7 Interesting Crypto Projects Which Recently Raised Funding
Diving into the dynamic world of cryptocurrencies, it’s evident that innovation knows no bounds. As highlighted by research from Bitstacker.com, a staggering 4,921 crypto projects have been introduced since the beginning of the year, underscoring the immense growth and creativity within the crypto space. Amidst this bustling landscape, a select group of projects has managed to capture attention and secure significant funding.
In this blog, we’ll unravel the intrigue surrounding seven captivating crypto projects in 2023 that have recently raised substantial funding. From revolutionary blockchain applications to pioneering decentralized platforms, these projects exemplify the boundless potential and transformative power that cryptocurrencies continue to bring to the forefront of modern finance and technology. Join us on this exploration as we uncover the latest trends and developments in the ever-evolving realm of crypto fundraising.
hi
In a transformative move within the metaverse gaming and venture capital arena, Animoca Brands, a dominant player, has infused a substantial $30 million into hi, an inventive Web3 payments application and protocol. This collaboration also ushers in a strategic partnership, aiming to unlock the potential of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) across both Animoca Brands’ portfolio and the broader Web3 ecosystem.
This collaboration facilitates seamless integration between Animoca Brands’ expansive network and hi’s groundbreaking services, including its Web3 financial “super app” and cutting-edge layer 2 Ethereum sidechain, the hi Protocol.
hi, described by co-founder Sean Rach as a digital-only neobank, enables users to transact in both crypto and fiat. Notably, hi made waves in 2022 by collaborating with Mastercard to offer personalized debit cards adorned with NFT imagery.
The $30 million investment turbocharges hi’s growth trajectory. The funds will be directed towards app scaling and preparing for the upcoming mainnet launch of its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible hi Protocol. This strategy aims to leverage the expanding cryptocurrency landscape by integrating hi’s advanced payments infrastructure seamlessly into Animoca Brands’ portfolio companies and the wider ecosystem.
While hi’s user base primarily resides in Europe, the company has bold expansion plans into Asian, Latin American, and eventually American markets, pending regulatory clarity.
The Animoca Brands investment heralds a transformative phase for hi and the Web3 payments landscape, promising innovative NFT integration and the global evolution of digital finance. The synergy between hi and Animoca Brands sets the stage for a groundbreaking journey ahead.
Protect AI
Protect AI, a trailblazing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) security company made a resounding announcement on July 26 – the successful closure of a $35 million Series A funding round. Evolution Equity Partners spearheaded the investment, joined by Salesforce Ventures and existing supporters including Acrew Capital, boldstart ventures, Knollwood Capital, and Pelion Ventures. In total, Protect AI has now amassed an impressive $48.5 million in funding, a testament to its mission of fortifying organizations against the distinctive security risks, data breaches, and evolving threats associated with AI and ML systems.
This fresh funding marks an exciting chapter for Protect AI. The company is poised to accelerate sales and marketing efforts, enhance research and development endeavors, fuel go-to-market initiatives, and elevate customer success programs. Notably, Richard Seewald, the Founder and Managing Partner at Evolution Equity Partners, has also assumed a pivotal role on the Protect AI Board of Directors. With over three decades of profound experience in cybersecurity, enterprise software, and data analytics, Seewald’s addition brings invaluable expertise to the company’s strategic direction.
Protect AI’s significance lies in its innovative platform called AI Radar. By empowering AI developers, ML engineers, and AppSec professionals, AI Radar offers a comprehensive framework to conceptualize, comprehend, and regulate an ML environment. This transformative technology equips customers with rapid risk identification and effective remediation strategies, ultimately upholding robust security measures for both ML systems and AI applications.
Richard Seewald highlighted the groundbreaking nature of Protect AI’s contribution, emphasizing that the AI/ML security challenge remains largely unaddressed by major cybersecurity vendors.
“Protect AI’s founders have built and managed the largest AI/ML businesses in the world for AWS and Oracle, and have assembled one of the most accomplished teams I’ve seen in a startup. The company has the vision, technology and expertise to capture a lion’s share of this new market category.”
Richard Seewald, Founder and Managing Partner at Evolution Equity Partners
RISC Zero
RISC Zero, the trailblazing developer of advanced zero-knowledge (ZK) virtual machine technology, has made waves in the crypto projects world with its recent achievement of securing a substantial $40 million in a Series A funding round. Spearheaded by Blockchain Capital and backed by Bain Capital Crypto, the original seed round leader, the funding initiative boasts an impressive consortium of investors including Galaxy Digital, IOSG, RockawayX, Maven 11, Fenbushi Capital, Delphi Digital, Aglaé Ventures, IOBC, Tribute Labs’ Zero Dao, Figment Capital, and Alchemy Ventures.
