This week saw over $130 million raised across various crypto VC funding rounds. Here’s a breakdown of the activity from Monday, Aug. 12 through Saturday, Aug. 17:
Chaos Labs Raises $55 Million
On-chain risk management company Chaos Labs raised $55 million in a series A round. Haun Ventures led the effort, with Lightspeed Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital, and Wintermute also participating. According to the team behind Chaos Labs, the project has tripled its customer base over the past year, with over 20 protocols, including Aave and GMX, relying on its technology.
To date, the platform has $860 billion in cumulative trading volume and $25 billion in loans. The team plans to use the new funding to improve real-time, contextualized risk management for DeFi protocols.
Sahara AI Secures $43 Million
Sahara AI, a decentralized AI blockchain platform, secured $43 million in funding co-led by Binance Labs, Pantera Capital, and Polychain Capital. Notable investors such as Samsung, Sequoia Capital, and Matrix Partners also contributed. Since its founding in April 2023, Sahara AI has partnered with over 35 tech giants including Microsoft and Amazon.
The company aims to disrupt the centralized AI landscape by creating a more equitable decentralized ecosystem. The funding will further their mission to ensure fair compensation for contributors, protect data sovereignty, and promote inclusivity across all stages of AI development.
Sling Money Collects $15 Million
Fintech startup Sling Money collected $15 million in a series A round, led by Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital, and Slow Ventures. This follows a $5-million seed round. The Sling Money platform uses stablecoin technology to enable money transfers across more than 50 countries in Europe and Africa.
Users can send money instantly, whether to others, between their own accounts, or even to non-Sling users. Transfers are conducted using Pax Dollar, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Essential Secures $11 Million
Essential, the company behind the first declarative blockchain, secured $11 million in a series A round led by Archetype. Other participants included IOSG, Spartan, and Mirana, alongside founders and angel investors from the web3 space. The funding will help accelerate the development of its blockchain, which aims to reframe interactions in terms of outcomes rather than instructions.
Other Notable Crypto VC Fundraising
Coinduit, a B2B cross-border payments platform, clinched $6 million in a seed extension round led by Helios Digital Ventures. The capital will support the platformβs expansion into Africa, addressing the regionβs cross-border payment challenges.
Ion Protocol raised an additional $4.8 million after previously securing $2.2 million in another fundraising round. The fresh capital was provided by Gumi Capital, Cryptos, and over 90 other investors. This brings the total amount raised by the liquidity protocol to $7 million. The funds will be used to develop Nucleus, a native yield primitive designed to address the monetization challenges faced by Ethereum rollups.
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