Venture Trotter Weekly Review: Week Ending 1/13/23

Ruceto tracked over $90 million in institutional investments into crypto or web3 companies last week. Links to the target company website, investment announcement, and token info are provided via hyperlinks on the Target Name, $ Raised, and Token columns respectively.

Target Name $ Raised Lead Investors Description Token
Moneta Ventures
The AI platform building the Industrial Metaverse
Venom Ventures Fund
A platform for influencers, creators and gamers shifts the perception of what is possible in virtual worlds.
Foresight Ventures
Utilizing the latest advancements in blockchain, deep learning, and financial engineering, the company’s industrial-grade crypto finance infrastructure and extensive liquidity network connect assets in CeFi venues and DeFi protocols
Lobby Capital, Relay Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, Tapestry VC, Upside and Scribble Ventures
Easy is the new social wallet that makes exploring web3 fun, safe, and easy. Real-time feeds from your friends and communities. A better way to discover web3, together. App available on iOS and Android.
1kx and Castle Island Ventures
Permissionless, open-source protocol for consensus capital markets
Shima Capital
Non-custodial asset management in Cosmos with Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC)
QSR
Shima Capital, Übermorgen Ventures, Not Boring Capital, Mercy Corps Ventures, Byzantine Marine, Big Brain Holdings, Valor Capital
The world’s first on-chain measurement, reporting, & verification platform for any forest on earth
OPN
C14
General Catalyst
Seamless fiat crypto flow for any project
Kain Warwick, Daedalus, Esteban Ordano
Decentralized, non-custodial and open-source protocol that provides an autonomous fixed and variable interest rate market
Borderless Capital
A Web3 platform preserving cultural heritage, enabling equitable exchanges between conscious collectors and ancestral communities to protect and share knowledge, traditions, and art forms of cultures around the world in perpetuity through blockchain technology
ABCDE
The Web3 social platform based on blockchain DID

DeBox is a web3 social platform on the blockchain DID. Community creators can start groups that only token holders are allowed to join. Member fees will be released to community creators each month, and the value of the community will eventually accrue to token holders, causing their interests to remain aligned. DeBox is planning to adopt a DAO governance platform. The company’s initial NFT mint can be viewed here.

Exactly Protocol will provide an autonomous interest rate market that sets fixed or variable interest rates based on credit supply and demand.

Lenders add assets to a “Fixed Rate Pool” (pools with a maturity date containing a single type of asset) or a “Variable Rate Pool” (pools containing a single type of asset without an expiration date, where assets plus interest can be withdrawn any time). Variable Rate Pools provide liquidity to Fixed Rate Pools as needed. Each deposit will mint an exaToken.

Borrowers can draw from Variable Rate Pools after they supply the amount of collateral corresponding to the protocol’s “Risk-Adjusted Factor.” Alternatively, borrowers can select a preferred amount, asset, and maturity date to receive a fixed rate loan, and interest will be due at maturity.

Open Forest Protocol is an open platform built on a carbon neutral blockchain that enables forest projects to measure, report, and verify their forestation data. Forestation project land plots are registered with the protocol and made public. Proof-of-impact data is verified by a network of independent experts, and project monitoring data is stored on an open distributed ledger. Forestation projects will be represented as NFTs.

Quantum Temple uses blockchain technology to enable exchanges between collectors and ancestral communities. The company partners “with local artisans to revitalize handmade ceremonial and decorative artifacts that are at risk of being lost. Each Cultural Artifact NFT collectible can be redeemed into a physical artifact through a dedicated forging event and shipped to the end collector.” Collectors can apply to mint a “Cosmic Egg” NFT which will serve as the “gate to become a founding member of Quantum Temple, access unique experiences, and governance rights to drive social impact.”

Quasar is a decentralized app-chain built for interchain asset management. Essentially, Quasar looks to make it easier to fundraise and execute asset management strategies on the blockchain. Ben Perszyk from Polychain said “Quasar abstracts away some of the complexity involved in earning lending yield, providing liquidity to AMM pools, or structuring delta-neutral strategies, and hides those capabilities behind an approachable, user-friendly frontend. By deploying their own application-specific IBC chain, Quasar then offers a powerful new suite of DeFi tools for end users, and positions themselves as a liquidity hub for the ever-expanding Cosmos DeFi ecosystem.” Quasar uses the token QSR to facilitate proof-of-stake mechanics, and will open its public testnet on Feb. 10.

Institutional Investors of Crypto

Venom Ventures Fund (VVF), based in UAE, launched a $1 billion venture fund for web3 applications. The investment vehicle was created from the partnership of Venom Foundation (L1 blockchain licensed and regulated by the Abu Dhabi Global Market) and Iceberg Capital (Abu Dhabi Global Market regulated investment manager). Per VVF, “Our Venture Capital Fund backs early-stage web3 dApps and protocols, prioritising those focused on long-term trends like payments, asset management and banking services, and GameFi. Investments are not reserved for Venom blockchain projects. If you use another L1 as your primary blockchain but you have achieved strong traction, we might well lead your next investment round.”

 

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Disclaimer: The content presented is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, legal, or professional advice. The content is provided ‘as is’ without any representations or warranties, express or implied.

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