These Crypto Startups Nabbed Funding Rounds To Close Out 2022

Despite all the bad news, crypto startups are still securing funding rounds as the bear market stretches into its second year

article-image

Exclusive art by Axel Rangel, modified by Blockworks

share

Bear market conditions have plagued the crypto industry, and the recent demise of crypto exchange FTX has cast oceans of doubt for day to day consumers. That hasn’t stopped crypto funding rounds.

Singaporean based crypto trading firm Amber Group this month closed a $300 million Series C led by Fenbushi Capital US.

“Prior to the collapse of FTX, Amber was in the process of completing an extension to our Series B+ at a $3B valuation in preparation for a potentially prolonged crypto winter,” the company tweeted. “Post the FTX collapse, we paused after a partial closing and instead moved forward on Series C.”

According to a Twitter post from Dec. 16, Amber Group had less than 10% of its capital on FTX prior to its collapse. It reportedly laid off 300 staff at the start of the month — roughly 40% of its workforce — and terminated sponsorship deals with Chelsea Football Club.

Amber said the fresh round of funding will help it focus on serving institutional and high-net-worth clients. 

Another significant fundraise this month was secured by Aztec Network, an Ethereum security layer geared towards privacy.

Aztec’s $100 million Series B was led by prominent venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from A Capital, King River and Variant, among others.

The incoming cash will be used to develop its blockchain encryption architecture, which will allow “users to verify that blockchain rules were followed correctly without revealing any underlying information,” the company said in a Dec. 15 blog post. 

“In the current public blockchain paradigm, users and entities unknowingly broadcast data in the public, compromising privacy and security to get trustlessness,” Aztec wrote.

Finally, the third largest funding round this month went to Fleek, a developer platform for crypto companies.

The company secured a $25 million Series A led by Polychain Capital. A handful of other investors, including Coinbase Ventures, Digital Currency Group and Protocol Labs participated in the round.

Fleek hopes to continue building its platform and growing its team, the company told TechCrunch. 

Other funding rounds this month include:

  • Nillion, a blockchain-less decentralized file storage network, nabbed $20 million in its latest funding round led by Distributed Global.
  • Tax and accounting software for digital assets, Bitwave closed a $15 million Series A co-led by Hack VC and Blockchain Capital.
  • Blocknative, a company building web3 infrastructure, also secured $15 million in its Series A led by Blockchain Capital and a few other investors.

Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening. Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter now.


Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can’t-miss tweets and more from Blockworks Research’s Daily Debrief.


Can’t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible. Join us on Telegram and follow us on Google News.


Tags

upcoming event

MON - WED, MARCH 18 - 20, 2024

Digital Asset Summit (DAS) is returning March 2024. This year’s event will be held in our nation’s capital, where industry leaders, policymakers, and institutional experts will come together to discuss the latest developments and challenges in the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency. […]

upcoming event

MON - WED, SEPT. 11 - 13, 2023

2022 was a meme.Skeptics danced, believers believed.Eventually, newcomers turned away, drained of liquidity and hope.Now, the tide is shifting and it’s time to rebuild. Permissionless II is the brainchild of Blockworks and Bankless. It’s not just a conference, but a call […]

recent research

Sequencers: The Key to The Rollup Investment Thesis

Research

Sequencers are one of the most explicit mechanisms in crypto for creating sustainable DAO-controlled revenue.

/

article-image

The SEC takes on the two biggest players in crypto within 24 hours

article-image

The SEC just sued Binance over alleged securities violations — now, the agency is coming for top US crypto exchange Coinbase

article-image

Binance’s ability to handle large outflows is once again tested as the market reckons with a fresh set of SEC allegations

article-image

Cboe Digital has CFTC permission to provide clearing services for margin trade on crypto futures at a time when regulators are closing in

article-image

The former part owner of the Minnesota Vikings misled a number of banks to process hundreds of millions of dollars of illicit crypto transactions

article-image

“We do not want to be regulated ever,” the SEC quotes an unnamed Binance CCO in lawsuit