Original Author: Baze Research Institute
Observing the latest investments in encrypted VC can help you see market trends and discover new trends early. What sectors and projects have VC recently favored? This article summarizes the 28 projects that received top encrypted VC investments in June, helping readers to understand quickly. It should be noted that any projects and opinions below should not be considered investment advice, DYOR.
I. DeFi
1. SafeBay
June 6, 2023
Seed Round: $1.115 million
Investors: Big Sky Capital, Borderless Capital, AXL Ventures, Algorand Foundation, and Angel
SafeBay Finance is a DeFi treasury platform developed by Singaporean digital private debt platform Kilde. It is built on the Algorand network and provides compliant, tokenized securities and credit products with different risk profiles. The platform aims to help blockchain-native companies effectively manage their short-term financial assets and is essentially an RWA (Real World Assets) tokenization project.
The DApp and token sale have not yet launched, and the official social media accounts are not active, with relatively few followers.
2. Connext
June 14, 2023
Strategic Investment: $7.5 million
Investors: Polychain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, NGC Ventures, Ethereal Ventures, Polygon Ventures, IOSG Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, 1kx, Hashed, etc.
Connext is a cross-chain protocol that enables fast and trustless communication between different blockchain networks. It facilitates the transfer of assets between blockchains and enables cross EVM chain contract work. Use cases include building DApps with a focus on cross-chain liquidity, cross-chain NFTs, and cross-chain governance.
Currently, Connext has processed over 1.2 million transactions. The protocol has been integrated by over 30 platforms, including Metamask, Planet IX, DODO, etc.
3, Concordia
June 17, 2023
Seed Round: $4 million
Lead Investors: Kraken Ventures, Tribe Capital
Other Investors: Cypher Capital, Saison Capital
Concordia is a multi-chain collateral management protocol designed to simplify cross-chain fund risk. Users can collateralize funds on one chain and lend or transfer funds on other chains. Currently, the first lending product based on the Concordia protocol, Superposition, is live on the Aptos network testnet.
Note: The TVL on Superposition is currently less than $500,000. Please be aware of the risks before participating.
4, Tapioca DAO
June 17, 2023
Seed Round: $6 million
Investors: LayerZero Labs, Fisher 8 Capital, Parc Capital, Jones DAO, DCFGod, etc.
TapiocaDAO is a fully-chain DeFi platform based on the LayerZero general messaging network. It spans over 17 EVM and non-EVM chains and helps reduce liquidity fragmentation. The platform offers various functional products, such as Singularity for lending (based on Sushiswap's Kashi), Yield Box for token treasuries (BentoBox V 2), and the decentralized overcollateralized stablecoin USDO.
TapiocaDAO is currently live on the testnet, and the official launch of the native token TAP has been confirmed, so early testnet users may receive airdrops (speculation only):
• Connect your wallet and switch the network to Arbitrum Goerli, Polygon Mumbai, or other testnets
• Obtain testnet tokens on the platform
• Test the USDO minting function in the "Mint" option
• Test the lending function
• Test token cross-chain functionality in the "Teleport" option
5, Earn Network
June 21, 2023
Seed round: $2.7 million
Investors: SHIMA Capital, DFG, LD Capital, BIXIN Ventures, ViaBTC Capital, Cronos, etc.
Earn Network is a multi-chain DeFi aggregation platform that aims to connect funds pools in different DeFi markets to provide users with more intuitive opportunities for staking, re-staking, and liquidity staking.
6, Maverick Protocol
June 21, 2023
Lead investor: Founders Fund
Other investors: Pantera Capital, Binance Labs, Coinbase Ventures, Apollo
Maverick Protocol is a DEX that designs four dynamic liquidity strategies aiming to provide the most liquid market for traders, liquidity providers, DAO treasury, and protocol developers, significantly improving capital efficiency.
7, AlloyX
June 29, 2023
Pre-seed: $200
Lead investor: Hack VC
Other investors: Circle Ventures, DCG, dao 5, STRATOS, LECC, MH Ventures, etc.
