Story of Intellectual Property
Weekly Recap
Weekly funding showed a slight decrease, falling from $211 million to $199 million, while the total deal count increased 37% from 19 deals to 26. Infrastructure was the leading category, totaling $156 million in funding across 12 deals and making up over three-quarters of the total amount. DeFi was the second leading category, with $26 million in funding, including SatLayer, a Bitcoin restaking solution similar to EigenLayer. This week consisted of the first Series B round in over six weeks, completed by PIP Labs (Story Protocol), our Deal of the Week. Seed rounds comprised the highest portion of deal flow, representing 42% of the total deal count while only making up 25% of funding.
Although not included in the totals below, a notable mining M&A transaction was announced this week. Bitfarms agreed to acquire Stronghold Digital Mining for $125 million in stock. Stronghold shareholders will receive 2.52 Bitfarms shares for each share held, an approximate 70% premium from its 90D volume-weighted average price. The transaction also includes assumed debt of about $50 million. The transaction is notable, considering Bitfarms is actively fending off a takeover attempt from Riot Platforms.