Happy Halloween, founders!
As expected, this summer felt like a dry spell in the market—boring, quiet, and a bit gloomy. Congrats on making it through! From personal experience, most VCs I spoke with were either fully deployed or waiting for better market conditions. The space seemed deserted, and in hindsight, I regret not taking a vacation.
However, while compiling the Q3 venture activity report, I noticed some promising market dynamics. Summer is traditionally a slow period, and this year’s fundraising market followed Bitcoin’s trajectory, peaking in March. In the third quarter we saw a decline of at least $200M from the previous quarter, but if in the second quarter we can see a clear downward trend, in 3rd despite the overall diminishing volume the market appeared to bottom out in June and has been quietly growing ever since.
Even more exciting, if we compare Q3 2024 to the same period in 2023, the total volume has doubled! For me, this signals that we’re potentially in a bullish fundraising season. So, if you've been struggling to close your rounds, don’t lose hope—now’s not the time to give up.
This quiet period has been ideal for gearing up for the upcoming “money season.” If you’re planning to raise funds, now is the time to get ready—and remember, you know where to turn for help.
Meanwhile, here are the top 15 deals of Q3 to inspire and prepare you for what’s next:
Total raised: $1.8B
Main narratives:
1. Sentient
An open-source AI platform co-founded by Sandeep Nailwal (co-founder of Polygon), raised $85 million in a seed round co-led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and Framework Ventures. The platform aims to democratize AI development by integrating blockchain, allowing contributors like developers and researchers to be compensated for their work.
Sentient’s mission is to create a decentralized AGI platform that distributes AI benefits equitably, using Polygon’s infrastructure. Additional investors include Ethereal Ventures, Robot Ventures, Delphi Ventures, and Republic. With backing from top AI talent from firms like Google and DeepMind, Sentient plans to launch its testnet in Q3 2024. This funding will accelerate the project’s growth and focus on community-driven innovation, distinguishing it from traditional closed-source AI models YourStory.com CryptoPotato Wamda
2. Partior
A blockchain-based fintech firm specializing in cross-border payment settlements, raised $60 million in a Series B funding round in July 2024. The round was led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA), with participation from Valor Capital Group and Jump Trading Group. Existing investors JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, and Temasek also took part in the round.
Partior’s platform leverages a global unified ledger to enable real-time, multi-currency clearing and settlement for banks and financial institutions. It aims to address the inefficiencies in traditional payment systems, such as delays, high costs, and transparency issues. Partior plans to use the new funding to expand its international network and add additional currencies, building on its current use of USD, EUR, and SGD. The company also intends to introduce advanced features like Intraday FX swaps, Cross-currency repos, and Programmable Enterprise Liquidity Management, positioning itself as a major player in transforming global financial infrastructure Partior Cointelegraph Business Standard
3. NPC Labs
A GameFi-focused company, raised $18 million in a seed round in July 2024, led by Pantera Capital. The funding round also included notable investors such as Makers Fund, Hashed, Collab+Currency, Sfermion, Mirana Ventures, Bitscale Capital, and Mantle EcoFund. NPC Labs, founded by former members of Coinbase’s Base team, is building a GameFi ecosystem on the Base Layer 2 network, aiming to onboard traditional Web2 game developers and simplify the process of bringing mainstream games to Web3.
The funds will be used to support B3.fun, a horizontally-scaled gaming ecosystem designed to help game developers create on-chain games and improve accessibility for non-crypto-native players. By abstracting complex blockchain processes, B3 allows users to seamlessly play games across networks like Ethereum, Base, and other EVM-compatible chains. The project seeks to overcome the current fragmentation in on-chain gaming, offering an infrastructure that simplifies the gaming experience for both developers and players Tech Startups Crypto2Community TradingView.
4. Allium
A leading blockchain data platform, raised $16.5 million in its Series A funding round in July 2024, bringing its total capital raised to $21.5 million. The round was led by Theory Ventures with participation from Kleiner Perkins and Amplify Partners, both of whom had also invested in earlier seed rounds. Allium offers enterprise-grade blockchain data solutions, providing institutions like Visa, Stripe, Uniswap Foundation, and Phantom with real-time, comprehensive blockchain data for market research, investment opportunities, and financial reporting.
Allium plans to use the funds to further invest in its data infrastructure, enhancing its products like the Allium Explorer and Allium Developer APIs, which streamline data discovery, visualization, and real-time data ingestion for enterprise clients. With coverage of over 40 blockchains and 100+ schemas, Allium aims to simplify blockchain data complexities, allowing clients to focus on building products rather than managing vast volumes of blockchain data. Their long-term goal is to enable broader adoption of blockchain and digital assets across multiple industries Kleiner Perkins Blockchain Magazine Pulse 2.0
5. RedStone
A leading provider of modular oracle solutions, raised $15 million in a Series A funding round in July 2024, led by Arrington Capital. The round saw participation from notable investors such as SevenX, IOSG Ventures, Spartan Capital, White Star Capital, Kraken Ventures, and Amber Group, among others.
