Funding Roundup: Major Raises of $1B and $200M Join Startup Spree

As February comes to an end, cryptocurrencies are showing signs of recovery and capital is continuing to roll into crypto.

Over the past 24 hours, the cryptocurrency market was up 9.7%, according to prices. The two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, bitcoin and ethereum, were up 9.9% and 11.35%, respectively, as of 9:45 am ET Friday.

Over $1.3 billion in investments poured into the crypto sector this week. This is in part due to some major funding rounds including Luna Foundation Guard’s $1 billion private token sale, which is one of the largest raises in the crypto sector, and Amber Group’s $200 million extended Series B round.

Amid the massive rounds, there were low to multi-million dollar raises, too, including a $33 million Series B closed by blockchain infrastructure provider InfStones and a $34 million raise by a DeFi and Web3 infrastructure platform Aligned. 

Total value locked on DeFi (decentralized finance) protocols has surged in the past 12 months, from $52 billion to $196 billion, according to data from DeFi Llama. With that hike in TVL, demand has also increased for the sector, Aligned founder Sam Cassatt told Blockworks on Thursday.

“Demand will continue to grow,” Cassatt said. “I don’t see this slowing down, it’s getting larger day by day.” 

Web3 and DeFi dominated the emerging technology investment landscape in Q4 2021, with $2.4 billion invested across 26 deals during that time frame, according to a PitchBook report on Thursday. The two sectors accounted for about 13%, or $4.3 billion of the $33 billion, invested capital in crypto last year.

Other notable capital raises this week include: 

• DeFi protocol Teller served up a $6.85 million strategic raise
• Blockchain-based game Cradles closed a $5 million private round led by Animoca Brands
• DeFi app Catalog logged $7.5 million to help create a cross-chain and multichain future
• Emerging Web3 startup Fast Break Labs filled a $6M seed round led by Patron and Pantera Capital 
• Binance-backed fantasy strategy game Heroes of Mavia roped in $2.5 million, led by Crypto.com Capital.

Check back next week for more funding news.

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