20 projects raised US$1 billion, MARA received US$40 million investment

Compiled by: Golden Finance

This week, 20 blockchain startups raised a total of $1.1 billion in funding. There are 5 projects that received seed and pre-seed rounds, and 14 projects received other rounds of financing. MARA raised $1 billion in the Pre-seed round of financing - the largest financing this week.

The largest round of financing this week

Mara Holdings raised $1 billion in a round of financing.

MARA uses blockchain-based digital asset computing to support energy transformation, turning idle or underutilized energy into economic value. It deploys scalable data centers powered by excess energy, promotes sustainable development, and optimizes global energy efficiency. MARA focuses on creating value from renewable and waste energy while ensuring the security of blockchain networks.

Pre-seed and Seed Rounds

Lnfi Network has raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-seed round with participation from Hashkey Capital, UTXO Management, Waterdrip Capital, CMS Holdings, and Wolf.

LNFi (Liquidity Network Finance) is a decentralized financial layer (L2.5) built on the Lightning Network. It introduces LightningFi, enabling Taproot assets to be tokenized and Web3 services. LNFi facilitates issuance, trading, staking, gifting, and other activities on the Lightning Network through Nostr, aiming to enhance asset liquidity and financial capabilities in a scalable decentralized ecosystem.

Deblock has raised $16.8 million in a seed round with participation from Headline Asia, Hoxton Ventures, 20VC, and Chalfen Ventures.

Deblock is a crypto wallet and current account solution that provides users with the ability to seamlessly deposit, withdraw, spend and exchange Euros and cryptocurrencies. With IBAN accounts, virtual/physical cards and non-custodial wallet capabilities, Deblock provides users with a secure, self-managed platform for digital and fiat assets. It operates under DASP and EMI licenses, ensuring compliance and security for users around the world.

Shinami raised $5.6 million in a seed round with participation from Race Capital, 6th Man Ventures (6MV), Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, Mysten Labs, Aptos Network and Movement Labs.

Shinami is a developer platform for the Sui and Aptos ecosystems, providing scalable infrastructure solutions such as node services, gas stations for fee abstraction, and wallet services to enhance the Web3 experience. Designed specifically for Move-based blockchains, Shinami helps developers efficiently build and scale dApps through seamlessly integrated tools and user-friendly ways to interact with Web3.

Barter has raised $3 million in a seed round with participation from Maven 11 Capital*, Lattice Fund, Anagram, Heartcore Capital, Digital Currency Group (DCG), and Daedalus.

Barter is a decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure company focused on improving liquidity across various blockchain networks. By providing innovative solutions, Barter aims to increase capital efficiency and accessibility in the DeFi ecosystem.

KOKODI has raised $1.1 million in a seed round with participation from Merit Circle, Avalanche, Tenzor Capital, SWGI Ventures (SWISS GEM INVESTMENTS), vVv dotnet, DCI capital (Dutch Crypto Investors), Purechain Capital, and Kangaroo Capital.

KOKODI is a cross-chain, multi-platform MMO game that combines extraction shooter and battle royale gameplay, set in a fantasy world shaped by a child's imagination. KOKODI offers a strategy-rich, action-packed gaming experience. It targets gamers and Web3 users, allowing participation without cryptocurrency knowledge while integrating in-game market opportunities to enable economic participation. As a cross-media franchise brand, KOKODI emphasizes high-quality production and community-driven gameplay.

Other Investment Rounds

KGeN (formerly Kratos) raised $10 million in a funding round participated by Aptos Network*, Game7 (GDC), and Polygon.

KGeN (Kratos Gaming Network) is a Web3-powered player reputation platform that uses zero-knowledge machine learning (zkML) to create verifiable, data-rich player profiles. Built on Ethereum, KGeN enables players to own and display their own game data, driving engagement and loyalty. It integrates e-commerce and engagement tools, helps publishers optimize CAC (customer acquisition cost) and LTV (lifetime value) metrics, and provides features such as gamified user acquisition, community building, and exclusive rewards. KGeN aims to unify global gaming through decentralized ownership and a focus on emerging markets.

Exponent raised $2.1 million in a funding round participated by RockawayX*, Solana Ventures, Cherry Ventures, Mechanism Capital, and Robot Ventures.

Exponent Finance is a Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that provides fixed-rate lending solutions. It enables users to lock in predictable returns or obtain stable funds by leveraging transparent and risk-controlled DeFi infrastructure.

Gunzilla Games raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round participated by Coinbase Ventures.

Gunzilla Games is a game development studio known for its innovation in multiplayer games. They are developing a cyberpunk-style Battle Royale 2.0 game called Off The Grid, set in a dystopian future world. Gunzilla Games empowers players through its GunZ platform, allowing them to take ownership of in-game items and trade them using blockchain technology.

TrueMarkets Raises $4 Million in a Public Sale Funding Round.

TrueMarkets is a decentralized trading platform focused on tokenization and financial markets for real-world assets. It provides transparent and compliant tools to tokenize, trade, and manage assets. TrueMarkets integrates blockchain technology to simplify the trading of traditional and digital assets within a secure and regulated framework.

Gabby World has raised $2 million in a funding round with participation from SevenX Ventures, NxGen, PAKA, Everest Ventures Group (EVG), Cyber, Zonff Partners, OnePiece Labs, Initiate Capital, Kanosei Ventures, and Jinwoo Park.

