So far this week, two web3 startups have collectively raised over $10 million in venture capital funding.
Hyperbolic raises $7 million
Hyperbolic, a blockchain-based artificial intelligence project, raised $7 million in a seed funding round, as the project reported on X yesterday.
— Hyperbolic (@hyperbolic_labs) July 30, 2024We are thrilled to announce a $7M raise to become the leading Open-Access AI Cloud 🤘🏼🌪️
At Hyperbolic, we’re building an open AI ecosystem and economy where everyone who contributes is rewarded. Our goal is not to merely optimize AI performance to compete with traditional Web2… pic.twitter.com/pXTvmK98yO
The startup plans to develop an open-access AI cloud platform that aggregates GPU power and helps reduce computing costs for AI-based startups. The firm uses blockchain technology to maintain the security and transparency of its services.
The funding round was led by Polychain Capital and Lightspeed Faction. Other notable participants included LongHash, Bankless Ventures, Republic Digital, Chapter One, Nomad Capital, CoinSummer Labs and Third Earth Capital.
The investment round also saw participation from angel investors, such as former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, and Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of Near Protocol.
Besides using the fresh funds to develop its first product, an AI inference service, the startup will also allocate resources towards establishing an ecosystem for developers and strengthening its team with new hires.
Mintify raises $3.4 million
Mintify is an NFT startup developing an infrastructure to improve non-fungible token trading. As the project announced yesterday, it raised $3.4 million in a funding round led by ARCA, Cumberland, Psalion, Master Ventures, Zeneca, GM Capital, and Spencer VC. Additional participants included over 50 angel investors.
The recent funding follows a $1.6 million seed round in 2022 led by ARCA, GSR, Psalion, Fasanara and Alchemy Ventures. This raises the firm’s total funds raised to $5 million.
According to Evans Varsamis, the project’s CEO, Mintify is designed both for “professional traders” and those wanting to “join the scene.”
Mintify supports Ethereum (ETH) and its layer-2 networks, Base and Blast. The project claims to have over 140,000 active wallets. It also plans to expand to support Bitcoin’s Ordinals and other blockchain networks and launch its token in 2024.
The announcement did not disclose what the funds would be used for.
Other funding rounds in July
In addition to these projects, notable funding rounds reported last week included mining giant Riot taking over its competitor Block Mining for $92.5 million and web3 gaming startup NPC Labs raising $18 million.
Prior to that, blockchain-based data platform Allium raised $16.5 million in a series A funding round.