VC Roundup: Blockchain Ecosystems Attract Investors Eyeing Startup Opportunities

VC Roundup: Blockchain Ecosystems Attract Investors Eyeing Startup Opportunities

As the venture capital (VC) landscape shifts, investors are increasingly turning to blockchain ecosystems to gain early access to promising startups. With a renewed interest in the sector heading into 2025, venture firms are aligning themselves with blockchain networks to facilitate investment opportunities and provide essential support for projects at the earliest stages. In December, several startups successfully secured funding from investors in the blockchain space. Here’s a look at some of the key developments:


Morph Forms Strategic Partnership with 14 Venture Firms

In a notable move, Morph, a layer-2 blockchain ecosystem, has teamed up with 14 venture firms to accelerate startup growth within its ecosystem. The partnership includes well-known names like Pantera Capital, Spartan Group, Foresight Ventures, and MEXC Ventures, among others. This initiative aims to help startups by offering not only access to venture capital but also mentorship and resources throughout the development process—from ideation to token launch.


According to a spokesperson from Morph, the initiative aims to compile all the necessary resources for builders, ensuring that startups receive the support they need. The partnership represents a broader trend of investors focusing on early-stage blockchain projects, with firms such as Portal Ventures, DragonFly, and Hack VC raising significant funds to back Web3 startups. In total, these venture funds are expected to inject around $2 billion into the blockchain sector over the coming months.


Brighty Secures $10M to Expand Crypto Payments in Europe and UK

Brighty, a fintech platform focused on crypto payments, has raised $10 million in a funding round led by Futurecraft Ventures. The platform aims to expand its crypto-card payment services across Europe and the United Kingdom. Brighty enables users to link European IBAN accounts to credit cards and offers custodial wallet addresses on Ethereum, Tron, Polygon, and Arbitrum networks.


With nearly 200,000 users across 30 EU countries, Brighty aims to simplify crypto payments for everyday use. CEO Roger Buerli emphasized the growing use of crypto in everyday spending and Brighty’s commitment to making crypto transactions seamless in the real world.


AgriDex Raises $9M to Tokenize Agricultural Commodities on Solana

AgriDex, a marketplace based on the Solana blockchain for tokenizing agricultural commodities, has secured $9 million in funding. The round was led by Sycamore Gap, with participation from Endeavour Ventures, Hawkwood Capital, and investors from firms like Citadel, Goldman Sachs, and Palantir.


AgriDex enables on-chain trades of agricultural products such as wine, coffee, olive oil, and livestock, including royal animals from Gatcombe Park. The platform boasts transaction fees below 0.5%, instant settlements, and NFT-backed records for these trades. AgriDex is targeting a $4.5 billion agricultural turnover market and counts Circle, Plume Network, and Future Farm among its partners.


Yei Finance Raises $2M for Decentralized Lending Platform v2

Yei Finance has raised $2 million in seed funding to launch v2 of its decentralized lending platform. Led by Manifold, with participation from DWF Ventures, Kronos Research, and others, this funding will support Yei’s development of an omnichain money market. The platform is designed to enable borrowing and lending across blockchains, integrating Circle’s CCTP for native USDC transfers, eliminating the need for wrapped tokens and third-party bridges.


The v2 upgrade introduces isolated lending pools tailored to specific assets and risk profiles, as well as yield-bearing tokens like yUSDC.


Superform Raises $3M to Launch SuperVaults

Superform, an on-chain wealth app, has raised $3 million in a seed extension round led by VanEck Ventures. The funding will support the launch of SuperVaults, a native yield product designed to automate non-custodial, high-yield savings for users. The first product, SuperUSDC, focuses on stablecoin yield for USDC on Ethereum, offering passive returns across leading DeFi protocols.


Superform had previously secured $6.5 million in a seed round in 2022, bringing its total funding to $9.5 million.


Waterfall Network Raises $11.6M to Improve Blockchain Infrastructure

Waterfall Network, a layer-1 decentralized ledger, has raised $11.6 million to enhance its blockchain infrastructure. Led by Bolt’s Capital, Alpha Token Capital, and Enflux, the funding will support research and development to improve node simplification, scalability, and overall infrastructure.


Waterfall Network recently reached a milestone with 12,778 transactions per second (TPS) and currently has 8,647 active validators in regions across North America, Australia, Africa, and Eurasia. The network is Ethereum-compatible and uses Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) architecture for parallel transaction processing.


Union Raises $12M Series A for Cross-Chain ZK Layer

Union, a zero-knowledge (ZK) settlement layer, has raised $12 million in a Series A round. Led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Longhash Ventures, the round also saw participation from Borderless Capital and other firms. This funding will support Union’s development of a cross-chain solution using ZK-proofs for secure message passing, asset transfers, and interoperability between ecosystems such as Cosmos, Polygon, Berachain, and Arbitrum.


Union’s Ethereum-to-IBC bridge enables liquidity between ecosystems and is expected to help facilitate more efficient cross-chain transactions. Series A follows a $4 million seed round raised in 2023.

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