This week’s crypto funding highlights include investments in web3 gaming, Ethereum scaling, Bitcoin infrastructure and decentralized AI.

Riot Platforms takes over Block Mining

Our funding roundup starts with a takeover. On July 24, Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Riot Platforms said it had acquired Block Mining, a Kentucky-based Bitcoin miner, in a $92.5 million deal.

According to Riot, this acquisition could potentially increase its operational capacity by 60 megawatts, with plans to expand to 110 MW by the end of 2024. 

Riot paid $18.5 million in cash and $74 million in common stock for the acquisition.

NPC Labs, $18 million

Web3 gaming infrastructure startup NPC Labs, founded by three former Coinbase employees, raised $18 million in a seed funding round. 

Pantera Capital led the round, with participation from Mantle EcoFund, Makers Fund, Bitscale Capital, Hashed, Mirana Ventures, and Collab+Currency.

It brings the total amount of money raised by the project to $21 million after it raked in $3 million in a recent pre-seed round.

NPC Labs said it will use the funding to bring in new members to the team, especially engineers. It is also angling to increase the adoption of on-chain gaming through its gaming scaling ecosystem, B3.fun, which is built on Base.

Caldera, $15 million

Caldera, a web3 infrastructure platform, also benefited from this week’s VC activity, raising $15 million in a series A funding round.

Founders Fund led the round, which also included participation from Lattice, Dragonfly, Arkstream Capital, and Sequoia Capital. It brings Caldera’s total funding to $25 million, with the project having raised $10 million in 2023. 

The U.S.-based startup aims to help developers launch Ethereum rollups or scaling networks “with a single click.” It has a long list of clients, including Injective, RARI Chain, and ApeChain, which altogether have a total value locked of more than $800 million.

Igloo Inc., $11 million

NFT project Pudgy Penguins’ parent company Igloo, Inc., also got in on the action, raising $11 million to develop Abstract, a new layer-2 scaling network on Ethereum (ETH).

Founders Fund led Igloo’s funding round, which included investments from Selini Capital, Everest Ventures, 1kx and Fenbushi Capital.

Igloo reportedly plans to use the money raised to establish a new entity, Cube Labs, to oversee the development of Abstract. 

In June, Igloo acquired another Layer-2 network, Frame, which majorly supports NFTs. Igloo has said that it will use the team from Frame to help build the Abstract project. 

Bitlayer, $11 million

Bitcoin Layer-2 startup Bitlayer successfully raised $11 million in its series A funding round. The round, led by Franklin Templeton, ABCDE, and Framework Ventures, brings Bitlayer’s total investment to $16 million. 

Notably, Franklin Templeton’s participation marks the first strategic investment from an ETF-licensed institution in a Bitcoin Layer-2 project.

Other notable crypto VC fundraising

While the above-mentioned projects brought in the largest investments this week, several other notable rounds helped push the week’s VC funding total, including the Riot Platforms deal, to more than $210 million. Below are some of them, according to data from Crypto Fundraising:

• aPriori raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by Pantera Capital, bringing its total funding to $10 million.
• Mezo raised $7.5 million in a strategic funding round led by Ledger Cathay Fund.
• OpenSocial raised $6 million in strategic funding led by Framework Ventures and North Island Ventures, bringing its total funding since inception to $26 million.
• DAOBase completed a $6 million funding round with investments from SevenX Ventures, AntAlpha Ventures, and more.
• Network3 raised $5.5 million in pre-seed and seed funding. The round included Borderless Capital, EV3, IoTeX Eco fund, SNZ, Waterdrip Capital, and Bing Ventures.
• Redpill AI secured $5 million in its seed funding round led by Animoca Brands and DFG.