Highlights of This Issue
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 11 investment and financing events in the global blockchain sector last week (3.16-3.22), with a total funding scale exceeding $1.086 billion. The overview is as follows:
- The DeFi sector announced 1 investment and financing event, with Ironlight Group announcing the completion of a $21 million Series A funding round;
- In AI+Web3, 3 investment and financing events were announced, among which Gency AI completed a new $20 million funding round with investors including TikTok;
- The Infrastructure & Tools field announced 1 investment and financing event, with Web3 API platform Uniblock completing a $5.2 million funding round with participation from SBI and others;
- The Centralized Finance sector announced 2 investment and financing events, among which the stablecoin cross-border payment platform TransFi completed a $19.2 million funding round;
- The Prediction Market field announced 2 investment and financing events, among which the prediction market platform Kalshi completed a new round of over $1 billion in funding, with a valuation reaching $22 billion;
- Other Web3+AI aspects announced 2 financing events, among which Republic received a new round of funding from Hamilton Lane, with total funding reaching $202 million.
DeFi
Ironlight Raises $21 Million to Expand Compliant Tokenized Securities Infrastructure
Financial technology company Ironlight Group, focused on tokenized securities infrastructure, announced the completion of a $21 million Series A funding round. This round saw participation from several Wall Street and financial services executives, including former TD Bank President and CEO Greg Braca, as well as institutional investors such as Sei Development Foundation and Laidlaw Private Equity. The funds will be used to expand its SEC Regulation ATS and FINRA-regulated alternative trading system (ATS) Ironlight Markets, as well as Ironlight Technologies, which provides a platform for tokenized securities issuance, distribution, and settlement. Ironlight currently supports the tokenization and on-chain atomic settlement of assets such as private equity, structured products, fixed income, private credit, and real estate.
AI
Gency AI Completes $20 Million Funding Round to Develop Decentralized Advertising Network
AI and blockchain company Gency AI announced the completion of a new $20 million funding round, with investors including TikTok, HF0, XYZ, Streamlined Ventures, Hat-Trick Capital, Arksteam, MH Ventures, ViaBTC, and Basics Capital. The company will use the funds to expand its decentralized advertising execution and settlement network, strengthen its privacy computing technology stack, and accelerate product deployment and ecosystem partnerships in North America, Asia, and Europe. Gency AI uses on-chain verifiable credentials and smart contracts to automate the settlement and transparency of ad impressions, conversion results, and revenue distribution, focusing on solving issues such as long settlement cycles and opaque attribution and data ownership in advertising.
Derivio Completes $6 Million Funding to Promote Intelligent Agent Trading Platform
AI-native trading platform Derivio announced the completion of a $6 million funding round, with investors including YZiLabs, CMT Digital, Big Brain VC, Signum Capital, UOB Venture Management, Everstake Capital, proximity, and other institutions. Derivio stated that it will build infrastructure around "agentic trading," utilizing AI agents to process high-speed, large-scale market and on-chain data to achieve more automated strategy execution and trading decisions.
Web3 Intelligent Asset OS Platform OptiView Completes Strategic Funding Round
Web3 intelligent asset OS platform OptiView announced the completion of a new funding round, with joint investment from Honey Capital, LandScape Capital, and Super Labs. The project, centered around its self-developed sovereign AI Agent, has already served over 100,000 users with a daily active user count of 5-7K. CEO Sammy stated: The AI engine is about to be fully deployed, which will help users transition from passive holding to autonomous intelligent wealth management.
Infrastructure & Tools
Web3 API Platform Uniblock Completes $5.2 Million Funding Round with Participation from SBI and Others
Web3 API platform Uniblock completed a $5.2 million funding round, with participation from SBI, AllianceDAO, BFF, and NGC, among others. It is reported that Uniblock completed a $2.3 million funding round in November 2023, with participation from Cadenza and others.
Capital B, TOBAM, and UTXO Management Jointly Complete €3 Million Funding Round
French listed companies Capital B, TOBAM, and UTXO Management jointly completed a €3 million funding round and adjusted the conversion price of the A-03, A-04, and A-05 convertible bonds subscribed by TOBAM to accelerate the implementation of its Bitcoin treasury company strategy. This transaction is expected to enable the company to additionally acquire approximately 36 BTC.
