Top 10 crypto projects that raised venture capital in May

Crypto fundraising has seen a slight stagnation recently, attributed to the seasonal summer slowdown, which is traditionally a slower period. Despite this temporary dip, the overall interest in crypto remains robust, as the market adjusts to typical seasonal patterns. This seasonal effect has slightly cooled the previously strong momentum in crypto investments.

In May 2024, crypto startups raised $852 million across 148 unique rounds. These projects span various sectors such as RWA, SocialFi and DePin, and have secured funding ranging from $1.5 million to $47 million.

A few crypto sectors stood out. Tokenizing real-world assets enables fractional ownership and makes high-value assets more accessible. RWA took centre stage after ETH ETF announcement. Let's look at the ten most exciting projects that raised capital in May 2024 without further ado.

Securitize

Securitize is a blockchain technology company that specializes in the tokenization and issuance of traditional financial assets as digital securities on the blockchain. Their primary value proposition is providing a compliance-first platform that enables firms to digitize and fractionalize various asset classes, such as private equity, real estate, and investment funds, while ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements.

Securitize's compliance-first approach has been crucial in securing business from major financial firms like BlackRock, Hamilton Lane, and KKR. The company has already issued tokenized private credit funds with Hamilton Lane and KKR, and in 2022, it launched an alternative trading system (ATS), a regulated exchange that allows investors to buy and sell various digital securities.

In their latest funding round, Securitize raised $47 million from a group of prominent investors led by BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager. Other participants in the round included Hamilton Lane, a leading private markets investment firm; Tradeweb Markets, a global operator of electronic marketplaces; and ParaFi Capital, a blockchain investment firm.

The funds raised will be used to further develop and expand Securitize's tokenization platform, allowing more traditional financial institutions to leverage blockchain technology for issuing and trading digital securities. Specifically, the investment from BlackRock indicates a strategic partnership between the two companies, with BlackRock having already utilized Securitize's platform to launch its first tokenized fund, BUIDL.

Airstack

Airstack is a provider of Web3 social data and APIs that simplifies the process of accessing and utilizing decentralized data for developers building Web3 applications. By offering a unified API, Airstack abstracts the complexities of interacting with various blockchain networks and data sources, enabling developers to focus on building their applications without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

In May 2024, Airstack secured $4 million in seed funding led by Red Beard Ventures. Other investors in this round included Kyber Network, Superscrypt, CSP DAO, Hashed Emergent, and SuperLayer. The funds raised will be used to further develop and enhance Airstack's platform, enabling it to support more Web3 protocols, expand its data offerings, and improve the developer experience.

Ambient

Ambient is a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) focused on collecting real-time and localized environmental data through sensors. This Solana-based project aims to improve global health and wellness by monitoring environmental factors such as air quality, noise, and light pollution. Ambient's platform enables users to deploy sensors that capture environmental data feeds every five minutes, creating a comprehensive network of over 25,000 sensors across more than 20 countries.

In its latest funding round, Ambient raised $2 million in seed funding. This round was led by Borderless Capital, with participation from Solana Ventures, Parami Investors, Sonic Boom Ventures, Primal Capital, and others. The funding round started in February and closed in May, structured as a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) with token warrants.

The funds will be used to further develop Ambient's platform, including the migration of PlanetWatch's network, which it acquired in March. This acquisition involves moving PlanetWatch's air quality monitoring network from Algorand to Solana and launching a new token on the Solana blockchain. Ambient plans to launch on the Solana testnet this summer, followed by a full token launch. The funds will also support the onboarding of PlanetWatch's existing network of air quality sensors, enhancing the platform's capabilities and expanding its range of certified hardware for various environmental data collection use cases

AgriDex

AgriDex is a Solana-based platform that focuses on tokenizing agricultural commodities, enabling trading of these tokenized assets. Each transaction on AgriDex is represented by minting a non-fungible token (NFT) that permanently records all details related to the products, pricing, and payments. This approach aims to increase transparency, reduce costs, and improve profitability for investors, farmers, and governments by leveraging blockchain technology's fast settlement, high throughput, and low fees.

