🌎 Crypto Funding Roundup: Web3 Gaming, Ethereum Scaling, Bitcoin AI

This week’s crypto funding highlights include investments in web3 gaming, Ethereum scaling, Bitcoin infrastructure, and decentralized AI.

Riot Platforms Takes Over Block Mining

Our funding roundup starts with a takeover. On July 24, Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms announced it had acquired Block Mining, a Kentucky-based Bitcoin miner, in a $92.5 million deal. According to Riot, this acquisition could potentially increase its operational capacity by 60 megawatts, with plans to expand to 110 MW by the end of 2024. Riot paid $18.5 million in cash and $74 million in common stock for the acquisition.

NPC Labs Secures $18 Million

Web3 gaming infrastructure startup NPC Labs, founded by three former Coinbase employees, raised $18 million in a seed funding round. Pantera Capital led the round, with participation from Mantle EcoFund, Makers Fund, Bitscale Capital, Hashed, Mirana Ventures, and Collab+Currency. This funding brings the total amount raised by NPC Labs to $21 million after a recent $3 million pre-seed round. The startup plans to use the funding to hire more engineers and increase the adoption of on-chain gaming through its gaming scaling ecosystem, B3.fun, built on Base.

Caldera Raises $15 Million

Caldera, a web3 infrastructure platform, raised $15 million in a Series A funding round. Founders Fund led the round, with participation from Lattice, Dragonfly, Arkstream Capital, and Sequoia Capital. This brings Caldera’s total funding to $25 million, following a $10 million raise in 2023. The U.S.-based startup aims to help developers launch Ethereum rollups or scaling networks “with a single click.” Its client list includes Injective, RARI Chain, and ApeChain, which together have a total value locked of more than $800 million.

Igloo Inc. Secures $11 Million

NFT project Pudgy Penguins’ parent company Igloo, Inc., raised $11 million to develop Abstract, a new layer-2 scaling network on Ethereum. Founders Fund led the funding round, with investments from Selini Capital, Everest Ventures, 1kx, and Fenbushi Capital. Igloo plans to use the money to establish a new entity, Cube Labs, to oversee the development of Abstract. In June, Igloo acquired another Layer-2 network, Frame, which mainly supports NFTs. Igloo will use the team from Frame to help build the Abstract project.

Bitlayer Raises $11 Million

Bitcoin Layer-2 startup Bitlayer successfully raised $11 million in its Series A funding round. The round, led by Franklin Templeton, ABCDE, and Framework Ventures, brings Bitlayer’s total investment to $16 million. Franklin Templeton’s participation marks the first strategic investment from an ETF-licensed institution in a Bitcoin Layer-2 project.

Other Notable Crypto VC Fundraising

While the above-mentioned projects brought in the largest investments this week, several other notable rounds contributed to the week’s VC funding total, which exceeded $210 million. Here are some of them:

aPriori raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by Pantera Capital, bringing its total funding to $10 million.
Mezo raised $7.5 million in a strategic funding round led by Ledger Cathay Fund.
OpenSocial raised $6 million in strategic funding led by Framework Ventures and North Island Ventures, bringing its total funding since inception to $26 million.
DAOBase completed a $6 million funding round with investments from SevenX Ventures, AntAlpha Ventures, and more.
Network3 raised $5.5 million in pre-seed and seed funding. The round included Borderless Capital, EV3, IoTeX Eco fund, SNZ, Waterdrip Capital, and Bing Ventures.
Redpill AI secured $5 million in its seed funding round led by Animoca Brands and DFG.