Crypto VC funding: Celestia, Infinex, Pencils Protocol score backing

Celestia Foundation, $100 million

The Liechtenstein-based non-profit organization, known for building Celestia, raised $100 million from major crypto-focused venture capital firms, led by Bain Capital Crypto.

Infinex, $65.29 million

Infinex, a decentralized exchange, secured $65.29 million via a non-fungible token, or NFT, sale. Framework Ventures, Solana Ventures, Wintermute, Eden Block, Moonrock Capital and Bankless VC each participated in the effort.

Pencils Protocol, $30 million

Pencils Protocol, an auction platform and yield aggregator on Scroll, raised an additional $30 million. DePIN X, Taisu Ventures, Black GM Capital and Bing Ventures are among its strategic investors.

Initia, $14 million

Initia clinched $14 million in a Series A round. Tomasz Tunguz and Spencer Farrar from Theory VC led the effort. Delphi Ventures and Hack VC also participated.

Mawari Network, $10.8 million

The spatial computing company, which leverages the Solana DePIN infrastructure, raised $10.8 million in strategic funding.

Mind Network, $10 million

Mind Network raised $10 million in a pre-A funding round. Investors in the effort included Animoca Brands, Arkstream Capital, Cogitent VC, MH Ventures, Moonhill Capital, SwissBorg, IBC Group, Master VC, and others.

Darkbright, $6 million

Bitkraft Ventures led an oversubscribed $6 million seed round for Darkbright, the web3 studio behind the Smolbound role-playing game.

Daylight, $6 million

Union Square Ventures and 1kx Network co-led a $6-million seed funding round in crypto platform Daylight. The startup is known for its transaction recommendation API.

Gunzilla Games, $6 million

Delphi Ventures invested in Gunzilla Games, its largest gaming investment to date. Gunzilla’s GUNZ blockchain is a key component of the studio’s upcoming Web3 game, “Off The Grid.”

AminoChain, $5 million

AminoChain, a decentralized biobank and Layer 2 network, remained relatively quiet over the past two years. That is, until, a16z crypto led a $5 million seed funding round for the startup. This brought total funding to $7 million. The deal marks a16z’s first investment in DeSci, or decentralized science.

Funding rounds < $5 million

Eigenpie: The restaking SubDAO designed to maximize earning potential for liquid staking token holders raised $4 million.
Meshmap: The open and decentralized platform received $4 million from a16z, Colosseum, Lattice, Escape Velocity, GSR and other institutions.
Meridian: ParaFi Capital, Borderless Capital, Amber Group, Saison Capital, Interop Ventures, and Oak Grove Ventures pooled $4 million for the Hong Kong-based decentralized liquidity marketplace.
Helixlabs: The startup nabbed $2 million in a pre-seed funding round from Tribe Capital, EMURGO Ventures, Taureon Capital, LD Capital, and Double Peak Group. Its valuation hovers at around $40 million.
EarthFast: Nascent led a $1.4 million pre-seed funding round; The General Partnership also participated alongside Kain Warwick, Roneil Rumburg, Bodhi Ventures