AgriDex recently raised $5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Endeavour Ventures, a tech-focused venture capital firm. Other participants in this round included African Crops Limited, Oldenburg Vineyards, and Hank Oberoi, a former Goldman Sachs and Citadel executive. This funding round, which began in September and closed in February, has brought AgriDex's valuation to approximately $18 million.

The funds will be used to launch AgriDex's platform and token (AGRI) in the third quarter of this year. The platform plans to initially tokenize and list agricultural commodities such as sugar, grains, and cocoa, with plans to expand to more commodities in the future. The funding will also support the development of the platform, including a token airdrop for the community and the establishment of a public sale of the token. Additionally, AgriDex intends to use 50% of its profits to buy back and burn tokens.

FortunaFi

Fortunafi is a real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platform that allows users to tokenize and trade various assets, enhancing the liquidity and accessibility of traditionally illiquid assets. Initially operating as one of the first issuers on the tokenization platform Centrifuge, Fortunafi has partnered with prominent DeFi platforms like MakerDAO and Aave to tokenize over $15 million in private debt and institutional loans.

Their value proposition lies in their proprietary Tokenized Asset Protocol (TAP), a cross-chain platform enabling users to mint real-world assets natively on several Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks. This platform aims to increase transparency, reduce costs, and improve profitability for stakeholders by leveraging blockchain technology.

Fortunafi recently raised $9.51 million in strategic and seed funding rounds. These funding rounds were led by Shima Capital and included investors such as Manifold, Jordan Fish (aka Cobie), Ari Litan of LayerZero Labs, Austin Green of Llama, Evanss6, and Scott Lewis. The latest round brought Fortunafi's valuation to approximately $48 million.

The funds will be used to develop and expand Fortunafi's TAP platform, which currently offers tokenized U.S. Treasury Bills and plans to introduce new tokenized assets such as Coinbase stock, Robinhood stock, Bitcoin ETFs, and an equity index. Additionally, Fortunafi has launched a new stablecoin protocol, Reservoir, expected to debut in June. Reservoir aims to offer yield-bearing products backed by digital and real-world assets, enhancing DeFi yield opportunities for users.

StripChain

StripChain is an interoperability protocol focused on simplifying the blockchain user experience by enabling chain abstraction at scale. The core idea behind StripChain is that users should be able to perform on-chain transactions without needing to know which blockchain network is being used, akin to not worrying about the backend systems when using centralized applications like Netflix.

StripChain’s value proposition lies in its ability to provide a seamless user experience across multiple blockchain networks. It allows developers to create commands called intents that perform actions like transferring data between blockchains. This system, called stripVM, enables applications to communicate and coordinate with different protocols, thus abstracting the complexities of blockchain interactions from the end user.

In a recent funding round, StripChain raised $10 million. The round was led by Sora Ventures and included investments from Hyperithm, Shima Capital, Mechanism, and several crypto angel backers such as Santiago Santos, Stephane Gosselin of Frontier Research, and Ryan Selkis of Messari.

The funds raised will be used to further develop StripChain's platform, focusing on improving user experience and supporting the interoperability of different blockchain networks. The goal is to launch their testnet in the coming months, allowing for broader testing and refinement of their interoperability solutions. This funding will also help StripChain scale its operations and bring more innovative features to market, ultimately driving mass adoption of blockchain technology by making it more accessible and user-friendly​

Dora Factory

Dora Factory is a leading decentralized governance infrastructure platform that focuses on providing public goods funding technology. Their core products include the Public Good Staking infrastructure, which enables ecosystem funding through block incentives; Dora Vota, a Cosmos SDK appchain hosting decentralized governance protocols; and privacy-preserving, collusion-resistant zk voting infrastructure known as MACI (Minimum Anti-Collusion Infrastructure). Additionally, they offer a multi-chain Quadratic Governance protocol stack designed to democratize public goods funding.

Dora Factory recently raised $10 million in strategic funding. This funding round included investors such as Nomad Capital, No Limit Holdings, Sky9 Capital, Singapore’s UOB-Signum Blockchain Fund, Interop Ventures, and Longling Capital, along with nine other institutional investors. This strategic raise is intended to accelerate the adoption and expansion of Dora Factory's decentralized governance and public goods funding technologies.

