Venture Capital Firms Focus on DeFi, AI Projects Amidst Crypto Market Evolution

Venture capital firms like a16z are making huge bets on decentralized finance (DeFi) and AI projects in the crypto space. This change in emphasis aligns with the changing landscape of the industry. Even with the recent signs of a slowdown in general crypto venture capital investment, notable projects have raised big rounds. Blueprint Finance had previously raised $9.5 million to grow its product offerings. At the same time, Gradient Network raised $10 million for a decentralized AI runtime on Solana. Yupp recently raised a $33 million seed round to create a platform for objectively evaluating these new AI models. In other news, Beam raised $7 million to make its stablecoin payment service more expansive and customized. In parallel to his NFTs, Frachtis recently launched a $20 million pre-seed investment fund to fund early stage DeFi and AI protocols. These investments are indicative of the healthy innovation and capital formation occurring within our nascent bilateral crypto sector. At the same time, the entire stablecoin market has grown over $250 billion.

Blueprint Finance Secures Funding for Expansion

We’re fortunate and grateful to have successfully raised an additional $9.5 million in funding through these efforts. This round of capital will further accelerate the growth of its product suite and deepen its geographic footprint. Blueprint Finance has launched two platforms.

Concrete is one of these platforms, an Ethereum-based yield platform. The second is Glow Finance, a Solana-based decentralized trading and staking platform.

The company intends to use the new capital to fuel its rapid expansion into further strategic markets. These countries are joining the ranks of Latin America, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the European Union. This is the biggest step yet in its strategy for global expansion.

Gradient Network Develops Decentralized AI on Solana

Gradient Network has closed $10 million in seed funding from some of the biggest investors in the world. Pantera, Multicoin Capital, and HSG are some of the investors. This investment will fund the development of SingularityNET’s decentralized AI runtime on the Solana blockchain.

That’s why Gradient Network was built, to leverage Solana’s high-throughput powers. Their goal is to develop a platform in which AI models can function in a decentralized and efficient way. This program would enable further opportunities to explore AI potential applications within the crypto ecosystem.

Yupp raised a $33 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, a16z Crypto. Together, they are building a system through which anyone can easily compare outputs from the very best AI models. Users can receive public cryptocurrency rewards for their decisions on this platform.

"human judgment into a renewable economic resource" - a16z team

Yupp’s platform makes payment services from all the largest providers easy to integrate. Coinbase, Stripe, and PayPal are just a few of the integrated payment services available. This integration enables smooth transactions and rewards distribution for users who engage in the open, deliberative evaluation process.

Beam and Frachtis Expand Compliance and Investment Efforts

Beam, a stablecoin payment service provider, has raised $7 million in a funding round. Most of this funding will go towards expanding its compliance teeth and developing a robust analytics network. The U.S. stablecoin market, in particular, is booming. Beam’s sharp focus on compliance is paramount in establishing trust and sustaining stability in this radically changing ecosystem.

Frachtis makes these statements in anticipation of his new, $20 million pre-seed fund. Theta Capital, RockawayX, and other venture, private equity and strategic investors are supporting the fund. The new fund will prioritize participations in seed and pre-seed stage DeFi and AI protocols.

Frachtis is focused on investing in eight projects during this initial pre-seed/seed-stage funding round. These projects span across DeFi and AI. These types of investments reflect the firm’s growing focus on promoting innovation across these dynamic areas.