VC funding for crypto startups soars to $634M in August News ▸ US ▸ Investments
VC funding for crypto startups soars to $634M in August
Infrastructure projects continue to dominate in funding amounts, while VC interest in DeFi and blockchain gaming grew.
1 min read
Updated: Sep. 3, 2024 at 1:06 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Venture capital (VC) funds invested $634 million in crypto startups in August — up 15% from July, based on DefiLlama data.
Projects focusing on blockchain infrastructure secured nearly $460 million in funding, accounting for 72% of the total raised by crypto startups last month.
PIP Labs conducted the most successful funding round among infrastructure projects, receiving $80 million to develop its intellectual property-focused blockchain network Story. The Series B round was led by a16z, with the participation of Polychain Capital and digital artist Cozomo de’ Medici.
Bridge, a platform for stablecoin issuance and transactions, raised roughly $58 million in a private round led by Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures, and Haun Ventures.
DeFi
The DeFi sector received nearly $129 million for its projects, roughly 50% more than the amount of capital received in July.
This significant increase was mainly driven by Morpho Labs, which secured $50 million from investors such as Ribbit Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Variant Fund, and Pantera Capital. Morpho is a decentralized cross-chain lending application compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Duelnow, a decentralized sports-betting platform, raised $11 million in the second-largest DeFi-related funding round to foster its growth in the Arbitrum ecosystem.
Gaming
The web3 gaming ecosystem saw VC money flow more than double between July and August, with more than $43 million raised last month.
Gameplay Galaxy, the developer of the biking game Trial Xtreme, raised $11 million in a Seed+ round last month. This is the most relevant blockchain gaming funding round of the period, with Blockchain Capital and Merit Circle participating.
The gamer-focused ecosystem Moonveil also captured considerable investment in the blockchain gaming ecosystem last month. Players such as HashKey Capital, The Spartan Group, and Animoca Ventures invested $9 million in the project.
Mentioned in this article
Arbitrum 
Merit Circle 
a16z 
Sequoia Capital 
Haun Ventures 
Pantera Capital 
Hashkey Capital 
Coinbase Ventures Author 
Gino Matos
Gino Matos is a law school graduate and a seasoned journalist with six years of experience in the crypto industry. His expertise primarily focuses on the Brazilian blockchain ecosystem and developments in decentralized finance (DeFi).
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In this article
Arbitrum
$0.82948
Arbitrum is a type of technology known as an optimistic rollup.
Merit Circle
$0.21511
Merit Circle is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that focuses on developing the play-to-earn (P2E) economy.
a16z
Andreessen Horowitz (known as “a16z”) is a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley specializing in investing in seed, start-ups, early, mid-stage, growth, and late stage.
Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California that specializes in seed, early, and growth stage investments in private firms in the technology sector.
Haun Ventures
Haun Ventures, is a firm designed from the ground up to help founders build the next generation of the internet.
Pantera Capital
Pantera Capital is an investment firm focused exclusively on ventures, tokens, and projects related to blockchain tech, digital currency, and crypto assets..
Hashkey Capital
HashKey Capital is an institutional asset manager investing solely in blockchain technology and digital assets.
Coinbase Ventures
Founded in 2018, Coinbase Ventures is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California.