Highlights of this issue
According to incomplete statistics from PANews, there were 10 investment and financing events in the global blockchain last week (September 8-14), with a total funding amount exceeding US$54.8 million. In addition, the total amount of financing for listed companies' crypto asset reserves exceeded US$1.95 billion. The following is an overview:
- DeFi announced four investment and financing events, among which the institutional staking market Gyld Finance completed a $1.5 million pre-seed round of financing, led by Lightshift;
- The Web3 gaming sector announced one investment and financing event: RuneSoul, a Web3 gaming infrastructure project, secured $4 million in funding led by Bitgo Capital.
- The Web3+AI track announced one investment and financing event: New York AI startup JoJoWorld completed an $8 million financing round, with DraperU Ventures participating.
- The Infrastructure & Tools sector announced two investment and financing events. Inversion Capital announced the completion of a $26.5 million seed round of financing, led by Dragonfly Capital.
- The centralized finance sector announced two investment and financing events. Among them, Canadian digital asset infrastructure provider Tetra Digital Group announced the completion of approximately US$10 million in financing;
- In addition, three listed companies completed financing to establish crypto treasuries, including Forward Industries, which completed a $1.65 billion private placement to advance Solana’s financial strategy.
DeFi
Gyld Finance, an institutional staking marketplace, announced the completion of a $1.5 million pre-seed funding round led by Lightshift. Founded by Abbas Ali (former Head of Product at JPMorgan Kinexys) and Ruchir Gupta (former Head of Treasury and Options Trading at GSR), Gyld Finance is developing regulated financial market infrastructure to transform staking rewards into a tradable institutional asset class. Gyld has begun a pilot with Figment as its first staking provider and is currently recruiting selected early adopters, including asset managers, trading firms, and digital asset vaults.
DeFi studio Solido completes $800,000 in financing, led by Supra
DeFi studio Solido has secured $800,000 in funding, led by Supra, with participation from HELLO Labs, Spartan Ventures, and K10 Capital. The funds will be used to fuel Solido's product expansion, security audits, deep integration with the Supra tech stack, and community-driven developer adoption.
KaleidoSwap, a decentralized exchange built on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, announced on Monday that it has secured pre-seed funding from Bitfinex Ventures and Fulgur Ventures. This investment will support KaleidoSwap's development of an RGB-based decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Lightning Network, aiming to create a Bitcoin-native decentralized exchange.
Decentralized multi-chain trading platform NuDEX completes new round of financing, led by MetisDAO
NuDEX, a decentralized multi-chain trading platform, has completed a new round of funding led by the MetisDAO Foundation, with participation from Flurry Capital, Waterdrip Capital, YBB Capital, and several strategic investors. The new funds will be used to upgrade the GOAT chain mainnet and deploy node networks, develop the NuOrbit protocol, promote TSS standardization, and integrate developer tools and APIs.
Web3 Games
Web3 gaming infrastructure project RuneSoul secures $4 million in funding led by Bitgo Capital
RuneSoul announced the completion of a $4 million strategic funding round led by Bitgo Capital, with participation from AccelByte Fund and IGC Guild. This round of funding will accelerate RuneSoul's global expansion, build the next-generation Web 3 gaming infrastructure, and deepen the implementation of GameFi 4 and SocialGameFi. According to official data, the number of coin holding addresses has exceeded 30,000.
AI
New York-based AI startup JoJoWorld has secured $8 million in funding from investors including the Stellar Development Foundation, the world's third-largest stablecoin issuer and clearinghouse, Tim Draper's DraperU Ventures, AlphaLion Investment, Stratified Capital, Selini Capital, and the All SeaSpark Family Fund. JoJoWorld is committed to building a decentralized spatial intelligence infrastructure. By incentivizing global creators to contribute high-quality 3D data for robot training and embodied intelligence, it addresses data bottlenecks in cutting-edge AI models.
Dutch lithography machine manufacturer ASML (ASML.O) and French AI company Mistral AI have signed a long-term strategic partnership agreement to explore the application of AI models in ASML's products, R&D, and operations, aiming to improve the speed to market and performance of customers' products. According to a statement released on Tuesday, ASML will lead Mistral AI's Series C funding round, investing €1.3 billion for an approximately 11% stake, becoming Mistral's largest shareholder and receiving a seat on Mistral AI's strategic committee. This investment is part of Mistral's €1.7 billion funding round, valuing the company at approximately €11.7 billion.
(This round of financing is not included in the statistics of this issue's financing weekly report)
AI company Cognition secures over $400 million in funding led by Founders Fund
Cognition announced that it has secured over $400 million in new funding, bringing its post-money valuation to $10.2 billion. This round was led by Founders Fund, with participation from existing investors including Lux, 8VC, Neo, and Elad Gil, as well as new investors such as Bain Capital Ventures and D1 Capital. Cognition is committed to advancing the field of AI coding agents.
