Blockchain-based startups continue to raise funds during the current bear market, with MetaMask partner Blockaid raising $33 million in October. However, overall financing in the cryptocurrency industry has dropped to 2020 levels, with $2.1 billion raised in 297 transactions in the third quarter of 2023, Messari reported. As is the case during bear markets, investors study projects carefully before investing and obviously seek practical real-world applications.
As part of its October highlights, Nature Magazine discusses applications of blockchain technology, praising the potential of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to support underfunded scientific research. Cointelegraph’s venture capital (VC) roundup highlights projects that raised funds in October.
Untangled Finance completes US$13.5 million in financing to bring private credit to the chain
London-based fintech company Untangled Finance has raised $13.5 million to accelerate the introduction of institutional-grade credit with built-in clearing mechanisms on-chain. Fasanara Capital is the lead investor in this round of financing. The platform’s protocol focuses on tokenizing real-world private credit assets, such as invoices and SME loans, into on-chain structured credit pools. These pools in turn facilitate the issuance of collateralized debt notes to DeFi and TradFi investors, Untangled noted in a statement. The protocol focuses on the private credit market, where it believes DeFi will be most useful. Untangled plans to use the funds to gain access to more than 130 proven asset originators in 60 countries.
Nocturne Raises $6M in Seed Funding for Ethereum Private Accounts
Nocturne, a protocol that supports on-chain private accounts, announced the completion of a $6 million seed round co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital, with participation from Vitalik Buterin and other members of the Ethereum community. Other investors include Bankless Ventures, HackVC and Robot Ventures. According to a statement, the company plans to launch on mainnet in the coming weeks. Nocturne provides a solution that combines stealth addresses, zero-knowledge proofs, and account abstraction to enable private accounts on public blockchains. The seed round will accelerate the production and deployment of the Nocturne protocol in various ecosystems. Part of this round will also be used for legal work as the team continues to adapt to changing regulatory requirements.
1/ We are pleased to announce our $6 million seed round of funding, funded by @BainCapCrypto & @ JuLian Participation comes from @VitalikButerin and other members of the Ethereum community.
This round of funding will fund the deployment and continued development of private accounts on Ethereum. pic.twitter.com/ve25yJp6iI
— Nocturne (@nocturne_xyz) October 25, 2023
Account Labs raises $7.7 million for UniPass Wallet app
Web3 wallet provider Account Labs has announced it has raised $7.7 million from major investors Amber Group, MixMarvel DAO Ventures and Qiming Ventures, among other participants. The announcement coincides with the launch of the company’s first consumer-facing app, UniPass Wallet, on Polygon. According to Account Labs, its UniPass Wallet application leverages account abstraction, allowing users to create and access self-service Web3 wallets using only a Google account, and top up using any Mastercard or Visa card. Account Labs was formed in May 2023 from the merger of hardware wallet developer Keystone and software wallet developer UniPass. The company hopes to meet the demand for stablecoin trading in Southeast Asia.
Rymedi raises $9M to expand blockchain-based medical infrastructure
Rymedi, a blockchain-based medical data exchange platform, announced the completion of a $9 million Series A round of financing to expand its coverage. The round was co-led by RW3 Ventures and White Star Capital, with participation from Blockchange Ventures, Avalanche’s Blizzard Fund, and strategic angel investors from the healthcare industry. Rymedi claims to serve more than 1 million patients at more than 1,200 locations in the United States, Africa and Australia. The funds will be used to improve data security and accessibility of patient medical records. “We are always looking for great teams that are using blockchain technology to solve real-world problems and potentially enter global markets,” RW3 Ventures managing partner Pete Najarian said in a statement.
Waterfall secures $2 million in funding for mainnet launch
Layer-1 protocol Waterfall Network has raised $2 million ahead of its mainnet launch, expected in Q1 2024. Infrastructure provider Bytrade Lab led the investment. After a six-month trial of technical infrastructure, Bytrade Lab has become a major investor and user of the Waterfall Network, a statement said. The protocol is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and uses a technology called a directed acyclic graph, or “DAG,” which is said to allow unlimited scalability. Waterfall is also partnering with BlueWave Corporation to develop its smart contract platform.
Magazine: Tokenizing music royalties into NFTs could help the next Taylor Swift
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