AlloyX is an RWA project that facilitates investments in real-world enterprises by tokenizing credit. A highlight is that AlloyX allows users to access multiple credit protocols through a single treasury. By aggregating pools of assets from various credit protocols like Goldfinch and Maple, AlloyX provides individuals, DAOs, and institutions with an easy channel to establish diversified investment strategies in RWA.
The current TVL is approximately $5 million.
II. CEX
8. Bit 2 Me
June 15, 2023
Amount: $15 million
Lead Investor: Investcorp
Other Investors: Telefónica Ventures (the venture capital division of Spain's largest telecommunications company, Telefónica), Stratminds VC, EMURGO, YGG CEO Gabby Dizon
Bit 2 Me is a cryptocurrency exchange based in Spain, where users can deposit funds through bank transfers and other methods to trade cryptocurrencies. In February of this year, Bit 2 Me obtained approval from the Central Bank of Spain, becoming the first company in the country to legally offer cryptocurrency-to-fiat currency exchange and cryptocurrency wallet custody services.
III. NFT
9. Spinamp
June 2, 2023
Amount: $1.2 million
Lead Investor: PTC Crypto
Other Investors: 1kx, Archetype, NoiseDAO, Coop Records, Fire Eyes DAO, top music NFT collector DegenDavinci, Lens Protocol Chief Growth Officer Christina.lens, etc.
Spinamp is an NFT music aggregation marketplace that aims to integrate music NFTs from different blockchains. Users can play and trade music NFTs on this platform. It can be seen as the Opensea for music NFTs, or the Spotify for NFTs.
Currently, Spinamp aggregates music NFTs from 30 platforms including Sound.xyz, Catalog, Nina, Zora, NOIZD, Lens, Arpeggi, Decent, OpenSea Collections, Songcamp, HedsDAO, Manifold.
Highlights:
• Artist profiles showcase their music NFTs released on all platforms
• Built API and SDK for easy integration with other DApps
• Future plans to launch artist and community interaction features (social)
10. Dew Drops
June 6, 2023
Pre-seed: $1.5 million
Lead investor: Dream Ventures
Other investors: VaynerFund, Polygon, Ruttenberg Gordon Investments, Slow Ventures
Dew Drops is a creatively innovative NFT marketplace that provides collectors with a convenient way to access NFTs using SMS as a medium. Every day, the platform sends a carefully selected artist and their work to collectors via text message. If collectors are interested, they can simply reply with "I want a few" to easily make the purchase.
11. DGPals
June 15, 2023
Strategic investment: undisclosed
Investor: Hashed
DGPals is a Web 3 gaming platform that has evolved into a powerful crypto gaming community by issuing various NFT series, a governance and staking token called DGG, in-game currency called OPL, and hosting a series of games and activities.
12. Tegro
June 26, 2023
Seed round: undisclosed
Investors: Polygon Ventures and other private institutions
Tegro is a multi-chain NFT marketplace, with a focus on NFT 20 trading.
NFT 20 is an ERC-20 token backed by ERC-721 and ERC-1155 NFTs at a 1:1 ratio. It basically represents fractionalized NFTs. By holding NFT 20, you have ownership of a corresponding portion of the original NFT. The advantage of this approach is that it allows for easy cross-chain and multi-asset swapping (with other NFTs through NFT 20 trading) and liquidity mining (to enhance liquidity).
Currently, Tegro is hosting a trading and earning points activity where you can exchange for native token TGR, NFTs, and USDT as rewards.
13. Hook Protocol
June 28, 2023
Amount: $3 million
Lead investors: Collab+Currency, Lattice
Other investors: Slow, Sfermion, Maven 11, Contrary, and others
Hook Protocol is an NFT call option protocol that allows users to create call options for any NFT they own.
Let's say I create a call option for my Bored Ape NFT. The NFT is worth 100 ETH today.
John believes that the NFT will increase in value next month, but he doesn't have 100 ETH to buy the NFT. So, John buys an option from me for 5 ETH with a strike price of 120 ETH and a 30-day expiration. There are three possible outcomes:
• If, after one month, the NFT is worth less than 120 ETH, the option will be worthless for John. In this case, I keep the 5 ETH received from selling the option.