(This round of financing is not included in the statistics of this issue's financing weekly report)
Infrastructure & Tools
Private equity firm Inversion Capital announced the completion of a $26.5 million seed round of financing, led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from VanEck, Lightspeed Faction, ParaFi Capital, Portal Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Metalayer Ventures, Volt Capital, HashKey Capital, Race Capital, Balaji Srinivasan, Wintermute Ventures, Moonrock Capital, Breed VC, Topology, Casey K. Caruso, Bodhi Ventures, Lvna Capital, Escape Velocity, Folius Ventures, Comfy Capital, as well as Mike Dudas, Bryan Pellegrino, Jason Yanowitz, Andrew Steinwold, DCF God, Joshua Lim and other individuals and institutions.
According to reports, Inversion Capital is a private equity firm dedicated to revitalizing traditional businesses by integrating blockchain infrastructure, particularly in sectors such as telecommunications and financial services. Their strategy involves acquiring traditional businesses, such as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), and then deploying blockchain-based solutions to improve efficiency through features such as instant settlement and reduced operating costs.
Recoveries, a blockchain data analysis and digital asset recovery service provider, announced the completion of a strategic round of financing of CHF 1 million, led by VerifyVASP and participated by a group of angel investors. The new funds will be used to accelerate the development of its AI-enhanced blockchain investigation management system that supports cross-chain investigations, thereby simplifying the digital asset recovery process for global exchanges, banks, insurance companies and law firms.
other
Crypto asset reserves: ( not included in this issue's financing weekly report statistics )
Forward Industries Completes $1.65 Billion Private Placement to Advance Solana’s Financial Strategy
Forward Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORD) announced the successful closing of its previously announced private investment in equity (PIPE) financing, led by Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital. The PIPE financing generated approximately $1.65 billion in gross proceeds for the company. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering primarily to purchase Solana, the native digital asset of the Solana blockchain, for working capital and funding any future transactions, to establish the company's cryptocurrency treasury operations, and to pay transaction fees. In addition to Galaxy, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin's combined subscription of over $300 million, the PIPE also saw support and participation from several global investment firms and leaders in the digital asset ecosystem.
Eightco Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: OCTO) announced the successful closing of its recently announced $270 million private placement, with proceeds to be used to implement its Worldcoin Treasury strategy. The transaction was led by MOZAYYX, with participation from numerous institutional investors, including World Foundation, Discovery Capital Management, GAMA, FalconX, Kraken, Pantera, GSR, Coinfund, Occam Crest, Diametric, Brevan Howard, and Wedbush. BitMine Immersion (NYSE American: BMNR) invested $20 million. Proceeds from this private placement will be used to acquire and hold Worldcoin (WLD) as a reserve asset for its Treasury while continuing to focus on its core business operations. While the Treasury may also include cash and Ethereum as secondary reserve assets, its primary focus will be on Worldcoin. The company also announced that its common stock will be trading on Nasdaq under the symbol "ORBS."
Nakamoto to invest $30 million in Metaplanet
Nakamoto announced a $30 million commitment to Metaplanet, marking Nakamoto's largest single investment to date and its first foray into the Asian market. The funds are part of Metaplanet's international equity financing, announced today, with closing expected on September 16th and the issuance and delivery of common stock on September 17th. Nakamoto stated that Metaplanet, with Bitcoin at its core, has become a leader in Bitcoin strategies for leading Japanese public companies and global enterprises, and that this investment will further strengthen the global institutional financial network centered on Bitcoin.
Centralized Finance
Tetra Digital Group, a Canadian digital asset infrastructure provider, announced the completion of approximately $10 million in funding from investors including Urbana Corporation, Wealthsimple, Purpose Unlimited, Shakepay, ATB Financial, National Bank, and Shopify. As part of this investment, Tetra and its partners plan to become the first financial institution to launch a Canadian fiat-backed stablecoin in early 2026, subject to regulatory approval. The new Tetra stablecoin will leverage Tetra Digital Group's institutional-grade custody infrastructure to provide businesses and consumers with a stable, secure, and fully compliant digital currency, backed 1:1 by Canadian dollar reserves.
Blockchain fintech platform Munify completes $3 million seed round of financing, led by Y Combinator
Munify, an Egypt-based fintech platform, has secured $3 million in seed funding led by Y Combinator, with participation from Digital Currency Group (DCG) and BYLD. Munify is a blockchain-based fintech platform serving the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, offering global, mobile-first money management services. The platform offers multi-currency non-custodial accounts, real-time cross-border payments, a virtual USDC card, and remittance services supporting stablecoins.
