Web3 investment up 55% in Q1 as crypto VC interest rebounds

In the initial three months of 2024, the overall funding for Web3 companies experienced a significant surge of 55%, implying that venture capitalists’ enthusiasm towards cryptocurrency has rekindled.

The first quarter of 2024 saw a significant surge: A 55% plus upswing in overall investments, as well as a 36% growth in the number of Web3 venture capital deals compared to the last quarter, based on Q1 data from QuickNode and Artemis’s on-chain report.

In the report it is mentioned that investments were primarily focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and Web3 technologies related to gaming, accounting for a large proportion of the total investment.

“[This indicates] that investments are increasing for the first time in over a year, and suggesting a favorable shift in VC sentiment for web3. In particular, AI and Gaming have garnered the most resounding revival of venture capital enthusiasm among the categories.”

Demonstrating continued venture capital investment in Web3 and cryptocurrency, Paradigm – a venture capital firm specializing in crypto projects – spearheaded a $225 million funding round for Monad Labs. Monad Labs is developing a novel layer-1 blockchain network aiming to rival Solana. The financing was officially disclosed on April 9.

In the past three months, two significant funding rounds took place for early-stage companies. Berachain secured a $42 million Series B investment, while 0G Labs, which focuses on data accessibility through a blockchain solution for artificial intelligence, raised an impressive $35 million in their pre-seed stage.

The first round of fundraising, known as seed rounds, experienced a significant increase of 53% between the last two quarters. This surge indicates a heightened interest in early-stage deals within the venture capital community. Furthermore, Series A and seed funding rounds witnessed nearly double the amount of investment capital compared to the previous quarter. The report suggests that this trend is a result of venture capitalists becoming more eager to invest in Web3 projects.

Crypto VC interest reignites ahead of the Bitcoin halving

During the time before the 2024 Bitcoin halving, a few significant investment transactions were made public.

On April 9th, Mezo, a Bitcoin layer-2 network, announced the successful completion of a $21 million Series A investment round, with Pantera Capital spearheading the funding. Mezo provides investors an opportunity to generate returns based on token possession duration, which they refer to as a “Bitcoin Economic Infrastructure.”

On April 3rd, it was revealed that Paradigm was in talks to secure up to $850 million for a new fund. This would mark the largest fundraising effort in the crypto industry since May 2022, when Andreessen Horowitz, based in Silicon Valley, broke the record with their $4.5 billion raise.

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2024-04-17 13:39