RedStone's unique modular architecture enables the platform to deliver cost-efficient, highly accurate data feeds for DeFi applications across more than 60 blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, Base, and zkSync. RedStone specializes in yield-bearing collateral for lending markets and supports innovative DeFi protocols such as Pendle, Morpho, and Venus.
The funds from this round will be used to scale RedStone’s operations, further develop its oracle services, and hire new talent. The company is also preparing to launch its native token later in 2024, which is one of the most anticipated developments in the oracle sector this year markets.businessinsider.com DeFi, DePIN, RWA, Web3 News RedStone
6. Morpho Labs
A decentralized lending protocol, secured $50 million in a strategic funding round in August 2024, led by Ribbit Capital. The round included participation from a16z Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Variant, Pantera Capital, Kraken Ventures, and Brevan Howard, along with over 40 other investors. This funding will be used to enhance the decentralization of the Morpho network and support the launch of Morpho Blue, a permissionless lending protocol that allows users to create and manage their own lending markets without central oversight.
Morpho has gained significant traction in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, with more than $1.5 billion in deposits and over $1 billion borrowed across various protocols. Its unique approach to financial infrastructure, inspired by layered protocol designs, enables the creation of scalable risk management strategies and specialized lending solutions. This funding round reinforces Morpho’s mission to make financial infrastructure a public good, positioning it as a key player in the decentralized lending ecosystem Cointelegraph FinSMEs CypherHunter
7. Andrena
A decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) project, raised $18 million in a Series A+ funding round in August 2024. The round was led by Dragonfly Capital, with participation from CMT Digital, Castle Island Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, and ParaFi Capital. Andrena is building DAWN, a decentralized wireless internet protocol that leverages blockchain technology to create community-driven, decentralized internet services on the Solana network.
DAWN enables users to share excess bandwidth with their neighbors in exchange for token rewards, promoting a trustless, decentralized internet system. The new funds will be used to expand the protocol, finalize smart contract development, and scale the user base by moving more transactions on-chain. Andrena aims to bridge the digital divide by deploying low-cost internet solutions, targeting underserved areas, and creating a scalable, decentralized infrastructure Blockworks Cryptonews markets.businessinsider.com
8. Sahara Labs
A decentralized AI blockchain platform, raised $37 million in strategic funding in August 2024. This round was co-led by Pantera Capital and Polychain Capital, with participation from Samsung Next, Matrix Partners, Mirana Ventures, and Foresight Ventures, among others. The funding will be used to enhance the performance of the Sahara AI platform, expand its developer ecosystem, and improve the decentralized infrastructure for AI training and AI asset management.
Sahara Labs aims to democratize AI by offering a blockchain-based platform that ensures fair compensation for all contributors, from data providers to AI model creators. Their goal is to decentralize control over AI assets, allowing for secure and transparent ownership through blockchain technology. This approach addresses issues around privacy, copyright, and the concentration of AI power in a few centralized corporations. With Sahara's AI marketplace and encrypted storage solutions, they are positioning themselves as pioneers in building a fair, open AI economy Blockchain Magazine Pantera StreetInsider.com
9. Chaos Labs
A blockchain risk management platform, secured $55 million in a Series A funding round in August 2024. The round was led by Haun Ventures, with participation from major investors such as F-Prime Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Galaxy Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, and PayPal Ventures. The funding will be used to scale Chaos Labs’ risk management platform, which provides advanced on-chain risk solutions for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, including Aave, GMX, and Jupiter.
Chaos Labs specializes in enhancing the economic security of DeFi ecosystems by offering real-time monitoring, dynamic risk oracles, and advanced parameter recommendations. The company’s technology has secured over $860 billion in cumulative trading volume and aims to enable DeFi protocols to dynamically adjust to market volatility. This round of funding will support the development of new tools and the expansion of their platform to safeguard the growing DeFi sector Lucidity Insights Ctech Crowdfund Insider
10. PIP Labs
The developer behind Story Protocol, raised $80 million in a Series B funding round in August 2024. This round was led by a16z Crypto, with participation from Polychain Capital and notable investors like Stability AI's Scott Trowbridge and digital art collector Cozomo de' Medici. Story Protocol, a Layer 1 blockchain, aims to revolutionize intellectual property (IP) management by allowing creators to register and tokenize their IPs. This enables creators to track usage, set licensing terms, and receive compensation across digital platforms.
