Startups

This edition of Cointelegraph’s VC roundup features Plural Energy, Everclear, Ava Protocol, GoPlus, and other startups.

Venture capitalists are increasingly raising capital to pour into blockchain-based startups. Over the past two weeks, Paradigm closed a third fund to invest $850 million in early-stage crypto projects, while Pantera Capital is seeking more than $1 billion for a new fund that will offer exposure to a “full spectrum” of blockchain assets by 2025.

Also worth noting is that another $1 billion for startups might come from Tether's coffers. Over the next 12 months, the company plans to invest in areas like emerging markets, artificial intelligence and biotech. Tether’s VC arm has already spent about $2 billion in the past two years on technologies such as AI and alternative financial infrastructure.

As for startups, June’s highlights so far include Avail’s $43 million funding to address data availability issues across blockchains and Mirror World Labs’ $12 million in Series A funding promised to accelerate its Sonic protocol.

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Investments in the first quarter were influenced by innovation in areas like restaking, modularity, Bitcoin layer-2 solutions, and macroeconomic factors.

After three consecutive quarters of decline, crypto and blockchain startups have witnessed a significant uptick in venture capital investment.

According to data compiled by Galaxy Research, investors injected $2.49 billion across 603 deals in the first quarter of 2024, representing a 29% increase in funding and a 68% rise in deal count from the previous quarter. A sustained recovery must be confirmed by subsequent quarters of growth, the report states, adding:

Several factors influenced this quarter’s investment dynamics, including the introduction of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), innovations in areas such as restaking, modularity, and Bitcoin layer-2 solutions, as well as macroeconomic factors such as interest rates.

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