At its core, RISC Zero is driven by an ambitious mission: to empower developers and infrastructure providers with groundbreaking cryptographic tools that are poised to revolutionize trustless, scalable, and decentralized computation. This innovative approach spans both on-chain and off-chain operations, enabling developers to craft solutions that challenge traditional assumptions about the capabilities of blockchain and collaborative computing systems. Central to their mission is the commitment to preserving computational integrity, granting users unprecedented control over their digital landscape and yielding indisputable records of accurate program execution.
“Imagine a world where data privacy, security, and trust are no longer concerns, where software supply chains are transparent and verifiable, and where a new generation of applications can harness the power of zero-knowledge computing to solve some of the most pressing challenges of the digital age. This is the promise of zero-knowledge computing and the reason we are investing in RISC Zero”
Bart Stephens, Founder and Managing Partner at Blockchain Capital
The focal point of RISC Zero’s journey is the remarkable ZK Virtual Machine (zkVM). This pioneering technology enables developers to construct ZK-powered applications using familiar programming languages like Rust and C++. Leveraging advanced features, including continuations, zkVM can execute programs of varying complexity and scope, all while utilizing off-the-shelf computing platforms. This innovation marks a watershed moment within the blockchain sphere.
Armed with its newfound funding, RISC Zero stands poised to reshape the trajectory of decentralized computation and cryptographic solutions.
Magic
The next one in our latest crypto projects, Magic, the pioneering wallet-as-a-service (WaaS) provider, has marked a significant milestone by securing a substantial $52 million in a strategic funding round, spearheaded by PayPal Ventures. Joining the funding endeavor are esteemed investors including Cherubic, Synchrony, KX, Northzone, and Volt Capital, propelling Magic’s total funding to over $80 million.
Positioned at the forefront of web3 mass adoption, Magic plays a pivotal role as the go-to WaaS provider for enterprises seeking seamless and secure ways to transition their customers to the realm of web3. Magic offers a hassle-free enterprise-grade solution for web3 migration, opening up promising avenues such as customer loyalty programs, digital collectibles, employee recognition, ticketing, memberships, and more. Renowned brands spanning retail, music, fashion, and gaming, such as Mattel, Macy’s, Xsolla, and Immutable, have already embraced Magic’s services.
According to Sean Li, Magic’s co-founder, and CEO, the company’s journey since its inception in 2018 has witnessed a remarkable rise in web3 use cases across diverse industries. Magic collaborates closely with Fortune 500 entities to seamlessly integrate web3 use cases into everyday user experiences, with a vision to democratize authentic digital ownership.
Distinguished by its secure and near-instant non-custodial wallet creation, Magic’s patented SDK allows users to create wallets through familiar channels like email, social media, SMS, or federated logins.
Magic’s impressive track record includes over 20 million unique wallets generated to date, with more than 130,000 developers leveraging its SDK. Magic’s scalability prowess, clocking over 2,000 wallets per second compared to the industry norm of 80-100 wps, underscores its position as an industry leader in the evolving web3 landscape.
Futureverse
Futureverse, a prominent AI and metaverse technology company, has achieved a significant milestone by concluding a substantial $54 million Series A funding round. This round, led by 10T Holdings, LLC (“10T”), and bolstered by participation from Ripple, underscores the company’s growing influence and potential in the evolving metaverse landscape and crypto projects.
Futureverse’s mission is to empower developers and users to unlock the potential of the metaverse through innovative content and applications. At the heart of its approach lies a suite of proprietary AI content generation tools, enhancing the core elements of the metaverse such as music, objects, characters, and animations. A distinguishing feature of Futureverse is its amalgamation of 11 metaverse infrastructure and content companies, creating a unified ecosystem that provides the essential building blocks for diverse metaverse applications. This integration also forms one of the world’s largest metaverse communities, enriched by digital collectibles.
Co-founded by visionaries such as Aaron McDonald, Shara Senderoff, Marco Brondani, and Dan Gillespie, a significant facet of Futureverse’s journey lies in its pioneering role within AI gaming. Notable achievements include the introduction of “AI League,” an AI-powered consumer game developed in collaboration with FIFA for iOS and Android platforms. Moreover, Futureverse partnered with Muhammad Ali Enterprises’ IP rights holder, ABG, to launch an innovative AI-powered boxing game, “Muhammad Ali – The Next Legends.”