Gabby World is an AI-powered decentralized gaming platform that enables users to create and explore AI-generated dungeons. Players can create unique challenges (called “Chapters”) or adventure through these dungeons and earn rewards through a “Fear of Missing Out” (FOMO) mechanism. The platform emphasizes user-generated content, allowing players to shape the game world with their creativity. Gabby World runs on a composable gaming system that integrates blockchain technology to facilitate a transparent and decentralized gaming experience.

Monkey Tilt has raised $30 million in a Series A funding round with participation from Pantera Capital*, Hack VC, Polychain Capital, Mirana Ventures, Accomplice Blockchain, Dream Ventures, Josh Hannah, and PokerGO.

Monkey Tilt is an online gambling platform that combines cryptocurrency with gaming, enabling players to earn real money by predicting whether selected players will over- or under-perform their statistical predictions.

Canaan Creative has raised $30 million in a funding round.

Canaan is a leading provider of advanced blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, known for developing ASIC Bitcoin mining hardware, including the Avalon Miner series. The company offers mining solutions with innovative cooling technology and blockchain integration, addressing the needs of industrial-scale crypto mining and AI applications. Canaan specializes in high-performance computing, powering the global blockchain ecosystem.

Rise Payroll has raised $6.3 million in a Series A funding round with participation from Draper Associates, Polymorphic Capital, Digital Currency Group (DCG), Jam Fund, Ryze Labs, and Paradigm Shift Capital.

Rise is a Web3-powered payroll and compliance platform that allows companies to pay contractors using stablecoins or fiat currencies. Its blockchain-based system ensures that transaction records are accurate and immutable, leveraging stablecoins such as USDT or USDC for secure, transparent payments. If contractors prefer to be paid in fiat, Rise taps a global network of local partners to handle the conversion. The platform automates the tax compliance process, provides contractors with health and travel benefits, and supports flexible pay schedules.

Bitfinity has raised $12 million in a funding round with participation from Polychain Capital, ParaFi Capital, Draft Ventures, and Warburg Serres.

Bitfinity is a Bitcoin layer-2 network built on the Internet Computer Protocol. Bitfinity differentiates itself by supporting the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), enabling Ethereum developers to create Bitcoin-enabled decentralized applications. This compatibility is designed to foster growth in the Bitcoin ecosystem, processing Bitcoin ordinals and BRC-20 tokens as well as EVM assets. The platform promises high speeds and low costs, aiming to enhance decentralized finance on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Noble has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round with participation from Paradigm*, Polychain Capital, Foresight Ventures, Wintermute, and Informal Systems.

Noble is a specialized blockchain in the Cosmos ecosystem focused on the issuance and management of native assets. It aims to provide secure and industry-standard smart contract functionality for asset issuance, allowing entities to mint, destroy, and manage tokens on the Noble chain.

OpenLayer has raised $5 million in a funding round with participation from a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), Geometry, IOSG Ventures, The Spartan Group, Public Works, LongHash Ventures, Eterna Capital, MH Ventures, Side Door Ventures, Cadenza, 10K Ventures, and IDG Capital.

OpenLayer is a decentralized platform that enables users to securely reclaim, own, and share their data. Through a modular system that enables individuals and devices to contribute to data collection, verification, and transformation, OpenLayer facilitates the creation of authentic data sources. Users can earn points for their data contributions, which can be used for a variety of applications, including AI training, user targeting, and feature enhancement. The platform emphasizes privacy and consent, ensuring that user data is shared securely while protecting individual privacy.

Blowfish has raised an undisclosed amount in a Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) funding round with participation from Phantom.

Blowfish is a security platform focused on protecting Web3 wallets by proactively identifying and preventing fraudulent activity. It provides a comprehensive Trust & Security platform that supports over ten blockchain networks, enabling wallets to effectively protect users’ funds. Key features include Dapp Security (alerting users before they interact with potentially harmful decentralized applications) and Transaction Security (providing transaction previews and automated risk warnings before users approve). Blowfish’s services have been integrated by major wallets, helping prevent over 2.8 million fraud incidents and protecting over $10 billion in assets.

Membrane Finance has raised an undisclosed amount in a Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) funding round with participation from Paxos.

Membrane Finance is a Finnish fintech company focused on developing financial software and services that seamlessly connect traditional financial infrastructure with blockchain-based services. As an electronic money institution regulated by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority, Membrane Finance is authorized to operate throughout the EU and EEA. The company is the lead designer of EUROe, an EU-regulated fully-reserve Euro stablecoin that provides fiat Euro liquidity on-chain. Membrane Finance offers a range of products and services, including regulated stablecoins in multiple currencies and blockchain integrations, to facilitate the hyperconnectivity between the traditional financial economy and the blockchain-based financial economy.

LuluChain raises $5 million in a round of funding with participation from DG Capital*, SMO Capital, Unionblock, Bloc Ventures, and LD Block.

LuluChain is an AI-integrated modular blockchain platform for the digitization and management of emotional value. It transforms human emotions into tradable digital assets, creating a secure and personalized ecosystem for emotional data. The platform aims to disrupt the decentralized world by building an intelligent emotional value network that combines blockchain technology with the quantification and personalization of emotional experiences.