Last week saw a relatively quiet period for crypto funding, with only $37 million invested in startups compared to $254 million the week prior. This lull follows the collapse of the prominent US startup bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Nonetheless, a few promising companies managed to secure funding in the gaming and fashion tech spaces. Here are the standouts:
Metacade
Play-to-earn gaming platform Metacade successfully raised $10 million in a token presale round. The token will be listed on Bitmart and decentralized exchange Uniswap after the presale concludes on March 30. Although Metacade’s initial raise target was $20 million, the company reduced it to $16.4 million, citing cheaper access to resources following FTX’s collapse.
DRESSX
LA-based digital fashion tech firm DRESSX secured a $15 million Series A investment led by Greenfield, with participation from Slow Ventures, Warner Music, the Artemis Fund, and Red Dao. Since its launch in August 2020, DRESSX has collaborated with Decentraland, Ready Player Me, Roblox, Zepeto, and Meta to sell digital garments for gaming avatars. Jascha Samadi, founding partner at Greenfield, emphasized the significance of digital fashion in the metaverse and the role of NFTs and blockchain technology in shaping digital identities.
TeleportDAO
Decentralized infrastructure organization TeleportDAO secured $2.5 million in a seed round from AppWorks and DefinanceX. TeleportDAO is developing infrastructure that allows trustless movement of data between blockchains, including messages, contract calls, and assets. It is integrating with platforms, wallets, and lending applications while creating a decentralized marketplace for Ordinals. TeleportDAO CEO Niusha Moshrefi underscored the need for secure blockchain bridges utilizing light-client technology.
Other noteworthy raises include Web3 gaming studio Jungle, which secured $6 million in a seed round led by Bitkraft VC and Framework Ventures; Soul Wallet, which raised $3 million from investors like Struck Crypto, Game7DAO, NGC Ventures, and Dispersion Capital; and crypto wallet infrastructure Capsule, which received a $500,000 investment from a16z.