The fresh funding injection will be directed towards advancing Futureverse’s comprehensive technology suite. This encompasses refining the Futureverse Platform, featuring “Powered By Futureverse” tools and products, and The Root Network—a blockchain and protocol suite tailored for next-generation metaverse apps, games, and experiences. The Ripple partnership adds further depth, integrating The Root Network with the XRPL and embracing XRP as a GAS token alongside the XLS-20 NFT standard.
Tenstorrent
Tenstorrent, a trailblazing AI processor and technology provider, has reached a remarkable milestone by successfully closing a strategic financing up-round that raised a substantial $100 million. This funding endeavor was spearheaded by Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung Catalyst Fund, with notable participation from Fidelity Ventures, Eclipse Ventures, Epiq Capital, Maverick Capital, and more.
Tenstorrent occupies a distinctive position within the AI landscape, offering AI processors and AI and RISC-V IP licenses to customers seeking to customize their silicon. Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung, both renowned for their product leadership and industry success, have demonstrated their confidence in Tenstorrent’s vision and capabilities.
Jim Keller, Tenstorrent’s CEO, expressed his gratitude for the trust shown by Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung Catalyst Fund, recognizing their roles in shaping the modern technological landscape. Keller commended Hyundai Motor Group’s impressive journey to become the world’s third-largest automaker through pioneering technological endeavors such as their acquisition of Boston Dynamics and their investment in Tenstorrent.
Highlighting the significance of this collaboration, Heung-soo Kim, Executive Vice President of Hyundai Motor Group’s Global Strategy Office, underlined the importance of Tenstorrent’s AI semiconductors in advancing the Group’s future mobility endeavors. He emphasized the potential of this investment to drive optimized and differentiated semiconductor technology, bolstering the Group’s internal AI technology development capabilities.
The involvement of Samsung as a co-leader in this funding round further solidifies Tenstorrent’s potential. Marco Chisari, EVP of Samsung Electronics and Head of Samsung Semiconductor Innovation Center, echoed Tenstorrent’s innovative prowess. Chisari emphasized that Samsung Catalyst Fund seeks to invest in disruptive ideas, and Tenstorrent’s industry-leading technology aligns seamlessly with this vision.
Celestial AI
Celestial AI, a leader in Photonic Fabric™ tech, has secured $100M in Series B funding. Led by IAG Capital Partners, Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), and Temasek’s Xora Innovation fund, this funding showcases Celestial AI’s cutting-edge innovations.
Central to Celestial AI’s mission is transforming data transmission limitations via electrical connectivity. Optical interconnectivity, a foundation for accelerated computing, is the answer to the escalating demands of advanced AI models like GPT-4.
Celestial AI’s technology triumphs in addressing the “memory-wall” challenge for cloud service providers and hyperscale data centers. Optical Compute Interconnect (OCI) offers efficient solutions for scalable data center memory and accelerated computing, boasting 25x greater efficiency and 10x lower latency/power consumption compared to alternatives.
Dave Lazovsky, CEO, highlighted Celestial AI’s role in reshaping data centers and AI efficiency. The technology, he stated, advances accelerated computing significantly.
Celestial AI’s impact extends to creating a robust Photonic Fabric ecosystem, collaborating with AI compute, memory suppliers, hyperscalers, and supply chain partners. This aligns seamlessly with industry standards and is offered via a tech licensing program.
Chase Koch, CEO of Koch Disruptive Technologies, sees Celestial AI’s optical connectivity capabilities as transformative for advanced computing. With a comprehensive Photonic Fabric suite, offering scalability for compute/memory resources, Celestial AI is at the forefront of reshaping advanced computing through revolutionary optical interconnect tech.
Conclusion
The world of crypto projects in 2023 is a testament to human ingenuity and technological advancement. From Animoca Brands’ investment in hi to reshape Web3 payments to Protect AI’s commitment to securing AI systems, each project showcased here is a trailblazer in its own right. RISC Zero’s zero-knowledge virtual machine, Magic’s wallet-as-a-service, Futureverse’s metaverse innovations, Tenstorrent’s AI processors, and Celestial AI’s Photonic Fabric technology collectively redefine the boundaries of what’s possible.
These projects don’t just represent financial investments; they represent investments in shaping the future. They exemplify the collaboration between pioneering minds and visionary investors, all working towards a common goal of pushing the envelope of technology. As the crypto landscape continues to evolve, these projects serve as beacons of innovation, illuminating a path towards a more connected, secure, and efficient digital world. With their funding secured and their visions set, these crypto projects are poised to make a lasting impact, driving us towards a new era of possibilities.