The fundraising market is heating up

The fundraising market is heating up

Alen

Looks like we've hit a local bottom and are bouncing back—especially in the fundraising scene, which is busier than ever.

This week alone, there were 19 fundraising rounds, with a total of $359M flowing into the crypto market. Top-tier VCs like a16z and Delphi are staying highly active, with some most notable deals are token-round.

Let’s take a look at some of the standout projects from this week.

1. LayerZero raised $55M in a token round from a16z Crypto

Omnichain interoperability protocol - LayerZero has raised $55M in a $ZRO token round, with 3 years locked from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto). a16z is also the lead investor for LayerZero’s 2 previous rounds: Series A+ and B. 

LayerZero is an omnichain interoperability protocol, with a lightweight, gas-efficient protocol that connects blockchains and moves data and value between them. Like TCP/IP did for the Internet, LayerZero did for the blockchains, making building across many chains feel like building on one—secure, seamless, and censorship-resistant. It’s the backbone of the next wave of finance and web infrastructure. 

LayerZero powers interoperability for 70% of stablecoins, $100B+ in assets, and 400+ applications, including many of the largest teams in crypto. The protocol connects 125 blockchains and has processed over 140M messages and $75B in volume.

This token round is close to a big unlock of $ZRO token in the next 2 months.

2. Optimum raised $11M in a seed funding round 

High-performance blockchain memory infrastructure - Optimum has raised $11M in a Seed funding round led by 1kx, with participation from Robot Ventures, Finality Capital, The Spartan Group, CMT Digital, SNZ Holding, Triton Capital, Big Brain Holdings, CMS Holdings, GSR and many more.

Optimum is the first high-performance memory layer for blockchains. Powered by Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC), it massively boosts speed, reliability, and throughput, improving dApp performance and the user experience.

Web3 lacks a true memory layer, making today’s architecture slow and hard to scale. Optimum fixes that by making data storage, access, and propagation faster, cheaper, and fully decentralized.

Optimum transforms blockchains into high-speed, scalable computing networks with two core components:

  • OptimumP2P: A next-gen pub-sub protocol that replaces inefficient gossip networks with smarter, coding-based propagation. It reduces redundancy, increases throughput, and delivers faster, smoother performance across dApps, DEXs, and more.
  • DeRAM: A decentralized RAM layer offering real-time read/write access to blockchain state with atomicity, consistency, and durability. It powers high-speed, latency-sensitive use cases like trading, gaming, AI, and social.

Optimum is now live on a private testnet and is inviting L1s, L2s, validators and node operators to experience its decentralized memory layer in action.

3. ORO AI raises $6M from a16z & Delphi 

Decentralized AI data monetization platform - ORO AI has raised $6M in a Seed funding round led by a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), Delphi Ventures, with participation from Ocular VC, Orange DAO, NEAR Protocol, 0G Labs.

ORO is a platform that puts you in control of your personal data in the AI era. Instead of letting tech companies profit behind the scenes, ORO connects you directly with AI developers who need your data, so you stay in charge and get rewarded when your data helps make AI smarter. 

How does it work? With ORO, rewards are given for completing data collection activities needed to train smarter AI—such as fulfilling quests or linking social accounts. Each data contribution is rewarded with ORO points, unlocking value that rightfully belongs to the data creators. Throughout the entire process, your data is kept private.

The ORO consumer app and Season 1 are launching soon with 350K+ users signed up already. 

4. Stablecoin protocol Resolv raised $10M in Seed funding round

Delta-neutral stablecoin and yield platform - Resolv has raised $10M in a Seed funding round led by Cyber Fund, Maven 11 Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, gumi Cryptos Capital, Animoca and many more. 

Resolv is a protocol maintaining $USR, a stablecoin that is backed by ETH and derivatives (delta-neutral strategy), protected from crypto market movements by construction. $USR maintains price stability through a delta-neutral strategy using perpetual futures and includes an insurance layer called $RLP (Resolv Liquidity Pool) . 

In exchange for providing that protection, $RLP holders receive delta-neutral yield with self-balancing leverage (thinner RLP layer leads to higher leverage, and vice versa). Higher risk - higher returns.

The protocol already has $424M in TVL and is currently running an incentive points program.

5. Arbitrage yield protocol Neutrl raised $5M in Seed funding

Altcoin arbitrage yield protocol - Neutrl has raised $5M in a Seed funding round led by Stix, Accomplice Blockchain, with participation from Amber Group, Nascent, Figment Capital, SCB Limited, DCF God, and many more angels.

Neutrl is unlocking institutional-grade yield for everyone by tokenizing access to high-return, market-neutral strategies traditionally reserved for elite investors. At its core is $NUSD, a synthetic dollar backed by fully collateralized, liquid assets.

By leveraging OTC arbitrage, liquid funding rate inefficiencies, and DeFi-native market-neutral strategies, Neutrl turns asymmetric trading opportunities into accessible yield for everyday users. Its flagship product, $NUSD, generates returns by capitalizing on discounted altcoin deals in OTC markets, bringing a hedge fund trade to the masses in a simple, liquid token. 

The protocol is still in its development phase, but users can join the waitlist now to be among the first to access it. 

Conclusion

This week saw 19 funding rounds, raising a total of $359M—up from $242M last week, showing strong momentum. The largest round went to Auradine, a Bitcoin mining infrastructure protocol, which secured $153M.

Interestingly, what’s perhaps even more exciting is that 8 out of the 19 rounds went to pre-seed and seed-stage projects. That’s over 40% of this week’s fundraising activity coming from brand-new builders, indicating that innovation is speeding up.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for next week!