VC Roundup: Capital flows into emerging AI-blockchain sector

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As a seasoned crypto investor with a knack for spotting promising ventures, I find myself intrigued by the convergence of AI and blockchain technology in 2024. The potential synergy between these two groundbreaking technologies is not only captivating but also holds immense growth prospects.

2024 saw a significant shift in venture capital investment towards combining artificial intelligence with blockchain technology as a primary focus. According to Stocklytics’ data, AI startups garnered $11.8 billion over the past 90 days, making up around 30% of all venture capital funding during the third quarter of that year.

Recently, analytics company Nansen has pointed out that artificial intelligence (AI) systems operating on blockchain infrastructure is a very lively sector within the field of decentralized finance (DeFi), specifically in DeFi applications.

In this rapidly developing sector, an increasing amount of innovative businesses are being drawn in. For example, the company Wire Network recently unveiled a novel blockchain system specifically tailored for artificial intelligence agents. This new blockchain comes equipped with a Universal Transaction Layer (UTL), which enables decentralized and autonomous transactions to take place across various blockchains.

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As a crypto investor, I find myself standing at the brink of an exciting juncture. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on the verge of taking off like never before, yet its progress is being impeded by the limitations of blockchain technology, as per Ken DiCross, founder and CEO of Wire Network.

The platform recently announced a $3 million funding backed by Red Bear Ventures, bringing its valuation to $150 million. According to DiCross, the network allows AI agents “to transact freely, across any blockchain, without bridges or costly delays.”

One way of rephrasing the given text could be: “OpenGradient, a platform focusing on developing infrastructure at the intersection of AI and blockchain, has recently secured $8.5 million in seed funding. Notably, venture firms such as Pantera Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and Coinbase Ventures are actively investing in this emerging sector, with more backing expected.

According to DiCross, simply integrating AI with blockchain doesn’t automatically mean it will remain decentralized.

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“It’s prudent to highlight there will be both centralized and decentralized AI utilizing blockchain. Our focus is on making independent AI the global standard. This will be the best outcome for users to own their own data, own their AI agents, and freely transact without third-party dependencies,” he noted, adding that:

“While decentralizing is the most difficult option, it will all be solved with time and proper engineering.”  

Analysts at GMI Research estimate the sector to be worth over $335 billion by 2030. 

In this issue of CryptoMoon’s Venture Capital Roundup, you’ll find highlights on Blockcast, Apex Fusion, PiP World, and Lombard.

Blockcast completes $2.85M seed funding round led by Lattice Fund

Blockcast has recently finished a $2.85 million seed funding round that was primarily funded by Lattice Fund. Additionally, Protocol Labs, Finality Capital Partners, AllianceDAO, Zee Prime Capital, RW3 Ventures, and individual investors like Anatoly Yakovenko, the founder of Solana, took part in this investment round.

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The funding will support the development of new scalable content delivery networks (CDNs) to meet growing demands for livestreams, software updates, games, and media releases. Built on Solana, the protocol aims to address the internet’s capacity needs.

According to Cisco’s 2023 Annual Internet Report, global internet traffic experiences a steady yearly growth of approximately 24%. Blockcast’s innovative strategy combines conventional broadcasting techniques with online streaming, enabling efficient content delivery while minimizing data consumption, buffering delays, and latency. Furthermore, this approach aims to alleviate network congestion for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and decrease costs for users.

OpenGradient raises $8.5M in seed funding for decentralized AI infrastructure

OpenGradient, a company specializing in decentralized artificial intelligence infrastructure, has received $8.5 million in seed funding from various investors including a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, SV Angel, Coinbase Ventures, SALT Fund, Symbolic Capital, Foresight Ventures, and individual angel investors like Balaji Srinivasan, Illia Polosukhin, and Sandeep Nailwal.

OpenGradient delivers a comprehensive, decentralized system enabling scalable artificial intelligence (AI) calculations directly on the blockchain. This platform ensures verifiability and attribution when deploying and hosting AI solutions.

This tech-driven platform incorporates a blockchain system that’s compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machines (EVMs), along with a collection of unique tools tailored for AI applications. The company aims to utilize the raised funds to broaden its decentralized framework, introduce fresh developer solutions and tools, and advance applied machine learning studies. Their testnet is slated to launch by the close of 2024.

Apex Fusion secures $6M in private token sale led by TRGC

Apex Fusion, a federated multichain network, successfully concluded its inaugural private token offering, gathering $6 million in funds. This is said to have boosted the network’s estimated worth to a staggering $180 million. The investment was spearheaded by TRGC, a prominent financial firm.

The funds are earmarked to support Apex Fusion’s market entry and further development of its federated layer-1 multichain network, which launched its testnet in August. Apex Fusion integrates isolated UTXO and account-based networks, offering a unified blockchain solution. Its structure includes three chains: Prime, Nexus, and Vector, which facilitate a blend of UTXO and EVM transactions in a unified and decentralized environment. 

PiP World raises $10M seed funding for Web3 gaming, edtech platform

PiP World recently secured a $10 million investment in seed funding from international fintech company Exinity. This funding will help PiP World expand its services that teach financial concepts through gaming. The startup likens itself to Duolingo in the realm of cryptocurrency, seamlessly integrating gameplay with tailored instruction on various financial markets, including decentralized finance.

Its ecosystem features applications including PiP Trader, a AAA strategy management simulator game for building trading portfolios; PiP World’s Gold Rush, a Telegram tap-to-earn game; PiP Academy, a gamified app that simplifies financial concepts; and StockRise, Roblox’s top-grossing stock simulator.

The funding will support PiP World’s platform and address the global gap in financial literacy. 

Lombard secures investment from Binance Labs for Bitcoin DeFi 

Lombard, creator of the Bitcoin-based liquid staking token LBTC, has received a secret financial backing from Binance Labs. This investment aims to facilitate a smoother incorporation of LBTC into the realm of Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

With LBTC, users can generate returns from their Bitcoin (BTC) holdings and utilize them within the realm of Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

As per the recent announcement, it has secured approximately 40% of the Bitcoin Locked-in Supply Token market share since its debut, and boasts a Total Value Locked (TVL) exceeding half a billion dollars ($500 million), spread across more than 12,500 user accounts.

At present, Lombard is progressing through its second phase, focusing on combining LBTC with Ethereum‘s Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms. In the upcoming Phase 3, they aim to expand this integration across various layer-2 and layer-1 networks. It’s worth noting that Lombard is the major contributor to Babylon, having delegated over 7,100 BTC.

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2024-10-16 21:58