This week, Kraken, a crypto exchange, made headlines by receiving a $42.5 million grant from Optimism. The exchange announced its plan to launch Ink, a layer-2 on the Optimism blockchain. In return, Optimism will provide $42.5 million or 25 million OP tokens to Kraken, bringing the total funds raised by the exchange to $164.8 million.
In addition to Kraken, several other firms also secured significant funding in the past week. Glow Labs, a community-powered platform focused on increasing global solar energy adoption, raised $30 million from Framework and Union Square Ventures. Nillion, a decentralized network for secure storage, raised $25 million from investors like Hack VC, bringing their total funds raised to $50 million.
Ellipsis Labs, a platform that builds sustainable and efficient DeFi protocols, secured $21 million from HAUN, with a total of $23.3 million raised to date. Chainway Labs, a blockchain infrastructure company focusing on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Zero Knowledge technology, raised $14 million in a Series A round from Founders Fund and other investors, adding up to $16.7 million raised so far.
Gelato Network, a decentralized backend for web3, raised $11 million in a Series A round led by HACK VC, bringing their total funds raised to $23.2 million. Sapien AI, a gamified Web3 platform where users play and train AI through challenges, raised $10.5 million in a seed round led by Variant.
PumpBTC, a liquid staking platform, raised $10 million in a seed round with lead investors including SevenX Ventures and Mirana Ventures. BitSmiley, offering a stablecoin, lending platform, and derivatives protocol, raised $10 million from various investors like Nxgen and IBC Group.
Additionally, several firms secured funding rounds under $10 million. Spire Labs raised $7 million in a seed round, Alliance Games raised $5 million in a Series A round, 81Ravens raised $4.5 million in a seed round, and Phylax Systems raised $4.5 million in a pre-seed round. Nitro Labs raised $4 million in a seed round, MagmaDAO raised $3.9 million in a seed round, and Native raised $2.6 million in a seed round. Axal raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed round, Streamflow raised $1.9 million, Cap Labs raised $1.9 million in a pre-seed round, and KRNL Labs raised $1.7 million in a pre-seed round.
Overall, the past week has seen a significant amount of funding flowing into various crypto projects, indicating continued interest and investment in the industry.