The funds will be used to expand the protocol’s infrastructure, ensuring creators maintain control over their work and encouraging wider collaboration and sharing. The goal is to create a more standardized, low-friction IP licensing system that is particularly relevant in the AI era, where intellectual property serves as key training data for AI models. The project has already attracted over 200 teams and registered more than 20 million IP assets. This latest investment brings PIP Labs' valuation to $2.25 billion Cointelegraph a16z crypto Benzinga
11. Space and Time (SxT Labs)
A blockchain and AI verifiable compute platform, raised $20 million in a Series A funding round in August 2024. The round was led by Framework Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, Arrington Capital, and Hivemind Capital, with additional support from investors like Microsoft's M12 Ventures, DCG, and F-Prime Capital. This funding round brings the company’s total capital raised to $50 million.
Space and Time is pioneering a verifiable compute layer that integrates AI and blockchain, enabling trustless data processing through their Proof of SQL technology. This allows developers to connect analytics directly to smart contracts, opening new possibilities for DeFi, gaming, and enterprise applications. The funds will be used to accelerate product development, expand its ecosystem, and enhance community engagement as they move towards the next generation of AI-powered blockchain solutions Space and Time | ZK Coprocessor Blockchain Magazine U.Today
12. Bridge
A stablecoin orchestration and issuance platform, raised $58 million in a private funding round in August 2024. The platform, co-founded by former Square and Coinbase employees Zach Abrams and Sean Yu, aims to simplify global payments by integrating stablecoins into traditional financial systems. The round was backed by prominent investors such as Sequoia, Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures, and Haun Ventures.
Bridge's primary goal is to create a global stablecoin-based payment network that rivals traditional systems like SWIFT and credit cards, offering services such as payouts, cross-border payments, and foreign exchange. Notable clients include SpaceX and Coinbase, which use Bridge's infrastructure for fast, low-cost stablecoin transactions across multiple currencies and regions. The platform offers APIs that enable companies to issue and orchestrate stablecoin payments seamlessly, positioning itself as a Web3 alternative to Stripe.
The funds from this round will be used to further develop Bridge's product and expand its customer base globally, especially in regions with high demand for cross-border stablecoin payments Cointelegraph CryptoNews Dapp.expert
13. Edge Matrix Chain (EMC)
A decentralized AI infrastructure project, raised $20 million in August 2024 in a private funding round led by P2 Ventures and Amber Group. This funding will be used to accelerate the development of EMC's Layer-1 blockchain, which is specifically designed to support AI applications. The project introduces a unique decentralized compute model that tokenizes GPU resources, allowing users to invest in and benefit from fractional ownership of high-performance GPUs. This innovative approach to combining AI with blockchain aims to create a new DeFi asset class, unlocking value through tokenized real-world assets such as Nvidia H100 Tensor Core GPUs.
EMC's blockchain supports distributed AI workloads, including generative AI training and other compute-intensive applications. The testnet for EMC is already live, with a $5 million reward program designed to incentivize early contributors and developers Cointelegraph bitcrypto.io ainftgo.io
14. Tune.fm
A decentralized music streaming platform, raised $50 million in a strategic funding round led by Global Emerging Markets (GEM) in September 2024. This latest round brings the platform’s total funding to $80 million, following a previous $20 million investment from LDA Capital earlier in the year. Tune.fm operates on the Hedera blockchain and offers music streaming with an integrated NFT marketplace, where artists are rewarded with JAM tokens for every second their music is streamed. The platform aims to empower musicians by giving them a significantly higher share of revenue compared to traditional streaming services like Spotify.
The funding will be used to provide liquidity for the JAM token and further develop the platform, enabling artists to engage directly with listeners and monetize their music more effectively. The platform also simplifies user onboarding by automatically generating blockchain wallets for new users, lowering the barrier for non-crypto users to engage with the service. Tune.fm’s decentralized model has gained attention as blockchain technology continues to disrupt the music industry, offering new ways for artists to earn and for fans to support their favorite creators.
This funding positions Tune.fm as a leader in the emerging intersection of Web3 and music streaming, capitalizing on the rising trend of using NFTs and blockchain to enhance artist-fan interactions. ExamineCrypto
15. TON Blockchain
The Layer-1 blockchain linked to Telegram, raised $30 million in a strategic funding round in September 2024, led by Bitget and Foresight Ventures. This investment aims to fuel the development of TON-based applications, particularly within the GameFi and Tap-to-Earn ecosystems, with notable projects such as Hamster Kombat and Notcoin being a focus. The funds were allocated through the acquisition of Toncoin (TON), which powers decentralized applications (DApps) within the TON ecosystem.
The TON blockchain has experienced rapid growth, benefiting from Telegram's user base of over 900 million people. The total value locked (TVL) in TON projects surged to over $400 million in 2024, showing a significant increase in ecosystem participation. This funding will not only drive further adoption of GameFi but also strengthen the governance structure of TON, with Bitget and Foresight Ventures playing a more active role in shaping the platform’s future Bitget Cointelegraph CoinJournal
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Ivan Orlov
Ivan Orlov
Ivan Orlov
