Total Funds Raised Hit a Yearly Low

Total Funds Raised Hit a Yearly Low

Alen

It’s been a brutal week in the crypto market: high uncertainty in macro, altcoins bleeding hard, no significant trend in the market, relentless FUD, hacks, and exploits. Could it get any worse? Do you think this is the market bottom?

On the fundraising front, things aren’t looking much better. The total amount raised this week hit a mere $153M — a staggering drop from last week and the lowest we’ve seen all year. 

However, a bear market is the perfect opportunity for both retail and institutional players to accumulate. Moreover, there are still some interesting projects that raise funds this week, let’s dive in.

1. Warlock raised $8M in Seed funding round from Polychain Capital 

Omni-chain MEV liquidation engine Warlock Labs raised $8M in a Seed funding round led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Greenfield Capital, TRGC, Reciprocal Ventures, Symbolic Capital (ex Hyperedge Capital), Ambush Capital, and more angel investors. 

Warlock is a blockchain infrastructure company, founded by Grug (a well-known MEV Engineer in the industry), focused on addressing inefficiencies related to maximal extractable value (MEV). It is developing execution-layer solutions aimed at improving transaction fairness and reducing manipulation across blockchain networks.

Warlock addresses the problem that protocols are losing billions to the builder duopoly. Two entities control 90% of Ethereum blocks, extracting billions from protocols and users. This centralization has created an extractive economy where value flows away from those who create it. Warlock Labs is aiming for a future where block builders and order flow processors can guarantee that transactions are untampered and market makers operating in on-chain venues are not engaging in price manipulation. 

The protocol is still in development phase, soon to be in testnet phase (said by their co-founder @0xAlcibiades) 

2. Fragmetric has secured $5M in total funding 

Solana liquid restaking protocol Fragmetric raised $5M in a Strategic funding round at a $125M valuation, the round was led by RockawayX, with participation from Robot Ventures, Amber Group, Hypersphere, BitGo. This latest strategic funding comes just one month after they announced their $7M seed round, which brings the total funding to $12M.

Fragmetric is a native liquid (re)staking station on Solana that aims to improve the economic potential and security of the Solana ecosystem. $fragSOL token is the first Solana native Liquid Restaking Token (LRT) based on Jito Restaking VRT. $fragSOL was built using the transfer hook feature, a Token Extension that is typically used to programmatically enforce NFT royalties. 

Since the launch of Phase 2, Fragmetric has been growing at a remarkable pace, as evidenced by the total supply of fragSOL more than doubling, with approximately 50% being utilized in DeFi and over 43,000 unique deposit addresses. The funding will fuel the expansion of fragAsset, further advancing our mission to build a reliable and innovative restaking platform. 

3. DeCharge raised $2.5M in Seed funding round led by Leminiscap

DeCharge, a decentralized EV charging network powered by Solana, has raised $2.5M in a Seed funding round led by Lemniscap, with additional support from Colosseum, Daedalus, Escape Velocity, and Levitate Labs.

The company is reshaping the future of EV charging through a decentralized, AI-powered energy network. DeCharge’s ecosystem spans public, fleet, and autonomous charging, seamlessly integrating smart hardware, intelligent software, and scalable energy infrastructure. Its permissionless, community-driven deployment model empowers anyone to become a charging host, expanding access to reliable charging while creating earning opportunities through charging fees, advertising, digital displays, and commercial leasing. 

This funding milestone will accelerate DeCharge’s mission to establish 3,000+ locations across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and emerging markets. As part of its roadmap, DeCharge plans to enhance its flagship charging unit, the DeCharge Beast, by upgrading it with an 11kWh charger.

Looking ahead, DeCharge also aims to launch the DeCharge Energy Marketplace, a fully tokenized energy platform where EV owners, businesses, and grid operators can participate in a self-sustaining energy economy.

4. L2 Blockchain built for AI Agents raised $3.14M 

Ethereum L2 for AI agents Capx AI raised $3.14M in a funding round led by Manifold, Luganodes, with participation from Echo, P2 Ventures (Polygon Ventures), Gate Labs, Stix, MH Ventures, Blue7, and many more. 

Capx is an Ethereum Layer 2, purpose-built to build, own, and trade AI Agent apps. Their ecosystem stands on three pillars :

  • Capx Super App: A user-friendly interface to own and trade AI Agent tokens with 600k users.
  • Capx Chain: An EVM-compatible Layer 2 with low fees and high throughput, to tokenize and scale AI Agent apps, already pulled 37M transactions to date. 
  • Capx Cloud: A decentralized compute network secured by restaked assets, delivering scalable and reliable infrastructure for AI Agent apps which captured $250M in restaked assets.

CapX is still in the testnet phase with no token yet. 

5. Chronicle Protocol raised $12M in funding

Blockchain oracle solutions provider Chronicle Labs raised $12M in a Seed funding round led by Strobe Ventures (ex BlockTower Capital), with participation from Brevan Howard Digital, 6th Man Ventures (6MV).

As the first oracle on Ethereum, Chronicle is a core pillar of the DeFi ecosystem—securing billions in transactional value, powering major tokenized asset issuers, and supporting high-value financial applications across the on-chain economy. 

Chronicle addresses the core challenges financial institutions and DeFi native builders face in bringing data on-chain:

  • Institutional-Grade Security: Chronicle's infrastructure meets the rigorous security and compliance requirements of regulated financial institutions.
  • Verifiable Data: Every element of data can be tracked and verified on-chain, creating auditability that satisfies regulatory and risk management needs.
  • Cost Efficiency: Chronicle's next-generation technology reduces operational costs compared to traditional alternatives.
  • Trusted Network: A consortium of 26 trusted validators includes established financial data providers alongside crypto-native pioneers like MakerDAO.

Conclusion

This week saw a total of 22 funding rounds, with the combined amount reaching only $153M — a stark reflection of the current market sentiment.

We’re seeing a resurgence of interest in AI agents within the fundraising space, highlighted by projects like CapX AI and Hibit. The gaming sector also secured attention with two deals: Spot Zero by Tarta Labs and Immortal Rising 2 by Planetarium Labs. Beyond these, the majority of the funding rounds focused on infrastructure projects, typical dynamics of a bear market.