The Web3 and AI Funding Bulletin | May II
Hello and welcome!
This is the Web3 and AI Funding Bulletin, covering the latest investments in companies converging blockchain and artificial intelligence. Most of this past fortnight's money rounds were again concentrated on AI-enhanced blockchain gaming solutions. Sending you greetings from sunny Belgrade, where I am writing this in between ETHBelgrade talks and networking!
Thank you for being here! Let's dive in!
GaiaNet Raises $10M to Decentralize AI Agents
Web3 + AI infrastructure builder GaiaNet has collected $10M in Series Seed round led by EVM Fund, Mirana Ventures, and Mantle EcoFund, and attracted key advisors like Generative Ventures’s Lex Sokolin and Republic Capital’s Brian Johnson.
Instead of setting up centralized servers, GaiaNet is harnessing a distributed network of edge nodes, controlled by individuals and businesses, to host AI models based on their proprietary domain knowledge and expertise.
ARPA Gets $6M to Expand in Cryptographic AI
ARPA Network has secured $6M to expand its offering in fully on-chain gaming, Autonomous Worlds (AW), and cryptographic AI. The strategic investment was led by Nomura’s Laser Digital and DeFiance Capital, and supported by Animoca Ventures, ArkStream Capital, and others.
ARPA is a leader in privacy-preserving blockchain computations through the integration of Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and verifiable Random Number Generators (RNGs). What is more, ARPA is invested in exploring the crossover between cryptography and AI, and lower the barriers to mass adoption.
“Together with leading AI institutions, we will publish research and conduct PoC on cryptographic AI for facial recognition using zero-knowledge machine learning (ZKML)”, ARPA's co-founder Felix Xu commented.
ARPA OfficialMUA Secures $5M Funding
In an unknown round, the AI-driven asset protocol MUA has attracted a $5M investment by Avalanche, RockTree Capital, and Jihan Wu.
MUA enables the design of immersive experiences and fosters collaboration between creators and engineers to accelerate metaverse development. It targets to “accelerate the modularization of AI Agent assets and support the infinite re-issuance and royalty recursion of asset splitting and combination, achieving value interoperability and maximizing economic prosperity between humans and AI Agents”.
PlayAI Collects $4.3M to Build Modular Intelligence for Gaming
The Web3 + AI gaming company PlayAI Network has successfully closed a $4.3M seed funding round to set up a unified intelligence layer for gaming and virtual worlds. The funding was backed by VCs Polygon Ventures, Jump Crypto, Zentry, MH Ventures, and prominent figures in the blockchain gaming space like Axie Infinity's Jihoz.ron, Polygon's founder Sandeep Nailwal, and Yield Guild Games' co-founder Gabby Dizon.
Animoca Brands Backs CARV
A month ago, I told you about the AI + Gaming modular blockchain CARV Protocol and its $10M Series A funding. Last week, CARV also received a financial injection of undisclosed proportions by the crypto gaming and metaverse giant Animoca Brands.
Tokenized Robots DePIN XMAQUINA Attracts Support
The decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) of autonomous tokenized robots, XMAQUINA has closed a pre-seed round to transform robotics companies into scalable public investments. The amount of the round was not revealed, but it was supported by Moonrock Capital and EOT Ventures.
Disclaimer: None of this should or could be considered financial advice. You should not take my words for granted, rather, do your own research (DYOR) and share your thoughts to create a fruitful discussion.
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