• If, after one month, the NFT is worth more than 120 ETH but less than 125 ETH, John still incurs a loss in this trade, and the option's value is between 0-5 ETH.
• If, after one month, the NFT is worth more than 125 ETH, John makes a substantial profit through this trade (NFT price - 125 ETH). For example, if the NFT is worth 130 ETH, John earns 5 ETH, achieving a 100% return in one month. However, if John had purchased the NFT, he would have only gained a 30% return.
Therefore, the Hook Protocol is actually useful for both active trading and passive holding. NFT holders can generate income by selling call options, while traders can establish long positions by investing a small amount of ETH in call options, resulting in higher capital efficiency.
IV. Web 3 Services
14. Nori
June 6, 2023
Amount: $6.25 million
Investors: Toyota Ventures, M13, Placeholder, Cargill
Nori is an early Web 3 services company founded in 2017 and the first carbon offset trading platform on-chain, laying the foundation for a more transparent carbon market by allowing suppliers to mint NRT (an NFT representing Nori carbon offset tons) on the Ethereum network. Companies with carbon offset demands can find suitable suppliers on the platform's marketplace for peer-to-peer trading and purchase the suppliers' NRT using USDC or other payment methods.
Nori has now migrated to the Polygon network, significantly reducing gas fees for each transaction.
15. Meanwhile
June 6, 2023
Seed Rounds: $19 million
Lead Investors: Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI; Lachy Groom, former Head of Stripe Issuing; Gradient Ventures
Other Investors: Muoro Capital, 6th Man Ventures, Hudson Structured Capital Management, etc.
Meanwhile is the first and only life insurance company that prices policies and pays out claims exclusively in Bitcoin. The company's executives and some investors believe that BTC is becoming a global store of value and functional currency.
You can currently join the waitlist on the platform's official website.
16, Lens Protocol
June 8, 2023
Amount: $15 million
Lead investor: IDEO CoLab Ventures
Other investors: Tencent, Kraken Ventures, Delphi Digital, Ceneral Catalyst, Blockchain Capital, PTC Crypto, Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams, OpenSea co-founder Alex Atallah, entrepreneur Balaji, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, etc.
In May of last year, Lens Protocol, a Web 3 social media platform created by the veteran DeFi lending protocol Aave, went live on the Polygon network and has been active for over a year. However, its daily active address count, which is less than 3,000, has been a subject of controversy.
Nevertheless, apart from the official product, there are already hundreds of applications developed or integrated based on Lens, covering different fields such as tools, DAOs, communities, games, videos, etc. The ecosystem is flourishing.
With the support of various leaders in the crypto industry and the recent launch of the V2 version, it is believed that Lens will be getting closer to its "Web 3 social kingdom" dream.
17, HyperPlay
June 8, 2023
Series A: $12 million
Lead investors: Griffin Gaming Partners, BITKRAFT
Other investors: Consensys (parent company of MetaMask), Ethereal Ventures, Delphi Digital, Game 7 DAO, Mirana Ventures, Monoceros Ventures
HyperPlay is a Web 3 game store (similar to a Web 3 version of Steam), established by MetaMask and Game 7 DAO in November 2022. Its goal is to aggregate Web 3 games together, allowing players to directly install games through HyperPlay and connect their encrypted wallets to bring their tokens, NFTs, and achievements into the games.
Currently, there are already over 40 blockchain games available on the HyperPlay platform, including popular ones such as "Thetan Arena," "The Sandbox," "Phantom Galaxies," "Bushi," "My Crypto Heroes," etc.
18. Collectibles.com
June 13, 2023
Seed Round: $5 million
Lead Investor: Blockchange Ventures
Other investors: GFR Fund, Blockwall Capital, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom, Braintrust CEO Adam Jackson, etc.
Collectibles.com is a blockchain-based marketplace for collectibles. Whether it's NFTs, comic books, stamps, or memorabilia, they can all be listed on this marketplace for trading. The DApp is yet to be launched.
