Three blockchain specialists scored venture capital this week – a bullish indicator that investors may be warming up to the web3 sector again.
Peak
On March 27, Peaq – a layer-1 (L1) blockchain specifically designed for decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs) – announced a successful Series A funding round, raising $15 million.
Generative Ventures and Borderless Capital led the effort, with participation from several prominent investors including Spartan Group, HV Capital, CMCC Global and Animoca Brands.
Announcement: peaq raises $15 million in a pre-launch funding round led by @genventurecap and @borderless_cap
The funds will enable #DePINs to build, launch and scale on peaq more easily and quickly, ahead of peaq’s upcoming public offering and peaq’s launch… pic.twitter.com/1ErsxsIUFP
— peaq (@peaqnetwork) March 27, 2024
With a vision to build an ‘Economy of Things’ network, Peaq aims to decentralize physical infrastructure and systems, providing a permissionless and borderless digital infrastructure for increasingly intelligent machines.
The platform offers many backend features for app builders, facilitating access management, AI agents, and device data verification. The ecosystem also features supporting tools such as a machine platform and a decentralized network accelerator for the physical infrastructure, in partnership with Outlier Ventures.
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Peaq plans to use the money raised to expand its ecosystem, which is already home to more than two dozen DePINs. These DePINs include sectors such as mobility, energy, connectivity, environment, agriculture and digital infrastructure.
Midas
Midas has raised $8.75 million in funding. The company, led by CEO Dennis Dinkelmeyer, is developing a protocol that issues real assets as ERC-20 tokens.
1/ Introducing the Midas Protocol and the innovative $mTBILL to the DeFi landscape!
Today we’re excited to unveil Midas, our groundbreaking asset tokenization protocol, alongside the successful $8.75 million raise co-led by industry titans @BlockTower, @hiFramework and @HV_Capital. pic.twitter.com/FCDWy1LUZQ— Midas (@MidasRWA) March 28, 2024
The funding round, led by Framework Ventures and BlockTower, will fuel Midas’ expansion efforts and further development of its asset tokenization protocol.
Midas will also introduce mTBILL, a stablecoin designed to allow users to earn returns from on-chain US government bonds. According to the company, this move has the potential to shake up the stablecoin industry, especially in light of claims that launching a stablecoin during a period of non-zero interest rates could be disruptive.
7/ Tokens that naturally yield returns are critical for on-chain financing in a world without interest rates.
With giants like Circle & Tether born in an era of zero fees, the potential for disruption is high.
The future? Yield-oriented stablecoins like $mTBILL.
— Midas (@MidasRWA) March 28, 2024
Commenting on the news, Dennis Dinkelmeyer highlighted Midas’ commitment to innovation, stating: “Midas is well positioned to continue offering investors innovative products to keep capital, especially stable capital, on-chain through yield-bearing tokens , while still using the full range of relevant defi applications.”
Peaq and Midas are both based in Berlin. Their ability to attract funding signals growing investor confidence in the potential of blockchain technology for real-world applications and tokenization of assets.
Bob
In addition, a hybrid layer-2 network called Build on Bitcoin (BOB) has successfully raised $10 million in seed funding.
Castle Island Ventures led the financing round. Mechanism Ventures, Bankless Ventures, and notable angel investors Dan Held and Domo, the creator of the BRC-20 token standard, all participated.
We proudly announce: 𝐁𝐎𝐁 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 $𝟏𝟎𝐌 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 led by Castle Island Ven tures, together with other leading investors!
This pivotal moment fuels our mission to launch the first hybrid L2 – a blend of Bitcoin and Ethereum’s security… pic.twitter.com/lMwOcO5qTD
— BOB | Build on Bitcoin (@build_on_bob) March 27, 2024
The groundbreaking project, led by co-founder Alexei Zamyatin, aims to introduce the first Bitcoin L2 solution with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility.
The London-based company is also gearing up to launch its Fusion program on March 27, giving participants early access to the platform.
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