Aug 28, 2020
Crypto Deal Flow: August 26–27
A new record in the market for large deals in the crypto space in 2 days. 12 deals are found!
- Frontier| $1.85m| FTX, Alameda Research, NGC Ventures, CoinGecko and private investors| seed
DeFi aggregator Frontier raised $1.85m in seed from FTX, Alameda Research, NGC Ventures, CoinGecko and private investors from the Matic team and Bitcoin.com. Frontier will work with multiple blockchains (Ethereum and Polkadot for sure) and with several protocols inside the blockchains themselves (Uniswap, Aave, Compound and MakerDAO are already connected). The native token Frontier FRONT will also be listed on the Solana-based Serum decentralized exchange. DeFi members begin active integrations.
Source: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/76074/defi-aggregator-frontier-seed-round
Frontier: https://frontier.xyz/
2. Acala| $7m| Pantera Capital and others| SAFT
The DeFi project at Polkadot Acala raised $7m from the lead investor Pantera Capital and investors 1confirmation, Arrington XRP Capital, ParaFi Capital, Coinfund, Spartan Capital and others. The investment is formalized as a SAFT. Acala will function as a parachain in the Polkadot ecosystem. The main functions are aUSD stablecoin as DAI, DEX, staking derivatives (allow you to get liquid derivative tokens from staked assets).
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/acala-polkadot-defi-7m-pantera-saft
Acala: https://acala.network/
3. Zapper| $1.5m| Framework Ventures, Libertus Capital and others| seed
Another DeFi aggregator, Zapper, received $1.5m in seed from lead investors Framework Ventures and Libertus Capital with the participation of MetaCartel Ventures, Coinfund, The LAO, CoinGecko, Zee Prime Capital and private investors. From Zapper, you can manage defi assets in a single interface. Now Uniswap, Curve, 1inch, Balancer and 14 more protocols are connected to the aggregator.
Source: https://medium.com/zapper-protocol/zapper-closes-1-5m-seed-round-a04a8a0bd2c4
Zapper: https://zapper.fi/
4. Metacartel Ventures DAO| $200k| KR1
The KR1 fund is now also interested in DAO as they have invested about $200k in MetaCartel Ventures DAO. The fund’s share is 7.85% of the total DAO funds. KR1 are known for investing in successful cryptocurrency projects such as Polkadot, Ethereum, Cosmos and others.
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2020-08-26/kr1-plc-investment-metacartel-ventures-dao
MetaCartel Ventures DAO: https://metacartel.xyz/
5. UpBots| $1.1m| Alameda Research and others| private sale
The UpBots trading platform raised $1.1m from lead investor Alameda Research and investors CMS, Taureon and private investors. It will be possible to trade on the platform from a single interface, build algorithmic strategies, connect to temporarily successful traders (sorry, but I could not help joking about copy-trading).
Source: https://medium.com/upbotscom/alameda-research-make-strategic-investment-in-upbots-a90e2669809e
UpBots: https://upbots.com/
6. Orbit Logic| $125k| NASA| grant
Orbit Logic received a grant from NASA (yes, the ones that explore space) for $125k. The project should develop a distributed ledger for aerospace applications. It is very difficult to understand from the text what exactly will be done, but it is impressive that NASA is already giving grants for projects related to the distributed ledger, although, of course, this is not directly related to cryptocurrencies.
Source: https://www.trustnodes.com/2020/08/27/nasa-funds-space-blockchain
Orbit Logic: https://www.orbitlogic.com/
7. Celsius Network| $20.17m| BnkToTheFuture| crowd investing
On July 16, we already wrote about the Celsius Network and their equity crowdfunding on the BnkToTheFuture platform. Now the company has summed up the results: $20.17m are raised from 1000+ investors.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/celsius-network-raises-more-than-20m-via-equity-crowdfunding
Celsius Network: https://celsius.network/
8. Framework Lab| $8m| Station 13| strategic round
Framework Lab, the DeFi arm of Framework Ventures, has raised $8m from investment firm Station 13. The lab has already hired a former CTO of IDEX decentralized exchange. As far as I understand, people are going to work in the DeFi field according to various schemes and farming with increased profitability. And that takes smart researchers.
Source: https://decrypt.co/40015/defi-investor-framework-ventures-raises-8m-to-fund-own-lab
Framework Ventures: https://framework.ventures/
9. Yellow Card| $1.5m| Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain, Celo and others| private round
African cryptocurrency exchange Yellow Card has raised $1.5m from Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain, Celo and other investors. The funds will be used to expand the presence of the exchange in the region.
Soucre: https://cointelegraph.com/news/african-crypto-exchange-raises-1-5m-from-andreessen-horowitz-and-others
Yellow Card: https://www.yellowcard.io/
10. Foundry| $100m| DCG| for mining farms
Digital Currency Group is investing $100m in its Foundry subsidiary to open large mining farms in North America. The company believes that not only China is suitable for mining, but the cold climate of North America is ideal for this activity.
Source: https://fortune.com/2020/08/27/bitcoin-mining-dcg-foundry-north-america-btc
Foundry: https://foundrydigital.com/
11. Fidelity| bitcoin fund
Fidelity submits documents for opening a bitcoin fund, the minimum investment amount is $100k. Attracting investors to the fund is still ahead (if approved), according to a Fidelity survey, 80% of institutional investors are positive about digital currencies.
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/fidelitys-chief-strategist-starts-bitcoin-index-fund
Fidelity: https://www.fidelity.com
12. Fair Launch Capital| new structure
A new structure called Fair Launch Capital opens. If I understood correctly from the materials, then this is a kind of DAO mix with social functions. People from FLC will help projects to grow using not only their money but also skills and social connections. The Duck DAO Incubator is already doing something similar. Fair Launch Capital was added to the selection, because with the help of their resources strong projects can appear.
Source: https://twitter.com/fairlaunchcap
Fair Launch Capital: https://www.fairlaunch.capital/