Highlights:
• Has a social system
19. BoomFi
June 13, 2023
Amount: $3.8 million
Lead Investor: White Star Capital
Other investors: Passion Capital, Blockchain Founders Fund, Kraken Ventures, GSR, Aqua Now, Mantle Network, etc.
BoomFi is a payment platform for sending, receiving, and converting cryptocurrencies. It simplifies crypto payments through features like free trials, discounts, and token gating, aiming to enable businesses and merchants to seamlessly accept cryptocurrencies.
20, Poko
June 15, 2023
Seed round: $4.5 million
Lead investors: Y Combinator, NAZCA, Global Founders Capital
Other investors: Goodwater Capital, Soma Capital, Amasia, CreditEase, Dentsu Ventures, Orange DAO, MS&AD Ventures, Plug and Play
Poko is a cryptocurrency payment platform that focuses on three products: virtual debit cards (creating virtual debit cards on the platform for in-store consumption or storing stablecoins to earn interest), gateway aggregator (selecting a provider among numerous fiat->crypto providers for conversion), and direct checkout functionality (directly purchasing FT/NFT using fiat currency).
According to the company, over 11 million active wallets are using its payment channels in Latin America, India, and Southeast Asia markets.
21, dappOS
June 20, 2023
Pre-seed: undisclosed
Investor: Binance Labs
dappOS is an innovative DApp operating platform aimed at reducing barriers for users interacting with crypto protocols and providing a more user-friendly operating system for users and applications.
User experience is crucial to attract the next billion users to adopt Web 3.0. Currently, DApps are still challenging for new users due to two main issues: creating on-chain wallets (easily losing private keys) and complex interaction processes (approving various contracts). These are the problems that the popular account abstraction concept (ERC-4337) aims to solve in early 2023.
dappOS addresses these two issues by becoming an intermediary layer between users and DApps, abstracting existing public chain concepts. The upcoming V2 version of dappOS includes new features such as unified accounts, task-related order execution, and a brand new bidding system.
Here we will focus on the interpretation of the unified account. The unified account allows users to only focus on the total assets and achieve asset interoperability on any chain and any dApp, just like in a centralized exchange where funds deposited do not need to be distinguished by which chain they are deposited on, and the balance is universal in the spot and financial sectors. For example, User A has a wallet balance of 100 USDC in dappOS, with 50 USDC on Ethereum and 50 USDC on the BNB Chain. User A only needs to sign once to confirm the transaction and can use the total balance of 100 USDC on GMX in Arbitrum or Benqi on Avalanche, without worrying about the distribution of USDC or gas payment issues.
Therefore, users only need to interact on the dappOS platform to simultaneously use different dApps across different chains and enjoy the smooth Web 2 to Web 3 interactive process. dappOS, which takes "user experience" as its responsibility, deserves long-term attention.
22, Kaito AI
June 22, 2023
Series A: $5.5 million
Investors: Superscrypt, SPARTAN
Kaito is an encrypted search engine with built-in ChatGPT, aiming to fundamentally change crypto research. Kaito uses AI technology and cryptography to integrate petabytes of unstructured information, making it easy for investors, researchers, developers, and the public to use this information through AI. It is worth mentioning that Kaito's previous financing attracted more well-known investors, including Redshirt Capital and Dragonfly Capital.
5. L 1/L 2/Infrastructure
23, Leo Wallet
June 2, 2023
Seed round: $4.5 million
Lead investor: HackVC
Other investors: Data Collective, Coinbase Ventures, Amplify, Opensea, Santiago Santos
Star privacy public chain Aleo is currently in the testnet phase.
Leo Wallet is a privacy-focused wallet designed for the Aleo network, which provides token trading, staking, transactions, games, and other functionalities directly within the wallet. Leo Wallet is developed by Demox Labs, offering users a comprehensive solution to manage their Aleo assets and transaction activities with a priority on privacy.
