the team of 20 people and launch a test network. The latter is expected in the second half of 2022.
Islam-focused crypto startup Fasset raises $22M
Digital asset trading platform Fasset has raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by Liberty City Ventures and Fatima Gobi Ventures, with participation from Soma Capital, MyAsiaVC and others.
The investment will be used to develop new products, as well as expansion into Indonesia and Pakistan. The startup is negotiating with regulators to launch services in the specified regions.
The creators of the Moonbirds NFT collection raised $10 million from the co-founder of Reddit
The startup behind the Moonbirds NFT collection, Proof, has raised $10 million from Seven Seven Six, the venture capital firm of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
The startup was founded by True Ventures partner Kevin Rose. The latter also participated in the funding round, but it was Seven Seven Six who invested $10 million, he stressed.
Rose noted that the collaboration with Ohanian will allow the project to issue additional non-fungible tokens along with Web 3.0 content creation, conference launch and other initiatives.
Bastion’s DeFi project has raised $9 million from Three Arrows Capital and FTX
Bastion’s Lending Protocol closed a $9 million Series A funding round led by Three Arrows Capital with participation from FTX, Jane Street, The Spartan Group, Crypto.com and other investors.
The Bastion team announced the launch of leveraged farming, new listings, and plans to gamify DeFi with NFT over the next few weeks.
Opinion: The era of “free money” for crypto investors is nearing its end
Also on ForkLog:
- Uniswap Labs launches venture arm to invest in Web 3.0.
- Bloomberg: The Sandbox plans to raise $400M at a $4 billion valuation.
- Coinbase Ventures closed 71 VC deals in the first quarter.
- Partner Andreessen Horowitz tops Forbes’ Midas List.
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