Centralized Finance
Singapore-Based Stablecoin Payment Infrastructure Company Dtcpay Completes $10 Million Series A Funding Round
Singapore-based stablecoin payment infrastructure company Dtcpay announced the completion of a $10 million Series A funding round, led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. The company has obtained an electronic money institution license in Luxembourg to expand regulated payment services in the European Economic Area. Dtcpay builds stablecoin payment infrastructure for businesses and consumers and has partnered with Visa to launch cards that connect digital finance with traditional finance. Its platform supports real-time settlement between stablecoins and fiat currencies.
Stablecoin Cross-Border Payment Platform TransFi Completes $19.2 Million Funding Round
Stablecoin cross-border payment platform TransFi completed a $19.2 million funding round, including $14.2 million in Series A equity financing and $5 million in committed liquidity financing. This round was led by strategic investor Turing Financial Group in digital payments and financial infrastructure. It is reported that TransFi uses stablecoins as a settlement rail to provide an alternative to traditional correspondent banking and SWIFT systems for emerging markets, supporting over 40 fiat currencies and more than 100 digital assets, integrating over 250 local payment methods, with business coverage in over 70 countries, serving more than 100 global clients and 2 million end-users. The new funds will be used to expand into Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa, deepen regulatory licensing布局, and expand the liquidity network.
Prediction Market
Prediction Market Kalshi Completes New Round of Over $1 Billion Funding, Valuation Reaches $22 Billion
Prediction market platform Kalshi completed a new round of over $1 billion in funding, with a valuation reaching $22 billion, doubling from the $11 billion valuation in December last year. Insiders revealed that this round was led by Coatue Management, and Kalshi's current annualized revenue is $1.5 billion.
Kalshi was founded in 2018 and saw a surge in popularity after a court allowed it to offer election trading in 2024. The company operates as a CFTC-regulated financial exchange, allowing it to conduct business nationwide under federal rules. Its trading volume exceeded $10 billion in February, a 12-fold increase from six months ago. Despite recent criminal charges and regulatory controversies filed by states like Arizona, investors remain enthusiastic about the rapidly growing market.
Prediction Market Platform Myriad Completes Seed Round Funding with Participation from Tom Lee and Others
Prediction market platform Myriad announced the completion of a seed funding round, with the specific amount undisclosed. Participating institutions in this round include MoonPay Ventures, Auros, EVG, Verda Ventures, Side Door Ventures, Wave Financial, Walrus, and OFR, among others. Individual investors include Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, NFT collector Blondish, and Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz.
This funding news follows the launch of Myriad Season 3. In Season 3, the platform migrated its event contracts to the BNB Chain. Simultaneously, the platform's liquidity model has been upgraded from an automated market maker to a central limit order book, adding features such as slippage control, limit orders, and dynamic fees.
Other
Republic Receives New Funding from Hamilton Lane, Total Funding Reaches $202 Million
According to an official announcement from Republic, Hamilton Lane announced a strategic investment in the on-chain investment platform Republic, strengthening their cooperation in "on-chain" private markets and retail investor access. Republic's cumulative total funding has reached approximately $202 million. This includes a $150 million Series B funding completed in October 2021, with investors including CoinFund, Tribe Capital, Galaxy Interactive, and others; and approximately $11 million raised through an ICO public sale from July to August 2020, with a token price of $0.12, locked until the end of Q3 2020.
Robinhood Fund Invests Approximately $14.6 Million in Stripe
According to a report by The Block, Robinhood Ventures Fund I, traded on the NYSE, announced an investment of approximately $14.6 million to subscribe to Stripe's Class B common stock, and a $20 million investment in AI audio company ElevenLabs to purchase its Series D preferred shares. The fund aims to provide retail investors with exposure to non-listed companies and currently holds positions in Revolut, which offers crypto trading services, as well as Airwallex, Boom, Databricks, Ramp, and others. The report noted that Stripe owns the stablecoin platform Bridge, and Robinhood management stated that it will continue to布局 frontier fintech and artificial intelligence enterprises.