The funds will be used to further develop and expand Dora Factory’s tech stack, focusing on innovations in multi-chain quadratic funding and Public Good Staking. The funding will also support the development of new governance applications on Dora Vota and encourage the expansion of use cases for anonymous MACI. These initiatives aim to provide an exceptional experience for on-chain communities and teams working on frontier technologies.

Plume Network

Plume Network is a modular Layer 2 network focused on bringing real-world assets on-chain. It is Ethereum Virtual Machine -compatible, allowing it to support a wide range of protocols within the blockchain ecosystem. Plume Network aims to tokenize various asset classes, providing a platform for earning yield, borrowing, lending, trading, and speculating with leverage on RWAs.

Plume Network recently raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Haun Ventures. Other investors included Galaxy Ventures, Superscrypt, A Capital, SV Angel, Portal Ventures, and Reciprocal Ventures. Additionally, angel investors such as Anthony Ramirez of Wormhole Labs, Calvin Liu of Eigenlayer, Ezaan "Zon" Mangalji of Initia, Andrew Kang of Mechanism, Jeff Feng, and Jayendra Jog of Sei Network participated in the round.

The funds raised will be used to advance Plume Network's development, including the transition from private testnet to an open incentivized testnet, followed by the mainnet launch later this year. The funding will also support hiring additional staff across engineering, go-to-market, and community functions. Plume Network plans to integrate compliance features such as know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) protocols to ensure adherence to regulatory standards. The network aims to create new markets around various real-world assets and enhance the blockchain ecosystem's functionality​

Focus Tree

Focus Tree is a Web3 social platform designed to help users manage their attention spans and reduce mobile phone addiction. The platform leverages blockchain technology to offer decentralized solutions aimed at fostering healthier digital habits.

Focus Tree raised $2 million in seed funding in May 2024. The funding round was led by Sfermion, with participation from Volt Capital, Psalion VC, StarkWare, Typhon Ventures, and Foresight Ventures. This investment reflects a growing interest in tools that address digital wellness and promote healthier online interactions.

The funds will be used to develop and enhance the Focus Tree platform, preparing for an upcoming airdrop event to engage the community and attract early adopters. The platform's core mission is to empower users to take control of their digital habits through innovative Web3 solutions, providing a decentralized approach to managing mobile addiction and enhancing focus.

Peaq Network

Peaq Network is a blockchain platform that specializes in decentralized physical infrastructure networks and the Economy of Things (EoT). It aims to integrate Web3 principles with real-world applications, allowing for the tokenization and decentralized management of physical assets and services. This enables seamless peer-to-peer transactions and interactions, fostering a more transparent, efficient, and accessible ecosystem for various applications.

Peaq Network recently raised $15 million in a pre-launch funding round led by Generative Ventures and Borderless Capital, with contributions from several other top funds and investment firms, including CMCC Global, Spartan Group, HV Capital, Animoca Brands, Moonrock Capital, and more. This funding is crucial as it will help Peaq boost ecosystem growth and further develop its Modular DePIN Functions in preparation for the network's public token offering and mainnet launch.

The funds will be primarily used to enhance Peaq's ecosystem through initiatives such as the Peaq Grant Program, which supports DePINs building on the platform. Additionally, the funding will aid in developing Peaq’s Modular DePIN Functions and SDK, allowing DePIN teams to build and deploy their projects on Peaq more quickly and efficiently. This financial support is a testament to the growing interest in solutions that link Web3 with real-world infrastructure, creating sustainable income and value for the community. As Peaq nears its mainnet launch and public token offering, this period is seen as pivotal for its future success, with plans to further open up the platform to the community and support new and innovative use cases.

It is encouraging to witness an increase in capital flowing into the early stages of the crypto industry. Sectors that are popular among venture investors tend to become popular among the general public around 12-18 months later. Make sure to explore and utilize these early-stage projects, as you may receive handsome rewards through an airdrop!

That’s it for this month’s top 10 crypto projects that raised funding! If you’d like to receive the next edition, and all our other top content, directly in your inbox, subscribe to our no-nonsense weekly newsletter here!