Highlights:
• More than 15,000 users
• The first dedicated wallet for the Aleo network
24, Kakarot
Pre-seeding: Not disclosed
Investors: StarkWare, Lambda Class, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Ledger co-founder Nicolas Bacca, Zama co-founder Rand Hindi
Starknet is an Ethereum zk Rollup Layer 2 solution that uses Cairo as its programming language, resulting in a "barrier to entry for Ethereum developers."
Kakarot is a zkEVM launched by Starknet, supporting developers to build and deploy Ethereum smart contracts while maintaining compatibility with the Ethereum ecosystem and interoperating with Starknet. It is expected to launch its testnet in August.
25, Argus
Seed round: $10 million
Lead investor: HAUN
Other investors: Alchemy, Robot Ventures, ANAGRAM, Dispersion Capital, EG, entrepreneur Balaji
Argus is a chain game developer that, as early as 2020, used zkSNARKs technology to build a popular fully on-chain open game called "Dark Forest" on Ethereum. Players can independently operate functions such as a market, information exchange center, guild, and mercenary system by constructing their own smart contracts.
However, due to the inherent limitations of the current blockchain architecture, building fully on-chain games can be challenging for developers. Therefore, Argus is developing a public chain called World Engine that focuses on blockchain games. World Engine uses a shard architecture, allowing game developers to distribute their game load across different shards. This not only enables the construction of high-performance games but also facilitates seamless interoperability with content on other shards through a shard routing system.
26, Taiko
June 8, 2023
Seed Round 2: $12 million
Lead investor: Generative Ventures
Other investors: IOSG Ventures, GSR, Kucoin Ventures, OKX Ventures, BAI Capital, etc.
Taiko is an Ethereum zk Rollup L2 solution and one of the "zkEVM Five" players mentioned by Vitalik Buterin on Twitter. Taiko aims to extend Ethereum as closely as possible, both technically and ideologically.
At the time of writing, Taiko has launched its Alpha-4 testnet.
27, Gensyn
June 12, 2023
Series A: $43 million
Lead investor: a16z crypto
Other investors: CoinFund, Canonical Crypto, Protocol Labs, Eden Block, Maven 11, etc.
"AI training should be decentralized and permissionless." - Edward Snowden (2022)
Gensyn is a decentralized AI computing network that leverages blockchain and cryptographic technologies to verify the completion of deep learning tasks and facilitate on-demand token payments. Gensyn aims to provide more efficient, secure, and reliable computing resources for AI model training.
Top-tier venture capital firm a 16 z explained in a blog post the reason for investing in Gensyn. They believe that the project has huge potential in addressing some existing problems in the AI field. For example, traditional cloud computing models often require a lot of time and resources to complete AI training. However, Gensyn leverages the advantages of blockchain technology, allowing for efficient allocation and utilization of computing resources. Its decentralized nature also ensures that the computing network is not affected by single point failures.
28. Mythical Games
June 27, 2023
C Series A: $37 million
Lead investor: Scytale Digital
Other investors: a 16 z crypto, Ark Invest, Animoca Brands, PROOF, MoonPay, Westcap, etc.
Mythical Games is a major Web 3 video game and metaverse development company. Some of their most popular games include "NFL Rivals" (official NFL NFT game) and "Blankos Block Party" (metaverse game), which was launched on the Epic Games Store in September last year and attracted over 2.5 million users with daily sales reaching $1 million.
As a technically skilled metaverse unicorn company that popularized NFTs, Mythical Games has raised a total of approximately $280 million through four funding rounds. The investors include top players in the crypto industry like a 16 z, Ark Invest, Animoca Brands, Binance, FTX, Galaxy, as well as well-known figures from the sports and entertainment world, such as NBA legend Michael Jordan. Mythical Games is expected to raise more funds in the future for further expansion.
Risk Warning:
According to the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risk of Speculation in Virtual Currency Trading" issued by the central bank and other departments, the content of this article is only for information sharing and does not promote or endorse any business or investment activities. Readers are strictly advised to abide by local laws and regulations and not engage in any illegal financial activities.
