Funding Wrap: Solana-based Ellipsis draws an Ethereum-heavy cap table

Plus, a van Eck releases a stablecoin and Paradigm looks to raise another megafund

April 7, 2024 12:00 pm

Dmitriy NDM/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks

The developers behind Solana-based decentralized exchange Phoenix have just secured $20 million in a Series A funding round for their startup Ellipsis.

Funding was led by Paradigm, with support from Electric Capital and other industry leaders. Notably, public Ethereum figures also supported the development of Ellipsis. These include Ethereum researchers Justin Drake and Mike Neuder, Tim Beiko, who runs protocol support at Ethereum Foundation, and EigenLayer founder Sreeram Kannan.

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The diverse group of investors caught the attention of X, where users immediately commented on the collaboration between individuals from competing ecosystems.

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The younger van Eck raises $12 million

Nick van Eck, the heir to investment management firm VanEck, landed $12 million for his stablecoin startup Agora in a seed round led by Dragonfly Capital.

“After spending my whole career building investment cases based on other founders’ visions, there was no better time or opportunity to build towards a future and vision I believed in,” van Eck posted on X. “AgoraDollar is that company. We’re building a more financially inclusive future, where accessibility to financial wealth preservers and creators is borderless.”

The company notes that its first product will be a fully collateralized stablecoin that is pegged to the US dollar. The stablecoin, named Agora’s digital dollar or AUSD, has yet to launch, but the team remarks that it will differ from existing product offerings and will only be available to select markets outside of the United States.

Other notable fundraises

Paradigm is in talks with investors to raise a $850 million fund.
Sei reveals that it will be injecting $10 million into its NFT ecosystem.
Merkle Trade secured $2.1 million for a social perp DEX.
Xion raised $25 million for an abstraction-focused blockchain.

Jack Kubinec contributed to reporting.

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