Funding Weekly Report | 11 publicly disclosed funding events; prediction market platform Kalshi completes a new funding round of over $1 billion, reaching a valuation of $22 billion.

Highlights of this episode

According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 11 investment and financing events in the global blockchain sector last week (March 16-22), with a total funding scale exceeding US$1.086 billion. An overview is as follows:

• One investment and financing event was announced in the DeFi sector: Ironlight Group announced the completion of a $21 million Series A funding round.
• In the AI+Web3 sector, three investment and financing events were announced, including Gency AI completing a new round of financing of $20 million, with investors including TikTok;
• One investment and financing event was announced in the infrastructure & tools sector: Web3 API platform Uniblock completed a $5.2 million funding round, with SBI and others participating.
• Two investment and financing events were announced in the centralized finance sector , including TransFi, a stablecoin cross-border payment platform, which completed a $19.2 million financing round.
• Two investment and financing events were announced in the prediction market sector . Among them, prediction market platform Kalshi completed a new round of financing of over $1 billion, with a valuation of $22 billion.
• Two other Web3+AI companies announced funding rounds, including Republic securing a new round of funding from Hamilton Lane, bringing its total funding to $202 million.

DeFi

Ironlight raises $21 million to expand its compliant tokenized securities infrastructure

Ironlight Group, a fintech company focused on infrastructure for tokenized securities, announced the completion of a $21 million Series A funding round. The round was led by several Wall Street and financial services executives, including former TD Bank President and CEO Greg Braca, as well as institutional investors such as the Sei Development Foundation and Laidlaw Private Equity. The funds will be used to expand its SEC Regulation ATS and FINRA-regulated alternative trading system (ATS), Ironlight Markets, and Ironlight Technologies, which provides a platform for the issuance, distribution, and settlement of tokenized securities. Ironlight currently supports the tokenization and on-chain atomic settlement of assets such as private equity, structured products, fixed income, private credit, and real estate.

AI

Gency AI raises $20 million to expand its decentralized advertising network.

AI and blockchain infrastructure company Gency AI announced the completion of a new $20 million funding round, with investors including TikTok, HFO, XYZ, Streamlined Ventures, Hat-Trick Capital, Arksteam, MH Ventures, ViaBTC, and Basics Capital. The company will use the funds to expand its decentralized ad execution and settlement network, strengthen its privacy computing technology stack, and accelerate product rollout and ecosystem partnerships in North America, Asia, and Europe. Gency AI uses on-chain verifiable credentials and smart contracts to automate and make transparent the settlement of ad impressions, conversion results, and revenue distribution, addressing key issues such as long ad settlement cycles and lack of transparency regarding attribution and data ownership.

Derivio Raises $6 Million to Boost Smart Proxy Trading Platform

AI-native trading platform Derivio announced the completion of a $6 million funding round, with investors including YZiLabs, CMT Digital, Big Brain VC, Signum Capital, UOB Venture Management, Everstake Capital, and proximity. Derivio stated that it will build infrastructure around "agentic trading," utilizing AI agents to process high-speed, large-scale market and on-chain data to achieve more automated strategy execution and trading decisions.

Web3 smart asset OS platform OptiView completes strategic financing.

OptiView, a Web3 smart asset OS platform, announced the completion of a new round of financing, with participation from Honey Capital, LandScape Capital, and Super Labs. The project, centered on its self-developed sovereign AI agent, has already served over 100,000 users with 5,000-7,000 daily active users. CEO Sammy stated that the AI ​​engine is about to be fully implemented, helping users transition from passive holding to autonomous, intelligent wealth management.

Infrastructure & Tools

Web3 API platform Uniblock raises $5.2 million, with SBI and others participating.

Web3 API platform Uniblock has raised $5.2 million in funding, with participation from SBI, AllianceDAO, BFF, and NGC, among others. Uniblock previously raised $2.3 million in November 2023, with participation from Cadenza and others.

Capital B, TOBAM, and UTXO Management jointly completed a €3 million financing round.

