Weekly Recap

Total funding fell 23% week-over-week from $159 million to $123 million, while the deal count remained constant at 29. This is the fourth week of triple-digit funding and over 20 deals, and the second in a row with nearly 30 deals, confirming private markets activity is trending higher. DeFi and Infrastructure were the leading sectors for funding, accounting for almost one-third of all deal activity each. Investors are focused on teams addressing common user pain points such as self-custody and interoperability between chains. Deals were concentrated in seed-stage companies, which received $87 million while representing 12 of the 29 deals announced. Metaverse and Gaming are seeing renewed interest, with 24% of deal activity and $25 million raised, a significant jump from the one deal and $3m raised two weeks ago. As the bull market trend solidifies for liquid token markets, investors are beginning to get comfortable betting farther out on the risk curve on speculative, unproven models, hoping to be early to the next potential trend.

Funding by Category

Funding by Deal Stage

Deal of the Week

Portal, a Bitcoin-based startup focused on developing a cross-chain decentralized exchange and wallet, has successfully raised $34 million in seed funding from notable investors, including Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures, and Gate.io. This funding round, a mix of SAFE agreements and convertible notes now fully converted into equity, stands out for its size, being larger than the usual seed funding rounds. It was completed due to high demand and oversubscribed by more than double. The company’s total funding has reached $42.5 million, with $8.5 million previously raised in pre-seed funding in 2021. Portal operates as a protocol enabling Layer 2 atomic swaps across different blockchains, offering a decentralized exchange (DEX) and a fully non-custodial wallet.

Why Is This Deal of the Week?

Portal operates as a protocol enabling Layer 2 atomic swaps across different blockchains, offering a decentralized exchange (DEX) and a fully non-custodial wallet. The DEX supports seamless, low-cost, fast cross-chain transactions without the custodial risks associated with current methods like wrapped tokens or bridges. With the products currently in the testnet phase, Portal anticipates readiness for mainnet launch soon.

With the new funds, Portal aims to expand its ecosystem, enhance integration with various wallets and decentralized exchanges, and eliminate custodial risks in the sector. The future may see the introduction of a native token, dependent on the network’s validators, to secure the network and reward validators. Portal, founded in 2019 and based in the San Francisco Bay Area, is also focusing on growth, having doubled its team size over the last year and planning to continue hiring. Additionally, Portal is exploring the launch of an AI-powered investment app to facilitate intelligent investing decisions for its users.

Selected Deals

Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation division of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has invested in Puffer Finance, a protocol for liquid restaking on Ethereum, built upon EigenLayer. Puffer has attracted investment from notable entities such as Brevan Howard Digital, Jump Crypto, and Lightspeed Faction. While the amount of Binance Labs’ investment was not disclosed, the funds are earmarked to develop Puffer’s Layer 2 network, which will function as an EigenLayer Actively Validated Service. The investment will also support the launch of Puffer’s liquid restaking token, pufETH, on the BNB Chain, offering users opportunities for staking and restaking rewards. This move by Binance Labs aligns with the growing interest and momentum in the Ethereum restaking sector, particularly following the introduction of EigenLayer last June.

Squid, a cross-chain platform known as a do-anything router, has secured $4 million in funding to enhance its cross-chain functionalities, improving user interactions with cross-chain transactions like swaps and Web3 application onboarding. Polychain Capital spearheaded the funding round and saw contributions from various investors, including Nomad Capital, North Island Ventures, and others, with continued support from existing investors. Squid stands out by offering a quick, seamless, and secure method for token swaps across over 60 blockchain networks, benefiting a vast user base.