Crypto VC funding: Kraken bags $42.5m from Optimism, Glow Labs raises $30m

This week, crypto exchange Kraken stole the show with its $42.5 million grant raise from Optimism.

Kraken has disclosed its latest decision to launch Ink, a layer-2 on the Optimism (OP) blockchain. As a part of the deal, Optimism has announced that they will offer $42.5 million, or 25 million OP tokens.

This has brought the exchange’s funds raised to date to $164.8 million. Crypto.news dug deeper into the firms that raised the most capital from Oct. 27 to Nov 2.

Here are the firms that bagged million-dollar amounts during this period, according to data from Crypto Fundraising.

Glow Labs, $30 million

• Glow Labs is a community-powered platform that aims at ramping up global solar energy adoption.
• The firm raised $30 million from Framework and Union Square Ventures.

Nillion, $25 million

• Nillion has raised $25 million from investors like Hack VC.
• So far, the decentralized network for secure storage has raised $50 million.

Ellipsis Labs, $21 million

• The platform that builds sustainable and efficient DeFi protocols has raised $21 million from HAUN.
• Ellipsis Labs has raised a total of $23.3 million to date.

Chainway Labs, $14 million

• The blockchain infrastructure company focused on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Zero Knowledge technology has raised $14 million in a Series A round from Founders Fund and other investors.
• Chainway Labs has raised $16.7 million so far.

Gelato Network, $11 million

• Gelato Network has raised $11 million in a Series A round led by HACK VC.
• The decentralized backend for web3 has raised $23.2 million to date.

Sapien AI, $10.5 million

• Sapien is a gamified Web3 platform where users play and train AI by completing various challenges.
• The firm has raised $10.5 million in a seed round led by Variant.

PumpBTC, $10 million

• The liquid staking platform has raised $10 million in a seed round.
• Lead investors include SevenX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, etc.

BitSmiley, $10 million

• BitSmiley encompasses a stablecoin, a lending platform, and a derivatives protocol.
• The firm raised $10 million from various investors like Nxgen, IBC Group, etc.

Notable crypto VC funding rounds under $10 million

• Spire Labs raised $7 million in a seed round.
• Alliance Games raised $5 million in a Series A round.
• 81Ravens raised $4.5 million in a seed round.
• Phylax Systems raised $4.5 million in a pre-seed round.
• Nitro Labs raised $4 million in a seed round.
• MagmaDAO raised $3.9 million in a seed round.
• Native raised $2.6 million in a seed round.
• Axal raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed round.
• Streamflow raised $1.9 million.
• Cap Labs raised $1.9 million in a pre-seed round.
• KRNL Labs raised $1.7 million in a pre-seed round.

Have a peek at last week’s column here.