Main topic: Fintech startup Ramp is raising several hundred million at a $5.5 billion valuation, a 32% decrease from its previous valuation.
Key points:
1. Ramp is raising funds from investors at a $5.5 billion valuation.
2. This valuation reflects a 32% decrease from its previous valuation of $8.1 billion in early 2022.
3. Thrive Capital is leading the financing, and Ramp is selling both employee-held shares and new shares.
Main topic: Fintech startup Ramp raises $300 million in funding at a post-money valuation of $5.8 billion.
Key points:
1. Ramp secures $300 million in a funding round co-led by Thrive Capital and Sands Capital.
2. The funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand into adjacent categories, and hire significantly.
3. Ramp has experienced strong growth, adding new features and customers, and now serves businesses of all sizes.
The main topic is the funding raised by Ramp, a corporate card and expense automation platform.
Key points:
1. Ramp raised $300 million in funding at a $5.8 billion post-money valuation, which is a 28% drop from its previous valuation of $8.1 billion.
2. Existing investors such as Thrive Capital, Sands Capital, General Catalyst, and Founders Fund participated in the new financing round.
3. Ramp plans to use the funds for product development, hiring, and expansion into the procurement space.
Coinbase's new Base blockchain, which operates as a layer-2 network atop Ethereum, has gained significant traction with its application Friend.tech attracting over 100,000 users and generating $25 million in fees, pushing its total value locked past $200 million and its transactions per second above Ethereum and rival layer-2 projects Arbitrum and Optimism.
In July, capital inflows from venture capitalists in the crypto sector decreased by 10.26%, with $700 million raised, as macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical events continued to impact investment decisions, although some notable outliers, such as Polychain Capital and CoinFund, launched new funds totaling millions of dollars, and the potential approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. could bring renewed attention and capital into the industry. Infrastructure and Web3 sectors received the most capital inflows, while overall investor activity in the blockchain industry remained low, suggesting a slow return to a steady upward trend.
Venture capital firm Vessel Capital has launched a $55 million fund to invest in Web3 infrastructure and applications, aiming to assist early-stage crypto founders in launching and growing their projects by providing guidance and advice. The fund's resources will be deployed over a five-year period, and the team's experience as startup founders will enable them to better understand entrepreneurs' needs.
Five crypto and blockchain-based companies raised a total of $24 million this week, with notable fundraises including $13 million for bitcoin mining company Nodal Power and $5 million for crypto lender Maple Finance.
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood predicts that the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies will increase by over 2,100% in less than seven years, driven by institutional investment and the potential approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), with the total crypto market cap potentially reaching $25 trillion by 2030.
Despite a decrease in venture capital investments in June, new crypto projects are still attracting funding, including Orbital's $6.4 million raise for expanding blockchain payment infrastructure, unshETH's $3.3 million seed round for decentralized finance solutions, ZTX's $13 million funding for Web3 infrastructure development, Stroom Network's $3.5 million raise for Bitcoin staking, and Fxhash's $5 million funding for its digital art platform.
Web3 venture capitalists have established a $20 million fund to invest in blockchain gaming and collectibles projects, as well as other Web3 initiatives.
Around $150 billion worth of capital could enter the Bitcoin market if BlackRock's BTC spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) gets approved, according to a senior Bloomberg ETF analyst.
Germany's blockchain sector received $355 million in venture capital funding, marking a 3% yearly increase and achieving an all-time high share of global funding in 2023, despite a decline in the global blockchain market, according to a report by Crypto Valley Venture Capital (CVVC).
Bitcoin is expected to experience a significant increase in value and reach a fair value of $100,000, driven by institutional capital inflows and the approval of Bitcoin ETFs, according to Mark Yusko, founder of Morgan Creek Capital.
Blockchain Capital closes two new funds with $580 million to be invested in crypto gaming and decentralized finance projects, while venture capital firms SkyBridge Capital, Atlas Merchant Capital, and Vector Capital are among the final bidders to acquire SVB Capital, the venture arm of Silicon Valley Bank. Additionally, Nomura launches a new Bitcoin fund, and Citi Token Services provides payments and liquidity through its private blockchain. Hut 8 also receives final approval for its merger with US Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency funds are expected to grow from $50 billion to $650 billion in the next five years, according to analysts.
Despite a "soft open" in IPOs, the equity capital markets have seen an increase in transactions this year with high-profile IPOs collectively raising $6 billion, according to Goldman Sachs' Lizzie Reed.
Despite tight liquidity and adverse macroeconomic conditions, several crypto startups have successfully raised significant capital, including Bubblemaps with $3.2 million for data visualization, CoinScan with $6.3 million for crypto analytics, Hinkal with $4.1 million for privacy in DeFi trading, and Mythic Protocol with $6.5 million for collaborative entertainment. Additionally, Blockchain Capital closed two new funds with $580 million to be deployed in crypto gaming and decentralized finance projects.
Blockchain technology is breathing new life into traditional assets as big finance firms invest in token trading and investment platforms, with more than a third of institutional investors in the U.S. and almost two-thirds of high-net-worth investors planning to invest in tokenized assets this year or next.
The global blockchain finance market is predicted to become a $79.3 billion industry by 2032, driven by the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential for reduced operational costs, with collaborations and acquisitions being heavily explored as a top strategy by market players.
The blockchain gaming industry received $600 million in venture capital investment in Q3 2023, a 38% decrease from Q2, bringing the total funding for the year to $2.3 billion; however, this is only 30% of what was raised in 2022, while the broader gaming industry has been hit hard with over 6,100 job losses.
Investments in blockchain gaming reached $600 million in the third quarter of 2023, with a total of $2.3 billion invested in the sector this year, despite lower investment levels compared to 2022.
Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups have reportedly raised $41 million in cryptocurrency between August 2021 and June this year, but experts argue that public blockchains actually make it easier to track and combat terrorist financing rather than facilitating it.
The market for tokenized assets, including crypto and traditional financial products, could reach $10 trillion by 2030, according to a report by digital asset manager 21.co, as crypto and traditional finance merge through tokenization.
