Lens Protocol, Taiko and Mythical Games: Where Institutions Invested in June
Date: 2023-07-03 Author: Karina Ziganova Categories: BUSINESS
Institutional investors are legal entities that are professionally engaged in investments, using borrowed and own funds in order to generate income. Simply put, these are major players in the capital markets, including the cryptocurrency market. Unlike individual investors, they have a greater impact on the market, as they conduct transactions with a large amount of funds.
1. Lens Protocol — $15 million
Lens Protocol is a decentralized social graph that uses smart contracts on the Polygon blockchain. Lens users can create apps, chat, and subscribe to other people's updates. Each account is a non-fungible token (NFT).
In early June, Lens closed a $15 million funding round led by IDEO CoLab Ventures. Other investors included Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams, OpenSea CEO Alex Atallah, former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan, and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal. The project team will use the funds received to expand the Lens Protocol ecosystem.
2. Taiko Labs — $12 million
Taiko Labs, a startup focused on scaling the Ethereum blockchain, closed two rounds totaling $22 million, and the first $10 million fundraiser led by Sequoia China took place back in the third quarter of 2022. The June $12 million round was led by Generative Ventures.
Taiko founder Daniel Wang said that the funding will be used to launch one network. However, the project needs more funds to create an investment fund and attract developers.
3. MeanWhile — $19 million
Crypto startup Meanwhile is developing a comprehensive insurance system using blockchain and AI technologies. In June, the company announced the closure of two seed rounds totaling $19 million, the first led by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and the second by Google-owned Gradient Ventures fund.
The financing will allow the company to hire new employees and launch its first service – life insurance backed by bitcoin.
4. Gensyn — $43 million
London-based startup Gensyn is developing a marketplace protocol that will allow owners of small data centers to earn money by providing computing power for machine learning of AI models. Transactions between buyers and sellers will be recorded on the blockchain.
The round, during which Gensyn managed to raise $43 million, was led by investment giant a16z. The project team admitted that the reason for the success was the boom in AI technologies and a surge in demand for computing resources, provoked by interest in ChatGPT from OpenAI.
5. Mistral AI — €105 million
The Mistral AI project, founded by people from DeepMind and Meta*, raised €105 million — even the lack of a finished product did not hurt it. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, and among the investors were the former head of Google Eric Schmidt and billionaire Xavier Neel.
In early 2024, Mistral plans to launch a large language model (LLM) similar to the generative AI that underpins ChatGPT.
6. Mythical Games — $37 million
Mythical Games, founded by immigrants from the legendary gaming company Activision, raised $37 million from Scytale Digital, ARK Invest, Animoca Brands, MoonPay and a number of other investors. The firm is widely known for the multiplayer NFT game Blankos Block Party and the football arcade game NFL Rivals.
The company will use the funds received to scale games and attract a new audience.