French listed companies Capital B, TOBAM, and UTXO Management jointly completed a €3 million financing round and adjusted the conversion price of A-03, A-04, and A-05 convertible bonds subscribed by TOBAM to accelerate the implementation of its Bitcoin Treasury strategy. This transaction is expected to allow the company to acquire approximately 36 additional BTC.

Centralized Finance

Singapore-based stablecoin payment infrastructure company DTCpay completes $10 million Series A funding round.

Singapore-based stablecoin payment infrastructure company Dtcpay announced the completion of a $10 million Series A funding round, led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. The company has obtained an electronic money institution license in Luxembourg to expand its regulated payment services in the European Economic Area. Dtcpay builds stablecoin payment infrastructure for businesses and consumers and has partnered with Visa to launch cards connecting digital and traditional finance. Its platform supports real-time settlement between stablecoins and fiat currencies.

Stablecoin cross-border payment platform TransFi raises $19.2 million.

TransFi, a stablecoin-based cross-border payment platform, has raised $19.2 million in funding, including a $14.2 million Series A equity round and a $5 million committed liquidity round. The round was led by Turing Financial Group, a strategic investor in digital payments and financial infrastructure. TransFi utilizes stablecoins as a settlement track to provide emerging markets with an alternative to traditional correspondent banking and the SWIFT system. It supports over 40 fiat currencies and over 100 digital assets, integrates over 250 local payment methods, operates in over 70 countries, and serves over 100 clients and 2 million end-users globally. The new funds will be used to expand into Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa, deepen its regulatory licensing efforts, and expand its liquidity network.

Prediction Market

Prediction market Kalshi has completed a new funding round of over $1 billion, valuing the company at $22 billion.

Prediction market platform Kalshi has completed a new funding round of over $1 billion, valuing the company at $22 billion, more than double its $11 billion valuation in December of last year. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the round was led by Coatue Management. Kalshi currently has annualized revenue of $1.5 billion.

Founded in 2018, Kalshi saw a surge in popularity after a court granted it permission to offer election trading in 2024. Operating as a CFTC-regulated financial exchange, the company can conduct business nationwide under federal rules. Its trading volume surpassed $10 billion in February, a 12-fold increase from six months prior. Despite recent criminal lawsuits and regulatory controversies in states like Arizona, investors remain enthusiastic about the rapidly growing market.

Prediction market platform Myriad completes seed round funding, with Tom Lee and others participating.

Prediction market platform Myriad announced the completion of its seed round of financing, with the specific amount undisclosed. Investors in this round included MoonPay Ventures, Auros, EVG, Verda Ventures, Side Door Ventures, Wave Financial, Walrus, and OFR, while individual investors included Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, NFT collector Blondish, and Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz.

This funding announcement came shortly after the launch of Myriad Season 3. In Season 3, the platform migrated its event contracts to BNB Chain. Simultaneously, the platform's liquidity model was upgraded from an automated market maker to a central limit order book, adding features such as slippage control, limit orders, and dynamic fees.

other

Republic secures a new funding round from Hamilton Lane, bringing its total funding to $202 million.

According to an official announcement from Republic, Hamilton Lane announced a strategic investment in the on-chain investment platform Republic, strengthening cooperation between the two companies in areas such as "on-chain" private market access and retail investor access. Republic has raised a total of approximately $202 million. This includes a $150 million Series B funding round completed in October 2021, with investors including CoinFund, Tribe Capital, and Galaxy Interactive; and approximately $11 million raised through an ICO from July to August 2020, with the token priced at $0.12 and locked until the end of Q3 2020.

Robinhood Foundation invests approximately $14.6 million in Stripe.

According to The Block, Robinhood Ventures Fund I, traded on the NYSE, announced an investment of approximately $14.6 million in Stripe Class B common stock and a $20 million investment in AI audio company ElevenLabs, purchasing its Series D preferred stock. The fund aims to provide retail investors with exposure to privately held companies, and its current holdings include Revolut (a cryptocurrency trading service), as well as Airwallex, Boom, Databricks, and Ramp. The report notes that Stripe owns the stablecoin platform Bridge, and Robinhood management stated they will continue to invest in cutting-edge fintech and artificial intelligence companies.